Tabla players: Bayan weight?

I've had a few tabla lessons and now that I'm ready to purchase my own set, the company I'm considering ordering from has the option of selecting an extra heavy bayan, that I believe is linned with led. It's substabtially heavier than their other pro model.

Does anyone know what the main effects the bayan weight has on it's sound.

I've also observed that many tabla players seem to bring an extra dayan with them. Anyone know the reason for this?

Odd-Arne Oseberg said:

I've also observed that many tabla players seem to bring an extra dayan with them. Anyone know the reason for this?

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Could be because of animal hide heads?

I have a Kanjira and the tuning goes all over the place during the course of a day. Mine is tunable, but traditional drums have fixed skins and in order to get the low, open pitch, performers dampen the head then allow it to dry a little. For this reason it is common for a lot of Kanjira players to have a spare, usually in a state of drying and ready to be swapped over to when their current drum goes too high in pitch.

Just my guess...

Edit: and probably wrong, as it seems tablas are tunable. Ah well..

Definitely go for the heavier bayan. It really helps with the articulation. The sound and overall tone is much more controlled by the head. What company are you ordering from?

Bringing an extra dayan is definitely a nice luxury (if you have one). I've found that the tuning on mine definitely adjust over an hour of constant playing. While the dayan is tunable as Longfuse notes, it is easier (and quicker) just to swap out drums in the middle of a set rather than hammer away on the tuning pegs during a show. My (only) dayan is tuned to C# since that is what the sitar player is tuned to. I know that other instruments and other styles of Indian classical music require differently tuned tabla. Vocal accompaniment is generally in a lower register. Kirtan music tends to require lower tuned tabla (in my experience) depending on the harmonium player. Not all tabla can be tuned to all notes, so that's why I think you may see tabla players lugging a few extra dayans with them to performances.

Just my 2 cents.

Garvin said:

Definitely go for the heavier bayan. It really helps with the articulation. The sound and overall tone is much more controlled by the head. What company are you ordering from?

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From the Tarang's World of Tabla based in Germany.

It's the five star tabla which are quality called by a player caled Sajal Karmakar. They're a bit expensive, but since I don't know what I'm doing it seems to be the safest route and the shipping is fairly cheap for me. If you order the drums separately you can order an extra heavy bayan at 6-6,5 kilos. The other heavy bayan is about 3,8 kilos.

I know there are a lot of crap sold over here and I've tried some of them. They're completely useless, so I just want to save me the hassle and get going on an instrument that works as it should.

Odd-Arne Oseberg said:

I know there are a lot of crap sold over here and I've tried some of them. They're completely useless, so I just want to save me the hassle and get going on an instrument that works as it should.

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Definitely a great move. I remember when I finally bought a pro set after playing on garbage tabla for a year. I felt like my sound evolved a year in an instant. Good luck!

I would suggest a heavier bayan. My first set had an aluminum bayan and the sound was just too soft and weak. My current set has a steel bayan and is much stronger and has better articulation. The sweetest bayan I have ever heard had a copper bowl.

I use bolt-tuned tablas, so it is very easy to tune regardless of weather.

They're all sort of heavy copper bayans, but the extra heavy led lined one is more than 50% heavier and costs about $100 more.

Odd-Arne Oseberg said:

They're all sort of heavy copper bayans, but the extra heavy led lined one is more than 50% heavier and costs about $100 more.

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Heavyness is only part of the issue. Stiffness of material is also important. Aluminum is light and soft, so it doesn't sound too good. Steel is heavy and hard, so it sounds brighter. Lead is heavy and soft - I wonder if it would dull the tone? I have never heard of any lead-lined drum and I don't think lead would have very good acoustical properties but I could be wrong.