Dhol

Dhol is a reference to a kind of double headed drum and various other congeners, which is used for different reasons, with regional differences in the subcontinent of India. This is mostly used in regions in India, Pakistan and Bangladesh, in the areas of Gujarat, Assam Valley, Maharashtra, Kashmir, Goa and Konkan, Karnataka, Punjab, Sindh, Rajasthan and in UP. This is also seen in the belt of Afghanistan. The dhol from Punjab is probably the most well known, even in foreign countries, because this instrument is of high importance in the music of bhangra in Punjab.

Origin of Dhol

The origin of dhol goes back to about 15th century. It came into the subcontinent of India, in form of dohol, which is a Persian drum. This is mentioned in the book Ain-i-Akbari, where there are stories of use of Duhul in the court of Akbar’s court. It is only around 1800, that the mention of dhol was done in Sangitasara, which is an indo Aryan word.

Design

This instrument is made of a double sided structure, which can be played by associating with other instruments in the folk musical plays. In the qawwali form of music, a dhol is used but it is smaller in size and used with a tabla which also is smaller and played in place of the tabla drum, played with left hand. These drums will vary from one region to another. The dhol, which is played in Punjab, is large as well as bulky, so that the sound coming out is with a bass which is loud. Dhols found in other regions can have different sizes and shapes and prepared from different kinds of woods and materials such as steel, fiberglass, plastic, etc. these drums are having a animal skin or synthetic materials covering the wooden barrel, which are then stretched across the ends which are open, with complete covering. There is a mechanism to loosen or stretch the skins, where bolts or nuts or woven ropes are used. The pitch of the sound coming out is changed by the loosening or tightening of the skin. One end of this dhol is having thick skin, which produces a frequency sound which is low, deep and of higher bass while the other end is having thinner skin, from which a sound with higher frequency is produced. Skins on the dhols can be of plastic, synthetic or treble varieties.

Playing Positions

Sticks made of wood are used to play the dhol, which are either of cane wood or bamboo. In Punjabi, the stick, which is used to beat the side producing bass is known as dagga and it is thicker with about diameter of 10 mm with an arc of quarter circular at one end, with which the instrument is struck. Tihli is the name of the other thinner stick, which is flexible and used to strike with high note coming from the instrument.

While playing the dhol, it is slung on the neck with the help of a cotton strap that is usually woven. The wood of the dhol barrel is having decorated with paints and patterns which are also engraved. Before the days of partition, plenty of rhythm music was played with the help of the dhol, mostly in functions. But as the practices related to culture gradually went into oblivion, the present generation dhol players are not longer conversant with such cultures. But then, the folkloric related bhangra style of dancing and the music in Punjab grew and many rhythms related to these were created.

Notable Players

Rani Taj: Rani Taj, was born in 1993 on 3rd October with british and Pakistani origin and is a reputed player of dhol from the region of Birmingham in United Kingdom. She had a name for herself in the midlands but her real rise to fame in the international music was in 2010, when she had an appearance in a video, which went viral, which shows her playing in the streets, with the song of Rihanna “rude boy” playing in the background. She is the first female from Britain to be playing the dhol as a mainstream player.

Rani actually started playing the dhol from age nine, but viola was the first instrument which she learnt to play, from age six, during her primary school days. When she was nearing her primary schooling end, she went to a Vaisakhi mela and chanced upon the Dhol Blasters with their dhol play. From then onwards, she became interested in playing the dhol and asked her mother to get her the dhol, which she learnt to play.

Mitch Hyare: Mahaveer ‘Mitch’ Hyare is a player of Dhol in the professional circuit and a producer of hip hop with e40. Hyare is presently only 21 years of age and had his growing years passed in Coventry, UK. He started his Dhol playing when only 3 years of age. At 15 years of age, he learnt under Ustad Lal Singh Bhatti and after only one year of playing under him, he accompanied his Ustad during shows. By 16 years, he was using the USA style of dhol playing rather than the UK style. He went on to win World Dhol Player title and plays as a part of the Lethal Dholis band.

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