History Of Dhol Musical Instrument In English

History Of Dhol Musical Instrument

• Dhol may refer to any one of a similar type of double-headed Dhol used widely with regional variations throughout the Indian subcontinent. Dhol is a percussion instrument made of wood, brass, leather, cotton, parchment and metal.
• Its range of distribution in the Indian subcontinent mainly includes northern regions like Jammu, Himachal, Punjab, Haryana, Delhi, Kashmir, Sindh, Assam Valley, Uttarakhand, West Bengal, Odisha, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Konkan, Goa, Karnataka, Rajasthan Are.
• Dhols are among other events used in Indian wedding ceremony processions such as the baraat or vairayatra. Dhol is used as an accompaniment in folk music and dance performances. Also used as a means in public pronouncements. The Dholmer is called Dholi.

History

• Shail Vyas claims that many percussion instruments such as the dhol probably came from the influence of some clay instruments similar to the dhol, found in the Indus Valley Civilization.
• Along with the tabla, the dhol has been featured as one of the ancient Indian sculptural arts for ancient Indian music.
• The Ain-i-Akbari describes the use of dhol in the orchestra of the Mughal emperor Akbar the Great. The Indo-Aryan word “dhol” appears in print around 1800 in the treatise Sangitasara.

Etymology

• The word dhol is derived from the Sanskrit word dhola, the word for Dhol in the Sanskrit language.

Construction

• The dhol is a double-sided barrel Dhol mostly played as an accompanying instrument in regional music forms.
• In qawwali music, the term dhol is used to describe a smaller Dhol with a similar, but smaller tabla, as a replacement for the left-handed tabla Dhol. The specific shape of the Dhol varies slightly from region to region.
• In Punjab, the dhol remains large and heavy to produce the loud bass preferred. In other regions, Dhols can be found in different shapes and sizes, and are made from different woods and materials (fiberglass, steel, plastic).
• The Dhol consists of a wooden barrel with animal skin or synthetic skin stretched over its open ends, covering them completely.
• These skins can be pulled or loosened either with woven ropes, or with a tightening mechanism made of nuts and bolts.
• Tightening or loosening the skins changes the pitch of the Dhol sound. The skin stretched at one end is thick and produces a deep, low-frequency sound and the other thin produces a high-frequency sound. Dhols with synthetic, or plastic, treble skins are common.

Playing

• The dhol is played using two wooden sticks, which are also commonly known as wooden, cane, or wicker canes.
• The stick used to play the bass side of the instrument is known as Dagga in Punjabi. Traditionally Dholmers would look for a branch from a hardwood tree known as a tali that was naturally curved at that angle and use it as a dugga.
• The reason for the bend stick is goat skin. It is 80-100 grams as thin as paper, so the stick has to be bent to avoid piercing the skin. The bass stick or dagga is the thicker of the two and is bent at the end into an eighth- or quarter-circular arc that strikes the instrument.
• The second stick, known as the teli, is very thin and flexible and is used to play the high-pitched end of the instrument.
• The dhol is slung over the shoulder, or more rarely, around the player’s neck by a strap usually made of woven cotton. The surface of the wooden barrel is in some cases decorated with engraved patterns and sometimes painted.
• Some of the most common Punjabi dhol rhythms are Bhangra Dhamaal and Kaharwa, a dance and song rhythm. The staged “Bhangra” dance, which originated in the 1950s, gave special importance to the Kaharwa performing kriyas called Luddi.
• In the 1970s, many more moves were added to Manchan Bhangra to go along with the Kaharwa taal, which began to become one of the most prominent rhythms associated with the dance. At the same time, this type of rhythm will be played on Dholki Dhol along with Punjabi songs.
• So when, in the 1990s, Punjabi pop songs began to evoke Bhangra dance, they used Kaharwa Taal. It is now known by various names.
• So when, in the 1990s, Punjabi pop songs began to evoke Bhangra dance, they used Kaharwa Taal. It is now known by various names.
• Some Dholmers call it kaharwa, its technical name, while other Dholmers in Punjab call it luddi, referring to the dance of that name.
• The introduction of electronic devices such as tape recorders has led to a decline in the importance of Dholmers at festive events. Nevertheless, dhol music is still included in studio recordings of current Raas, Garba and Bhangra music artists.

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