A Short Drum Lesson - The Doumbek (Darbuka)
The darbuka, or doumbek, dumbek, zarb, tonbak, is a Middle-Eastern, goblet-shaped drum that has its roots in various countries such as Turkey, Arabic, Persia (Iran), and Egypt. Like the djembe, the doumbek has enjoyed a surge in interest all over the world, especially in the U.S. where the term “doumbek” is most popular.
Most often heard in Middle-East bands or performing for bellydancers, the doumbek is actually a very versatile drum. In Turkey, the darbuka, as it is called there, the player uses a lot of finger movements and “broken beats”. There are three main tones produced by the goblet drum. The first is called the ‘dum’. It is a deep bass sound produced by striking the head near the center with one or more fingertips or curved palm of the hand. The second is called the ‘tek’ and is the higher-pitched sound produced by hitting near the edge of the head with the fingertips. A ‘tek’ struck with the secondary hand is also known as a ‘ka’, the third tone. Additionally, there are more complex techniques including snaps, slaps, pops and rolls that are used to gain different tones, beats and change the basic rhythm.
Because of its versatility, I have seen the doumbek used in various band styles and various music. In addition to the djembe, the doumbek is used often within world fusion or world beat ensembles. The doumbek comes in a variety of shapes and designs, such as aluminum, brass or ceramic. Most often with goat or fish skin heads, and some are made with synthetic skins (remo)
As we follow the photos below, we will be discussing the various tones on the doumbek as well as some simple, Middle-East and popular rhythms. Let’s begin!
The best position to hold the doumbek is in your lap over one leg, and the drum head facing away from you. If you are right handed, the doumbek should be across your left leg, and your left arm laying across it, hand resting on the rim. (See Figure).
As you can see in the picture above, the right hand is over the center of the drumhead and this will produce the “dum” tone when you strike it. Use the curved palm of your hand to hit the center, or the tips of your fingers to get the tone. Bounce it off to let it ring!
In the next picture, you will see the right hand at the rim of the drum, or the “tek” position. Snap the last 2 to 3 fingers along the rim as shown, and you should get a higher pitched, metalic “ping!” from it.
Now for the last of the tones, the “ka”. With your left hand resting along the top of the rim (don’t rest it on the head) you can raise it up and bring it down with a “snap” and get a milder tone out of it. It is similar to the “tek” but not as loud or sharp.
Now with the three tones completed, you can also angle your hands to complete a drum roll along the rim. Alternate the hands, fingers snapping across the rims as shown. Fast movement is needed here! It should sound like a typical drum roll, but without the snare drum sound.
Finally, finger rolls.
The beats in Middle-Eastern music vary quite a bit, but the style is unmistakable. Let’s start off with one of the most common beats for Middle-East music, and for bellydancers.
Each beat will be “spelled out” according to the tone. Remember earlier we went over the tones, dum, teck, ka. Now we will use those in a beat called saidi. The overall count will go 1.and..a.2..and…
Start off with the dum, then quickly strike the tek. Pause a half beat, then play, dum, dum, tek. Pause and repeat. dum tek…dumdum tek… Keep practicing that and then we can add a few embellishments later.
Now we’ll try another common beat. This one is called beledi and is similar to the saidi. The beat sounds like this:
dum dum tek-ka-tek..dum tek-ka-tek. You’ll notice the each section is the same except for the dum. Two dums in the first, one dum in the second. dum dum tek-ka-tek..dum tek-ka-tek
At the end of this, you can add a tek-ka as an embellisment, so now it will go like this:
dum dum tek-ka-tek..dum tek-ka-tek..tek-ka… then repeat!
Practice those for awhile, and you will gain the hand movements and tones you will need for other Middle-Eastern beats. Soon I will be adding some videos and sounds to help with these tutorials.
Check back soon!
wow, thanks man, you’re the only one who bothered to put pictures and it helped alot. Looking forward to the videos……….
Comment by Sonny — January 25, 2007 @ 2:23 pm
Yer welcome! I am glad it helped!
Comment by CJ — January 25, 2007 @ 5:28 pm
found out a last how 2 play the drum i bought, very imformative, fanx alot
Comment by mark — December 8, 2007 @ 10:27 am
Hi,
any good technique to getting a looser feel. I love drumming, and particilarly jazz, but my problem is my wrists are too tight….thought that hand drumming people may have some good pointers on how to get looser…
Comment by mike | download online movie — March 5, 2008 @ 10:02 am
More on finger rolls please
How do you approach them … starting slowly and then working them into the different tones and rhythms?
Thanks! ~Jill
Comment by Jill — April 13, 2008 @ 4:44 pm
The beginner book that I have has unclear pictures. Is it acceptible to produce “dum” with fingertips(I can’t get a “dum” with my palm)
I have very small hands. Is my left wrist allowed to rest on the rim? Otherwise fingers won’t reach. Does “tek” fall on the head next to edge but not touching rim, or both head/rim at once? Is only difference between “tek”/”ka” the left hand and softness? or does “ka” hit head only and “tek” include part rim?
Comment by Reese — May 27, 2008 @ 9:00 am
your simple teaching method works better than any video and face to face teacher.
thank you very much.
Los Angeles DJ Shahar www.djshahar.com
Comment by dj shahar — June 28, 2008 @ 9:50 am
Thanks for your commments! I am glad you found this drum tutorial useful!
Comment by CJ — June 28, 2008 @ 5:13 pm
www.daf-iran.com
Comment by Bahram — December 15, 2008 @ 11:09 pm
hi thnx for this tutorial
but if you can ,put please videos.
Comment by granit — February 18, 2009 @ 10:22 am
Good mornin’
My name is Freddy Dorato.
I would like to know from which kinda fish, the darbouka’s skin is obteined.
Thanks for tour kind attention.
Best regards
Freddy Dorato
Comment by freddy — June 26, 2009 @ 1:08 am
These two websites are also a great resource
http://www.darbukaplayer.com
http://www.fingersoffury.com.au
Great article by the way! Matt
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Pingback by Musical Suppliez — August 16, 2010 @ 7:26 am
I’m just learning how to play the drums and I found this post and your blog to be really interesting. Thank you very much!
Comment by Drum Lessons — August 17, 2010 @ 10:00 pm