She had me at “dhum-tak-dhum-tak-tak”

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On Thursday morning NPR will be featuring an interview with this talented and hot young thing. She just goes by one name: Suphala (see Manish’s previous post about her).

The young percussionist known as Suphala studied for years with Ravi Shankar’s tabla player, the late Usted Allarakha.

She still goes every year to Bombay, but she also likes to see where else the tabla can take her. Her musical journeys have included a concert in post-Taliban Afghanistan and a tour with the group Porno for Pyros…

For the series “Musicians in Their Own Words,” Suphala describes how she gets the tabla to speak in many languages. [Link]

There are three tracks on the NPR link that are pretty sweet. You can either wake up to her tablas naturally by setting your alarm clock to NPR, or download the interview after 10a.m. EST. I’ve already made my choice.

24 thoughts on “She had me at “dhum-tak-dhum-tak-tak””

  1. I’ve only read reviews of her music, which describe her sound as being somewhat “New Age”-ey. But it’s great she’s getting attention from NPR. I’d like to see a Suphala vs. Tina Sugandh showdown — war of the duelling tablagrrls! Yeah!

  4. But it’s great she’s getting attention from NPR. I’d like to see a Suphala vs. Tina Sugandh showdown — war of the duelling tablagrrls! Yeah!

    Thanks for link on Ms Sungandh. Is she really Tabla player? I saw more booty than Tabla on her site. Duel would be a good idea, presided over by Howard Stern.

  6. huh. only 5 comments up and 3 are lascivious in nature. “bongos”? pleeeeze, brutha. it’s just about the most obvious joke one could possibly make.

    to quote the sagacious ali g, “that’s an awfully sexist way to be talkin about dem bitches.” so if you’re gonna be crude or resort to mysogyny (subtle and otherwise), at least be hilarious and ironic.

  7. to quote the sagacious ali g, “that’s an awfully sexist way to be talkin about dem bitches.” so if you’re gonna be crude or resort to mysogyny (subtle and otherwise), at least be hilarious and ironic

    .

    Right on Mallu. I was just focussing on her “Tablas”. Nice and tight.

  8. She has nice bongos in that picture.

    Imagine being slapped by her man-hands, hindi film ishtyle.

  13. Are the two tablas different sizes?
    they’re supposed to be different sizes.

    Noone’s seen a pair of tablas before??? Pardon me for sounding incredulous. Cicatrix is right. The larger ‘bayan’ produces the bass tone… the ‘dhum’ in Abhi’s title. The ‘ta’ is thanks to the ‘dayan’ or the higher pitched, smaller drum. Actually the ‘k’ in ‘tak’ comes from the bayan, not the dayan — it’s the sound the bayan makes when you strike it flat with your palm and straightened fingers. Tabla geekery for you.

    Re: Tina, I’ve heard her tabla playing is passable. I’d put my money on Supahala though — she studied under Alla Rakha, Zakir Hussain’s dad.

  14. The larger ‘bayan’ produces the bass tone… the ‘dhum’ in Abhi’s title. The ‘ta’ is thanks to the ‘dayan’ or the higher pitched.

    So, here’s a Q.

    What if some one ( say a southpaw) chooses to put the larger on the “bayan” (left one) on the right side and “dayan” (right one) on the left side ? Do the guru/Ustads approve of this ?

    Re: Tina, I’ve heard her tabla playing is passable. I’d put my money on Supahala though — she studied under Alla Rakha, Zakir Hussain’s dad.

    I thought so.

  15. What if some one ( say a southpaw) chooses to put the larger on the “bayan” (left one) on the right side and “dayan” (right one) on the left side ?

    I’ve seen that a lot with left-handed tablaistas.

  16. Anything goes as far as which hand you use. My tabla instructor didn’t care which hand was used on which drum, whatever works for you is fine!

    The traditional names are bayan (for bass) and dayan (for treble). But if you’re a lefty it’s OK to switch the drums. I don’t know if you would switch the names accordingly. And there are multiple names for the drums too, not just bayan and dayan. A bayan could be a duggi, and the dayan is sometimes called the ‘tabla’ too, to confuse matters even more.

  18. It’s becoming more and more common to see women playing the tabla, and succeeding in it. It would be interesting to study any differences in style or expression between men and women when it comes to playing this instrument.

  19. Tablaista!

    Thats a new one….I have only heard them called as Tabaljee or Tabla Ustad/Pandit depending on proficiency and religion.

    At least Manish did nt call them Tablamen or Tabbler…

  20. she’s also apparently planning (already did?) to go to pakistan and deliver the proceeds from her semi-recent quantum shift benefit. (see the text box on the right side of that page)

  22. Sagacious mallumolu (sidenote: is “fishheads” intentional or am I misreading your handle?) said it best on the topic of circular handdrums:

    to quote the sagacious ali g, “that’s an awfully sexist way to be talkin about dem bitches.” so if you’re gonna be crude or resort to mysogyny (subtle and otherwise), at least be hilarious and ironic.

    so yeah…I guess I missed the joke Reincarnation.