This is the most detailed and honest analysis I've ever heard about the tabla buying experience. We would love to hear about your other tabla purchases as well. Your insights would be invaluable, and we're eager to hear more of your genuine recommendations. You truly are a distinguished artist of our time.
Somnath is an awesome guy to deal with. Possibly the most honest and transparent of all the tabla makers I’ve ever dealt with. I don’t necessarily always like his tablas from a pure playing perspective (they sound great, his bayan are especially good, but don’t necessarily suit my hands that well) but if I need a tabla for a student etc Somnath is usually my go to tabla maker.
Pl make one exclusive video showing your complete recording set up. I see extremely consistent recording quality of all your videos which sound very natural & very impressive. Off course you have very well trained God gifted hands.
I live in Southern Ontario (Kingston to be specific) in Canada which is pretty dry and I have had the same problem with buzzing. I have had two tabla one from Bangladesh and another from Anwar tabla maker from benaras. Both were buzzing pretty soon. Unfortunately the Anwar one's skin was ripped few months prior and the Bangladesh one is now very old. I did get a new Bangladesh one (Bangladeshi skin attached to the benaras body) and it has given me good results for four months now. I also got a Pakhwaj tabla from Manoj Haridas Bhatkar two years ago which hasn't gotten a buzz... Yet.
Indeed Somnath’s dayans are great with resonance. But it tears, especially with the erratic Bangalore weather. 2. The buzz is usually because the siyahi is not done properly. So far I haven’t faced that with Somnath’s dayans.
buzzing is not avoidable at some point, never use superglue, it will destroy the sound. the trick is, look with a magnifying glass the loos point, then give drop of water in it, and then a mix of whit woodglue and water. only very little amount, then immidiately wipe it dry and already the buzz is gone. use the white woodglue with water, thats what they do in Varanasi.
@@TexasTabla Sure, but you will see that the sound does not decrease like from superglue, woodglue is not crystallizing and stays flexible. Some Tablamakers even use a patch of woodglue on the puri before they apply the syahi, though it is not the proper method and i believe that this tablas might have not the same long reverberance. mix the glue nicely with a little water until it is uniform and then apply it with a matchstick to the loose point and let it sink in. It is good to put a drop of water to the loose point before.
A to C is unrealistic for a normal sized dayan and you don't want to stretch it too tight anyway. I killed a few puris by tuning them too high, usually to get to :D. They never cracked while tuning or playing them, but if the dayan is tuned to the lower to mid range of it's potential, it just doesn't crack from my 30 years of experience. If the syhai starts buzzing or not is probably due to the quality of the syhai powder they use. I'm buying my puris in Germany (India-Instruments) and they buy them from different tabla-makers. From my last 5 puris the oldest ones, I used most, are still fine while two of the newest were even buzzing from the start. Actually it got better with powder and that's IMO not the reason, while humidity certainly doesn't help. Super glue seems the only option to fix it if you find the buzzing piece and a very bright lamp is useful for that. It's easier to find with the bayan. I also bought the plastic Karunya tabla this year (D-E) and it's syhai can't buzz, because it's solid and even water-proofed, but that might be the main reason it doesn't resonate like a real one. I would still recommend it as a practice tabla, backup and tuned to D# or E the difference seems rather small. The D-E model can be even tuned between C# and E#. With shipping it's probably less than 250 bucks to the US for a full set. My other dayans are tuned to G, A, B, C, C# and D.
Great review! I’ve been using Somnath's Dugga for a while, and it’s been impressive. I own both Qasim Khan and Mukta Das' Tablas, but I find Das's Tabla aligns best with my tonal preferences. Their Duggas are pretty good too. I’m considering getting a Somnath Kakade Tabla soon. Do you have a Mukta Das Tabla yourself?
I have tablas by Mukta Das, Somnath Kakade and Mohd Sharif. I love the sweet tone of the Mukta Das tablas for sure, as well as the sturdiness of Somnath’s tablas. But lately I’m finding that Sharif’s tablas have the best overall balance of good sound, sturdy build, excellent and fullness of tone from the baya. I love Somnath dearly, but for me personally his tablas are a bit too “hard”. Mukta’s are on the other end of the spectrum. Preferences will vary from person to person, will depend also on your hands, as well as your mood. There are days when I just really want to hear the sweet tone and long sustain from Mukta’s tablas, other days when I really want depth in my dhir dhir and terekete, which is when I’ll turn to my Sharif set. I’m finding that I’m doing the majority of my practice on Sharif’s tabla, but I’ll occasionally pull out the Mukta set for performance or recording as the tone is just amazing, and due to the thinner skin my hands can just move faster on his set also.
This is the most detailed and honest analysis I've ever heard about the tabla buying experience. We would love to hear about your other tabla purchases as well. Your insights would be invaluable, and we're eager to hear more of your genuine recommendations. You truly are a distinguished artist of our time.
Somnath is an awesome guy to deal with. Possibly the most honest and transparent of all the tabla makers I’ve ever dealt with. I don’t necessarily always like his tablas from a pure playing perspective (they sound great, his bayan are especially good, but don’t necessarily suit my hands that well) but if I need a tabla for a student etc Somnath is usually my go to tabla maker.
Pl make one exclusive video showing your complete recording set up. I see extremely consistent recording quality of all your videos which sound very natural & very impressive. Off course you have very well trained God gifted hands.
I live in Southern Ontario (Kingston to be specific) in Canada which is pretty dry and I have had the same problem with buzzing. I have had two tabla one from Bangladesh and another from Anwar tabla maker from benaras. Both were buzzing pretty soon. Unfortunately the Anwar one's skin was ripped few months prior and the Bangladesh one is now very old. I did get a new Bangladesh one (Bangladeshi skin attached to the benaras body) and it has given me good results for four months now. I also got a Pakhwaj tabla from Manoj Haridas Bhatkar two years ago which hasn't gotten a buzz... Yet.
It the weather
I would be interested to know about your recording setup! Thanks!
Cover the sound making and mixing process in your next video please
Indeed Somnath’s dayans are great with resonance. But it tears, especially with the erratic Bangalore weather.
2. The buzz is usually because the siyahi is not done properly. So far I haven’t faced that with Somnath’s dayans.
good to know, I did not know you were in Banglore
Very nice sir! Is it ok to share price?
@@kalpeshsalot7431 i think he has different prices for different people
Your videos are😭😘❤️
great
buzzing is not avoidable at some point, never use superglue, it will destroy the sound. the trick is, look with a magnifying glass the loos point, then give drop of water in it, and then a mix of whit woodglue and water. only very little amount, then immidiately wipe it dry and already the buzz is gone. use the white woodglue with water, thats what they do in Varanasi.
@@MichaelKlinger-sk6qv wow ok might try this on some older dayans first
@@TexasTabla Sure, but you will see that the sound does not decrease like from superglue, woodglue is not crystallizing and stays flexible. Some Tablamakers even use a patch of woodglue on the puri before they apply the syahi, though it is not the proper method and i believe that this tablas might have not the same long reverberance. mix the glue nicely with a little water until it is uniform and then apply it with a matchstick to the loose point and let it sink in. It is good to put a drop of water to the loose point before.
excellent thank you
@@TexasTablaif this works for you please post a video on this 😊
@@Sriranjan_Nanda_Ramesh ill try it soon
A to C is unrealistic for a normal sized dayan and you don't want to stretch it too tight anyway. I killed a few puris by tuning them too high, usually to get to :D. They never cracked while tuning or playing them, but if the dayan is tuned to the lower to mid range of it's potential, it just doesn't crack from my 30 years of experience. If the syhai starts buzzing or not is probably due to the quality of the syhai powder they use. I'm buying my puris in Germany (India-Instruments) and they buy them from different tabla-makers. From my last 5 puris the oldest ones, I used most, are still fine while two of the newest were even buzzing from the start. Actually it got better with powder and that's IMO not the reason, while humidity certainly doesn't help. Super glue seems the only option to fix it if you find the buzzing piece and a very bright lamp is useful for that. It's easier to find with the bayan.
I also bought the plastic Karunya tabla this year (D-E) and it's syhai can't buzz, because it's solid and even water-proofed, but that might be the main reason it doesn't resonate like a real one. I would still recommend it as a practice tabla, backup and tuned to D# or E the difference seems rather small. The D-E model can be even tuned between C# and E#. With shipping it's probably less than 250 bucks to the US for a full set. My other dayans are tuned to G, A, B, C, C# and D.
What about the wood? How heavy is the dayan and density. What about the skin thickness and shayai quality.
shisham wood as far as I know, and the syahi is thicker than delhi made tablas
Great review! I’ve been using Somnath's Dugga for a while, and it’s been impressive. I own both Qasim Khan and Mukta Das' Tablas, but I find Das's Tabla aligns best with my tonal preferences. Their Duggas are pretty good too. I’m considering getting a Somnath Kakade Tabla soon. Do you have a Mukta Das Tabla yourself?
i had before yes
I have tablas by Mukta Das, Somnath Kakade and Mohd Sharif. I love the sweet tone of the Mukta Das tablas for sure, as well as the sturdiness of Somnath’s tablas. But lately I’m finding that Sharif’s tablas have the best overall balance of good sound, sturdy build, excellent and fullness of tone from the baya. I love Somnath dearly, but for me personally his tablas are a bit too “hard”. Mukta’s are on the other end of the spectrum.
Preferences will vary from person to person, will depend also on your hands, as well as your mood. There are days when I just really want to hear the sweet tone and long sustain from Mukta’s tablas, other days when I really want depth in my dhir dhir and terekete, which is when I’ll turn to my Sharif set.
I’m finding that I’m doing the majority of my practice on Sharif’s tabla, but I’ll occasionally pull out the Mukta set for performance or recording as the tone is just amazing, and due to the thinner skin my hands can just move faster on his set also.
th-cam.com/users/shorts0k8qCLZMNSo?si=IT8YNYH1Bu4eq87k
Brother could you please make tutorial for this bol🙏🏻
@@mangeshdeshpande4541 this is just fast dha ti