FINGERS OF FURY

Percussion of the Arabic World

and beyond

Part 1 - Intro / Darbuka

Matt Stonehouse
 The Darbuka
As briefly mentioned in the forward the darbuka is a goblet
shaped hand drum. It has many names depending on the
country and then the region within that country. One popular
name given to the darbuka is doumbek. This comes from
the bass tone of the drum, ‘doum’ and the high tone ‘bek’.
Sometimes this name can create confusion due to the goblet
drum of Iran called the Tombak. The Tombak is a timber and
skin drum and has different tones to the doumbek hence the
confusion. This also occurs with the Egyptians referring to the
darbuka as the Tabla (tablah).
Whilst the name is correct, we still have to differentiate
between the Indian tabla and the Egyptian one, which are
both very different drums. It is not certain how long the
goblet drum has enjoyed its success in music, but through
artistic representation we find that frame drums were
the chief percussion instrument up until the beginning of
the last century.
These days they all hang on the wall unplayable due to
Australia’s humid climate, and my two metal and plastic drums
come to all my gigs with me instead!
A great tragedy indeed. Expect the darbuka chapter to be fun,
challenging and at times mildly frustrating. Just like learning
anything worth your while it will require patience and some
discipline. When practicing your technique it may be more
inspiring to have your favourite Middle Eastern CD playing in
the background to encourage you. I always do this when I’m
practicing the real dry stuff although these days I’ll probably
put the Beach Boys on and picture myself practicing under a
coconut tree!

Having said this however, there are ancient paintings and

miniatures of musicians playing what could be a goblet drum
on their shoulder dating back to the 12th century. By having the
drum on the shoulder it could be played in a similar way to the
frame drum. As the names vary from region to region so do
the techniques. The Lebanese players have their own original
tone, ornamentation and representation of common Middle
Eastern rhythms, as do the Syrians, Turkish and Egyptians.

Recently a new technique called split finger has swept through

Turkey and become extremely popular, especially with the
younger players. This technique is very similar to the right hand
motion of a North Indian tabla player allowing the drummer to
play faster and more efficiently.
Split finger technique is not covered in this book however we
will develop the right hand in a similar fashion. The darbuka
was originally made of clay for the shell and used skins such as
goat, camel and fish tied over one end with the other open.

Today these are still available however the aluminum and

synthetic drums are far more durable and less sensitive to
changing weather conditions. On returning from my first
trip to Turkey and Iran I was so proud of all my beautiful
skin drums.

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 Holding the Darbuka

Have a good look at the pictures and notice that I have one leg slightly forward and one leg back. This creates a
small dip in the right leg and locks the drum into position a bit. The left arm is also locking the drum against the
body and it is these two points that will stop it wobbling about and falling of your lap. Notice too, I push the drum
forward a little to give my arms some space to move. Depending on the type of sound that I want, usually my left
arm will be resting on the drum and not suspended in the ai r. It will take some time in order to get the sound you
want but will prevent any shoulder injuries in the future. It’s all about minimizing energy and maximizing tone.

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 1 2

3 4
The basic techniques used in many of these rhythms are
Dum, Tuk, Ka and Slap. Think of these as those three or four
guitar chords that allow you to play all the Beatles and Neil
Young songs you’ve dreamed of. The ‘Dum’ is played with the
right hand (or left if you are that way inclined) and produces
the bass tone, i.e. dum. Make sure when playing this stroke
that you don’t ‘whack it’ and just play it as a nice solid….
duuuuuuoooooommmmmm.
The high tone which is played on the outside of the skin is
‘Tuk’. This is also played with the right hand. There are several
ways of playing the tuk including one where the drummer
catches a knife being thrown at them by a crazed belly dancer
not happy with the tempo! The high tone produced with the
left hand is the ‘Ka’, generally not accented as much as the Tuk.
The ‘ka’ seems to be the stroke most students have problems
with. It seems like an awkward position to strike the skin at
but later on will become comfortable and make more sense to
your hand and wrist. This leaves us with the ‘Slap’ technique,
which is also played with the right hand. This is the hardest of
the basic techniques and is achieved when the hand is cupped
and strikes the drum with only the high frequencies cutting
through, without the sustain and with no bass frequencies.
 Two FOUR RHYTHMS

Below I have listed most of my favourite 2/4 rhythms and
then a couple of variations on these. We start with the
fundamental pattern and build (ornament) onto this.
The rhythms are in 2/4 thus meaning it will take a count of ‘2’
before the cycle is repeated again.
I have started with a very powerful and more ‘spiritual’ rhythm
called ‘Ayub.’ This rhythm is used across the Middle East and
you may be familiar with it from the Sufi music of the Whirling
Dervishes of Turkey. In a graceful spin the dervishes gradually
speed up and use the trance inspired rhythm sound of Ayub
to elevate themselves closer to God: Allah. It’s very beautiful
to watch and powerful to play in a group of like minded
drummers. In Egypt, Ayub is called ‘Zar’ and is used for similar
reasons but also to drive off evil spirits. You will also find Ayub
being played across the Mahgreb.

5 9

21 e & a 2 e & a 21 e & a 2 e & a

4 D K D T 4 T K K T K D

6 10

21 e & a 2 e & a 21 e & a 2 e & a

4 D T K D T 4 D K K D K K T K

7 11

21 e & a 2 e & a 21 e & a 2 e & a

4 T K T D 4 D K K D K K S K

8 12

21 e & a 2 e & a 21 e & a 2 e & a

4 T K T K D 4 D T K

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 Two FOUR RHYTHMS

13 17

21 e & a 2 e & a 21 e & a 2 e & a

4 D K K D K 4 D D K

14 18

21 e & a 2 e & a 21 e & a 2 e & a

4 D K T K D K T 4 D K D

15 19

21 e & a 2 e & a 21 e & a 2 e & a

4 D K T K D K S 4 D K K T K K T K

16 20

21 e & a 2 e & a 21 e & a 2 e & a

4 D D D K 4 D K T K K T K K

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 FOUR FOUR RHYTHMS
Now we come to 4/4 rhythms which you guessed it, take a
count of four before starting the cycle once again. You will
now notice the extra length of these patterns and I’m sure
also the familiar sound of Maqsum. If you have listened to
much Middle Eastern music then you will know what I mean!
These rhythms are my teachers. I thought I could play them ten
years ago and then discovered I didn’t have the right feel. Then
I thought I could play them correctly a few years ago but later
learnt that I couldn’t!!! I feel that I am just starting to get the
hang of these now.
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I learnt some great ways to play maqsum and saiidi from a
wonderful Lebanese player in Melbourne, Australia. He showed
me how to get the power and feel into it, to get the rhythm
off the ground and take flight. There’s also the Turkish way
of playing which has different techniques with the fingers.
The feel that results from this is awesome, hard to play but
sounds great. I think that many drummers would agree with
me when I say that after 20 years of playing one would still
be learning to play maqsum correctly. For this chapter I will
keep it within the few basic yet important techniques we have
learnt so far.
 THANK YOU FOR READING
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