Drums and Tablas

[atimblo]

I'm in a Fusion band and we always have a really hard time getting the tablas and the drums to reach levels where both can be clearly heard.

 

Either the drums are too loud or the tablas are too soft.

 

The monitors don't help most of the time since the gain on the tablas really have to be high and this ends up causing feedback if we want the monitors to reach an acceptable level of hearing.

 

Any suggestions on what I should do?

[DrummerCafe]

A nightmare indeed.

 

Try putting the drums and tabla on opposite sides of the stage; I'm assuming that each have their own player and not one guy using both.

 

I have yet to see a fusion band achieve this successfully when it involves two players. Tabla are such a delicate instrument dynamically speaking ... they just can't compete with that kind of volume.

 

Personally, if I'm playing percussion, I rarely use tabla and opt to use doumbec or some other hand drum that is more cutting.

 

Trying to mic the tabla and not pick up the rest of the band is a problem as well. You might think about using plexi-glass around the tabla ... and even the drummer.

 

Sorry to sound so gloomy ... but what you are trying to attempt is not an easy task. Good luck ... you'll need it.

[Tedster]

Stupid idea from a non-drummer, but would using something like "Hot Rods" on the drums help?

 

Aside to that...run the tabla through a Marshall stack... kidding...

[vudoo]

the answer is the Handsonic !!! hihi !!

I know this is not the answer you want to hear but i just did a gig with a great percussionist who specializes in Idian and African hand drum...he came to the gig with the handsonic...MAN !!! it was AMAZING...he told me, he MUCH prefer giging with the handsonic in a high volume situtation . It took him a little bit of time to get used to the Handsonic and you must also approach it as its own instrument instead of trying to emulate its acoustic courterpart.

It's funny, because when i tried the Handsonic a while back, i thought it was a fun instrument but felt that with my Drumkat turbo and Akai S5000/6000 i could do most of what the Handsonic offers...WRONG, after hearing this guy rip on the beast...i really want one !!!

[DrummerCafe]

I feel that my drumKAT will do the same for the most part ... and I've played a Hand Sonic. Don't get me wrong, I think it's cool and has a few lights, bells and whistles that the drumKAT has ... but the drumKAT is far more flexible and versatile, which I know you would have to agree with. I may get one someday, but for now I'm putting my money into more acoustic instruments.

 

Good suggestion however!

[vudoo]

I think to compare the DK and HS is a little unfair since they are different animal. for some stuff, yes the DK KILLS the HS BUT for other stuff, the HS kicks the DK butt BIG time !!!

You see, i thought exactly the same thing as you when i played the HS for the first time...cool toy but blah ! blah !...then, i realized, after seing a REAL percussionist play the HS , that, this thing is REALLY amazing.

To be honest, i think to REALLY get the full potential of the the HS you have to be an excellent percussionist...i mean most good drummers can only play basic conga, Djembe, bongo patterns...that's why we don't really appreciate the potential of the HS.

Anyways, this dude i gig with blew me away when he was playing some tabla grooves on the HS. Just the way he mooves his fingers on different area of the same pad he gets all these amazing sound and by putting pressure on that same pad, you hear the timbre of the instrument changing ( all this on ONE pad !!! )...at the same time he's running his left hand on the ribbon...creating this KILLER groove.

You see, in order for anyone to even attempt that, it takes YEARS of practicing Tabla just to get the proper technique down. You should also have to hear what this dude does with the Udu, Djembe patch..i'm speechless !!!!

I'm DEFINITELY picking a HS up..NOT to replace any real percussion instrument but i'll use it just like the way i use my DK..i'll try to learn some basic technique relevant to wichever percusion instrument, then try to come up with some really KILLER grooves by combining with the Ribbon, D-beam...thus creating something that no acoustic instrument can ever do...

For me that's the secret of all this electronic stuff...it's silly to try to replace the acoustic stuff..you must use it as a different instrument !!!

If you ever have a chance to check out, Jim Blackman ( with Laurie Anderson )...he played HS during most of the gig and it was GREAT ( he's a killer drummer too )...i also just bought a few records with Abe Laboriel Jr, who's a great drummer, and he played some cool HS stuff on those records ..man ! i'm inspired !!!

[DrummerCafe]

Originally posted by vudoo:

I think to compare the DK and HS is a little unfair since they are different animal. for some stuff, yes the DK KILLS the HS BUT for other stuff, the HS kicks the DK butt BIG time !!!

You see, i thought exactly the same thing as you when i played the HS for the first time...cool toy but blah ! blah !...then, i realized, after seing a REAL percussionist play the HS , that, this thing is REALLY amazing.

To be honest, i think to REALLY get the full potential of the the HS you have to be an excellent percussionist...i mean most good drummers can only play basic conga, Djembe, bongo patterns...that's why we don't really appreciate the potential of the HS.

 

Well, I am a REAL percussionist (and drummer) and a REAL hand drummer and I REALLY play tabla.

 

I agree with your points that the two are different ... and I'm not really trying to compare them. Except for some "new" cool features from the Hand Sonic, I can use my drumKAT with my hands ... playing all the rocking motions and such, just like on congas, bongos, djembe, doumbec ... AND tabla. I think the Hand Sonic is definitely laid out better for hand drums ... no doubt about that. But with some experimenting, like what I've done, you can figure out how to set-up the drumKAT to work equally as well ... using just your hands.

 

I'm right there with you dude ...... the Hand Sonic is VERY cool ... but if you don't have the bread, and you have a drumKAT ... I would encourage you to experiment with it some more. For the left hand, you just set-up Pad 1 for the heal of the hand, Pad 4 for the finger tips, etc. Or you can do it at more of an angle.

 

Check out Mario's video demos of the drumKAT over on the Alternate Mode web site. To hear tabla ... go to: http://alternatemode.com/videos/India.mov

 

He's using two drumKATs, but that's because he's not just playing tabla ... but also sitar, sarod and other accompaniment instruments LIVE all at the same time!

[vudoo]

Hi Bart,

 

I already saw all those videos a while back. It's not bad, but personnally, with all respect, i'm a bit tire of all the one man band drummer..it's kind of cheesy...but it's only my opinion.

To get back to the HS/DK thing. As i said on my previous post...when this dude was playing Tabla, he does some REALLY cool stuff with the beam and ribbon thus creating in real time grooves that is impossible to do with real acoustic ( a la Liquid groove )...and to me, that's what electronic is all about because trying to simulate acoustic stuff with electronics all sounds kind of cheesy.