The Great Pakistani Tabla Making Challenge- Final Part

The concluding part of the three part series on the tabla makers of Pakistan is now presented with the results of the tabla making challenge.

In January 2010, fourteen of the most prominent tabla makers of Pakistan agreed to participate in a competition to make a tabla dayaan drum. The competition was primarily a tool to engage the craftsmen to showcase their ability and market them before a potential international client base. The winner would receive an amount of 50,000 Pakistani Rupees.

Winners Qaiser Hussain and Naseer Hussain

Each maker was asked to produce a tabla dayaan tuned to C sharp with a playing skin diameter of 5.75 inches. The main criteria for judging the best drum was the sound quality, with particular attention given to the resonance and the uniformity of tone known as ‘thaap-kinaar’. The skin quality, selection of wood and overall appearance constituted other factors used to judge the best drum.

The following are details on the top five drums. There was very little to differentiate between the five makers apart from that ‘very little extra’. We start off with the winners, brothers Qaiser Hussain and Naseer Hussain.

Qaiser and Naseer Hussain
Contact: 0092-3004193296
Wood Selected: Black Sheesham
This drum was selected as the winning entry solely on the basis of the sound. The tone was completely round with excellent sustain. The application of the siyahi was balanced, not too heavy and not too light. The duo of Qaiser and Naseer rightly deserved the award of 50,000 Rupees and justified their status amongst Pakistan’s leading tabla makers by winning the tabla making challenge.

Akhtar Hussain- Haji Nasir- Aqeel Hussain

Contact: Haji Nasir 0092-3009486304
Contact: Aqeel Hussain 0092- 3135593355
Wood Selected: Black Sheesham

It was a pretty tight finish between this drum and the eventual winner by Qaiser- Naseer. Overall in terms of appearance and sound, this was the best drum, but the slightly better sound of Qaiser’s dayaan swayed the judges’ favour. Nevertheless, excellent sustain and bright sound. This was the last commissioned work by renowned maker Akhtar Hussain who sadly passed away in April 2010.

Ghulam Abbas ‘Labba’

Contact: 0092-3004682719
Wood Selected: Black Sheesham
It was a total surprise to the judges to sample the dayaan by Ghulam Abbas ‘Labba’ as not much is known for his ability to make classical based tablas, although he is one of Qawwali tabla maestro Ustad Dildar Hussain’s favourite makers. The siyahi applied to the skin was heavy in true ‘Dhonkal’ style and the sound characterized by heavy sustain. The tone of the dayaan had more mid levels compared with highs of the drums by Qaiser and Akhtar. Overall, this was an excellent sounding drum.

Mushtaq Hussain

Contact: 0092-3015112671
Wood Selected: Black Sheesham
Senior craftsman Mushtaq’s dayaan came in at a worthy and respectable fourth position. The drum was characterized by a warm tone and very comfortable to play as a result of the ‘kinaar’ being adequately cut and balanced application of the siyahi.

  

Mujahid Hussain Tufail ‘Labba’

Contact: 0092-3325146082
Wood Selected: Black Sheesham
The son of renowned maker Tufail Hussain, Mujahid Labba was a late entrant to the competition but nonetheless did a fabulous job. The dayaan had a similar tone to Mushtaq Hussain’s drum. The dayaan further strengthened Labba’s position amongst the finest tabla makers in Pakistan by ranking amongst the top five makers in the competition.

Congratulations to Qaiser and Naseer on winning the tabla competition, but in all honesty, there was very little separating the top five drums. It also must be noted that the makers not featuring in the top five are equally as competent in producing outstanding tablas.

It is hoped that you have enjoyed reading the series on Pakistani tabla making and it should provide the craftsmen necessary exposure to reach out to more customers. For further information, please feel free to contact the makers directly or send an e-mail to me on sadarang786@googlemail.com

I would like to sincerely thank Usman Malik for logistical assistance in transporting the drums to the UK and Peter A. Brandt for reviewing the script of this write-up.

The Great Pakistani Tabla Making Challenge- Part 2

Some of the tablas....

We move to the second part of the three part series of the tabla making challenge involving the major craftsmen of Pakistan. Just to recap, each participating tabla maker was asked to produce a tabla dayaan tuned to C sharp with a playing skin diameter of 5.75 inches. Here are the profiles and selected products offered by each maker. For further information, kindly contact the maker directly or alternatively send an e-mail to sadarang786@googlemail.com

The first profile is of Haji Akhtar Ali, who runs the sole tabla shop in the village where Pakistani tabla making began, Dhonkal.

Dhonkal

Haji Akhtar Ali

Ancestral Village: Dhonkal

Contact:0092-3026650500

Haji Akhtar Ali owns the sole tabla making shop remaining in Dhonkal today. Most of his customers are based in rural Punjab.

Lahore

Akhtar Hussain
Aqeel Hussain
Haji Nasir Hussain

Akhtar Hussain

Aqeel Hussain

Haji Nasir

Ancestral Village- Dheerkay

Owner of the Awami Rhythm store, Akhtar Hussain was a favourite craftsman for leading percussionists Ustad Shaukat Hussain and Ustad Tari Khan.

Akhtar Hussain passed away due to a protracted illness in 2010. His last commissioned work was for this contest. Younger brother Haji Nasir Hussain (0092- 3009486304) now manages the store. Akhtar’s son Aqeel (0092- 3135593355) is also an extremely gifted craftsman amongst the younger generation.

Photo Gallery

Instruments made by Akhtar Hussain and Haji Nasir Hussain

Babar Ali 'Rambo'

Babar Ali alias ‘Rambo’ Ancestral Village- Dhonkal
Contact: 0092- 3058032825
Babar is the son of the distinguished tabla maestro Ustad Bashir Hussain Goga. He is striving hard in being recognized as a respected maker.

Ghulam Abbas 'Labba'

 Ghulam Abbas alias Labba
Ancestral Village- Dhonkal   
Contact: 0092-3004682719          
Son of Latif Ali and nephew of Ustad Bashir Hussain Goga, Labba has recently found prominence for being one of the favoured makers of the qawwali tabla maestro Ustad Dildar Hussain. High pitched tablas are his specialty.

Niyamat Hussain

Niyamat Ali
Contact:0092-3008098305
Niyamat was the apprentice of the legendary maker Sadiq Hussain and has the rare distinction of being amongst the few tabla makers who have made a mark outside the Dhonkal- Dheerkay clan. His ability has been praised highly by tabla players Ustad Jimmy Khan and Sajid Ali.

Qaiser and Naseer Hussain

Qaiser Hussain and Naseer Hussain
Ancestral Village- Dheerkay
Contact: 0092-3004193296
Amongst the finest tabla makers in Pakistan are the Hussain brothers, Qaiser and Naseer. They have an excellent reputation for making quality instruments, especially classical and qawwali tablas. Ustad Tafo Khan and Ustad Dildar Hussain are their regular clients.

Photo Gallery

A selection of Qaiser Hussain's instruments

Rafaqat Ali

Rafaqat Ali

Ancestral Village: Dhonkal

Contact: 0092-3008873794

Rafaqat is a nephew of Ustad Bashir Hussain Goga and runs ‘Zeenat Mausiqui’. He specializes in novel designs of tabla making including ‘Double Goond’ and ‘Goom Siyahi’ tablas.

Photo Gallery

Rafaqat Ali's selection of drums

Rawalpindi

Gulfam Hussain 'Labba'

Gulfam Hussain ‘Labba’
Ancestral Village- Dheerkay
Gulfam is not as well known as his Dheerkay cousins but nonetheless produces good quality instruments. His specialty is high pitched tablas and braided gajra work known as ‘Hunter goond’.

Photo Gallery

Gulfam Hussain alias Labba's special braided skin

Mujahid Hussain 'Labba'

Mujahid Hussain ‘Labba’- Tufail Hussain

Ancestral village- Dheerkay

Contact: 0092-332 5146082

Labba is amongst the finest craftsmen of his generation and is renowned for his sweet sounding bayaans favored by Ustad Tari Khan. He learnt the craft from his father, the great Tufail Hussain, who sadly passed away in 2010. Tufail Hussain oversaw the construction of the drum during this competition.

Mushtaq Hussain

Mushtaq Hussain
Ancestral village- Dheerkay
Contact: 0092-3015112671
Mushtaq is the younger brother of the great tabla maker Sadiq Hussain and makes exceptionally good tablas. Mushtaq is regarded amongst the top makers in Pakistan.

Gujrat

Ilyas Hussain

 Ilyas Hussain
Contact: 0092-3016220645
Ilyas is the disciple of renowned tabla maker Ustad Nabi Bukhsh alias Baba Nabba of Dhonkal. A lot of Qawwals request Ilyas's tabla making skills.

Peshawar

Murtaza Raheem Bukhsh

Murtaza Raheem Bukhsh
Ancestral Village: Dhonkal
Contact: 0092-3005884180
Murtaza is rated as the best tabla maker in Peshawar. His tablas are frequently used by tabla players of both Pushto and classical music. The late Ustad Khalifa Akhtar Hussain, Sabz Ali and Ustad Nisar Hussain Qadri are some of his clients.

Karachi



Arif with his mentor Ustad Arshad Ali

Arif Hussain and Shahid Hussain

Ancestral Village: Laidar Gujrat

Contact: 0092-3016871419

Arif hails from a family of instrument makers from a village called Laidar in Gujrat who are disciples of the Dhonkal- Dheerkay clan. He has almost 40 years of experience and used to make the tablas for his mentor, the late Ustad Arshad Ali. Arif's son Shahid is taking the hereditary profession forward.

Father and Son Duo
Tanveer and Saddam

Tanveer Hussain and Saddam Hussain
Ancestral Village: Laidar Gujrat
Contact: 0092-3432618578
Tanveer Hussain is the owner of  ‘Barkat Prince Music House’ in the ‘tabla galli’ located in Lea Market Karachi. Tanveer is regarded amongst the senior most tabla makers in Karachi, having been trained under the guidance of his elder brother, the late Shaada Pehelwan.

Images of other craftsmen not participating in the tabla making challenge

Profiles of all the prominent tabla makers of Pakistan have now been provided to readers. The winner of the Pakistani Tabla Making Challenge will be revealed in the concluding part of the blog….

The Great Pakistani Tabla Making Challenge- Part 1

Tabla Maker Qaiser Hussain

One of the most demanding, yet understated crafts is the art of instrument making. Painstaking effort and expertise go into the construction of each musical instrument to give artists outstanding professional quality. The process is made even more difficult when a craftsman has to translate the musician’s demands into an instrument which is able to replicate the musical expression of the artist.

In South Asia, instrument making like many other traditional art forms is more or less considered a hereditary profession, where the knowledge is passed on from generation to generation, resembling a mentor- apprentice relationship otherwise known as the ‘ustad-shagird silsila’. One such group constitutes the tabla makers of Dhonkal and Dheerkay.

Located 80 kilometres from the cultural capital of the Punjab in Lahore, the village of Dhonkal had a reputation for being the centre point for building high quality tablas. This tradition goes back almost 250 years, beginning with Mian Baana, a resident of Dhonkal who is said to have been gifted the profession by his spiritual guru or ‘Pir’, Syed Qaim Din Shah. The art was subsequently passed down from generation to generation and relatives in the neighbouring village of Dheerkay.

Following partition, the Dhonkal- Dheerkay craftsmen shifted to urban centres of Lahore, Karachi, Rawalpindi and Peshawar. Today, the clan still proudly display the name of their respective villages on the signboards of their small and cramped shops, which symbolise the high standards of craftsmanship they were brought up with. A single instrument shop remains in Dhonkal serving as a nostalgic reminder to the village’s musical past.



The Tabla Makers of Karachi

Pakistani tablas are renowned for the rich and roundedness of tone favoured by classical and qawwali tabla players. In particular, tablas tuned to a high pitch are considered a speciality. Leading tabla maker Qaiser Hussain states the main factors in making a good quality tabla are the selection of the skin, adjusting the thickness of the skin and ensuring its uniformity a process known as ‘manjhayee’ and the correct application of the black paste called ‘siyahi’.

The business of producing percussive instruments continued to thrive until the 1990s, but the increased use of electronic and western instruments, the lack of popularity of traditional music in Pakistan, and the economic downturn have created a drop in demand. Furthermore, increasing costs and scarcity of essential materials have also affected business. One thing continues; the makers do not compromise on quality.



Lahore made dayaan

In order to encourage the craftsmen and expose them to a wider market, a challenge was sent out in 2010 to all of the major makers in the form of a competition. The rules were simple; each maker was asked to produce a tabla dayaan or ‘chatthu’ suitable for classical music and tuned to C sharp and be equipped with a playing skin diameter of 5.75 inches. The winner would receive a cash prize of 50,000 PKR and be judged on the selection of the shell, the appearance of the drum, and most importantly the tone. As a bonus, the manufacturer's profiles and product images would be posted on the Internet to allowing interested individuals to contact the makers directly.

2012 is coming to a close and finally this writer has managed to write about the competition, provide details of the participants and post the results. We’ll proceed with the tabla making challenge and meet the makers in part two of this write up…..

Pakhawaj Ang

The characteristics of the Punjab Baaj of tabla are said to have been based upon a strong foundation in the pakhawaj with many senior practitioners and musicologists unanimously agreeing that the initial evolution of Punjabi tabla was abriged from pakhawaj based compositions.

The Punjab gharana itself is often referred as a ‘Gharana of Pakhawajis’ as the earlier exponents were reputed pakhawaj players accompanying the musical form of Dhrupad, popular in North India up until the first half of the 20th century. Mian Faqir Bukhsh, Mian Qadir Bukhsh, Baba Malang Khan, Bhai Naseera and Bhai Santoo are some of the illustrious names associated with the Punjab tradition of Pakhawaj playing. Mian Qadir Bukhsh and Baba Malang Khan are in fact considered as bridging forces between the Pakhawaj orientated tradition moving over to a recognised style of tabla playing.

With the paradigm shift in popularity of dhrupad towards khayal, musicians focussed purely on the tabla. Senior tabla players based in Pakistan state that the Pakhawaj was restricted only to initial training to strengthen the hand of young students, a practice no longer followed.

The following link is of a performance by the last recognised master of the Punjabi Pakhawaj tradition, Ustad Talib Hussain, who was tragically murdered in 1993. The clip was recorded in the late 1980s at the Lok Virsa studios in Islamabad.



The lack of popularity of the pakhawaj has meant that there are currently only a handful of musicians performing the Punjabi style of Pakhawaj. However, as a result of social media websites there is now growing awareness of this great tradition and of its remaining masters.

The triumvirate of Sukhwinder Singh Namdhari, Bhai Baldeep Singh and Allah Lok in particular have attained recognition and exposure through concerts and presence on media portals such as www.youtube.com creating a resurgence of interest amongst youngsters.

Ustad Sukhwinder Singh alias ‘Pinky Singh’ is considered amongst the foremost tabla players in the world, having been trained in the Benaras Baj by the legendary Pandit Kishan Maharaj. Alongside his prowess over the tabla, Sukhwinder is an outstanding pakhawaji, having been groomed by Ustad Nihaal Singh, a leading disciple of the legendary Bhai Nasira.

Realising his responsibility of being a vital custodian of an exclusive tradition, Sukhwinder Singh has been devoting a greater amount of energy in propagating the Punjabi Pakhawaj also known as Jori Pakhawaj or Saath to audiences and his students.

The undernoted link from the Darbar Festival in 2009 showcases Ustad Sukhwinder Singh’s mastery over the Jori-Pakhawaj.



Bhai Baldeep Singh is associated with the Sultanpur Lodhi- Amritsari Baj and is regarded as the tradition’s authoritative head or khalifa. Bhai Baldeep boldly claims that the Amritsar gharana is an independent entity to the widely recognised Punjab gharana and that certain members of his gharana were responsible for training some of the doyens of the Punjab gharana, primary amongst them, Ustad Bhawani Das/ Din, widely regarded as the founder of the Punjab Baj.

Bhai Baldeep is a multifaceted individual with immense knowledge of both vocal and instrumental music and is presently foreseeing activities as the Head of the Anad Conservatory in Sultanpur Lodhi, Kapurthala. Further information can be obtained via his website www.bhaibaldeepsingh.com and www.anadfoundation.org

A clip of Bhai Baldeep Singh performing in Delhi, Asif Ali Khan accompanies on the sarangi.



Here are a couple of clips from youtube posted by anadfoundation of Sukhwinder Singh and Bhai Baldeep performing a rare duet.






The pakhawaj Punjab tradition in Pakistan is solely being represented by Ustad Allah Lok. A gifted tabla player, Allah Lok took up the Pakhawaj rather late in his career when aged in his early 40s as a reaction to the tragic death of Ustad Talib Hussain in 1993. He was trained under Ustad Inayat Khan, a disciple of Baba Malang Khan. The following link consists of an interview conducted with the Pakhawaj maestro in Moti Mahal, Lahore in 2003 for the Sadarang Archives website

Allah Lok has won immense respect amongst classical music listeners for persisting with a tradition in a country without any takers. Here is an excerpt of the ustad performing the 9 beat rhythm cycle at a concert organised by the Lahore Music Forum in February 2012.



The trio of Sukhwinder Singh, Bhai Baldeep and Allah Lok represent an important gateway to the Punjab legacy and are working diligently in training up the next generation of talented students such as Gyan Singh, Parminder Singh Bhamra and Qamar Abbas. It would be a great service if somebody could bring the three together to join hands and produce an audio-visual document safeguarding the priceless repertoire they possess, if only......