The Versatility of Doumbek by Benedict Perez
The goblet drum known as the doumbek is shaped as its name suggests a goblet. This hand drum is widely used in Arabic Assyrian Persian Turkish Armenian Balkan Greek Azeri music. It is an ancient instrument although the exact period of its origin is not known.
The unique crisp sound of the drum is because of its lean receptive drumhead timbre. A player only needs to lightly touch goblet drums for different strokes to produce including rolls or quick rhythms using the fingertips in contrast to hand drums like Africas djembe. There are only two basic kinds of goblet drums.
The Egyptian style can be recognized by its rounded edges around the head. The Turkish style on the other hand has an exposed head edge. This exposed edge lets the drummer get closer with finger snapping techniques to the head.
But the rapid rolls in the Egyptian style are not advisable with the hard edge of the Turkish style. The doumbek goblet drum can be played held under one arm normally the non dominant arm. It can also be placed between the knees while the drummer is seated.
A low sustain resonant sound is produced if it played lightly using the palm the fingertips. The tone is altered if the fists are moved in out of the bell. The various rhythms of the goblet drum form the basis of the Middle Easts folkloric modern music dance styles.
The goblet drum has two central sounds. The doum a deeper base sound created when the head is struck near the center with the palm the fingers full length is the first. The second is the tek a sound with a high pitch created when the fingertips hit the edge of the head; evidently showing the doumbeks versatility.
Doumbek yourworldinstruments. com doumbek s 2. htm. It is goblet shaped drum that originated in Egypt is popular in the Middle East. It plays a distinctive sound of music of deep high tones. This is usually used for belly dancing Indian drum circles other related feasting. Simply visit this site at yourworldinstruments. com yourworldinstruments. com for selections. The Versatility of Doumbek
