tabla

ta·bla

noun \ˈtä-blə\

Definition of TABLA

: a pair of small different-sized hand drums used especially in music of India

Illustration of TABLA

Origin of TABLA

Hindi & Urdu tablā, from Arabic ṭabla

First Known Use: 1865

tabla

noun    (Concise Encyclopedia)

Indian tabla, consisting of two drums, …—James Blades

Pair of small drums, the principal percussion in Hindustani music of northern India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh. The higher-pitched daya, played with the right hand, is a roughly cylindrical one-skinned drum, usually wooden, normally tuned to the raga's tonic. The baya, played with the left hand, is a deep kettledrum usually of copper; its pitch varies with pressure from the heel of the player's hand. A disk of black tuning paste on the membrane of each drum affects pitch and gives it characteristic overtones.