Tabla; kettledrum

Tabla, single membrane vessel drum. Wooden shell with straight sides, which taper inwards towards the top. The shell is painted red with a green stripe around the centre. Double hide membrane, the upper cut away to form a ring, the lower with a central black tuning patch (siyahi). The membranes attached together with a four-ply leather hoop or gajra. This is held by a lacing of untanned leather (a daval), which is threaded in a V-shaped pattern between the upper hoop and another hide ring around the base (a gudri). Eight cylindrical wooden tensioning blocks (gatta) positioned beneath the lacing. The curved surfaces of the blocks are painted red with a green stripe at each end.