tabl(m): drum

Description of tabl: The Urdu word tabl refers to a traditional pair of small hand-played drums used in South Asian folk and devotional music. Unlike the larger, tuned tabla pair prominent in Hindustani classical performances, tabl features simpler pottery or metal bodies with animal-skin heads tuned by wedges. Differs from the Maghrebi tabl, which uses two linked poteries struck in rural and Sufi contexts. In Punjabi poetry, it evokes rhythmic village festivities.