Carving Tabla

This short video is from when I went to Banaras in July and I met one of the two families that carves wooden drums there. A few things are interesting to note. The guy chipping away at the inside of the drum is making sure that the interior of the drum is uneven. It is important that the vibrations don't bounce back directly. so it is hard to use a machine to scoop out the insides in an uneven way. In the final frame of the picture, you can see the lathe in the background. There was no electricity at that time, so I didn't get to see it in action. The guy in the blue Loongi (sarong like wrap) has been hacking at the uneven tree trunks to make them more or less uniform so that they can be put in the lathe. I am excited to have already met them. I have yet to meet the tabla wood workers of Lucknow, but hope that will happen soon.