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Newbie seeking advice on amplifying an indian hand drum

anonymous
Submitted by anonymous on

I am playing a 2-headed cylindrical indian hand drum called a pakhawaj. The skins are weighted with the "black spot" like a tabla. I am self taught, and play this instrument using fingering techniques that are more related to another south indian drum called a mridangam. The sound can be much more weighty than a tabla and has a really nice warm sound to it. I believe it has a lot of potential to add new color to various world beats as well as conventional funk, r'n'b etc...



I had a question about amplifying these drums (I havent played in public yet but hope to do so sometime soon).



In home recordings, I used a Shure Beta 57 or a Shure PG 81 condenser and the drum sounds nice in combination with other instruments.



In a live situation with other instruments, what is my best bet? Mike it directly and use a keyboard amp? I tried a Roland 150 KC-350 amp with my beta 57 mike at a local store and it sounded reasonable. Would anyone recommend a mike called a Shure Beta 98H/S that comes with a gooseneck and is apparently good with congas?



Alternatively do people have experience with using an acoustic guitar tye transducer pickup? I cannot access the inside of the drum. .Would I attach it to the wooden cylindrical part or to the skins themselves?



Any insights would be appreciated

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Profile picture for user VulcanDC
VulcanDC

hmm... i engineer a lot of indian classical percussions and instruments....



yeah.... the pakhawaj is really an ancient instrument which is pretty close to the mardangam...



I would put in a small dia condenser on the 'theen' and on the 'daggha' i would put in a large dia condenser... (in the studio)...



for live stuff... i would suggest small dia condenser on the theen and a dynamic mic(SM58) on the Daggha... then send them through a tube amp for added warmth...



cheers

Tue, 04/12/2005 - 23:56 Permalink
anonymous
anonymous

Vulcan,



many thanks for your feedback, really appreciate it, I will try out your suggestions.....



I talked to someone recently who uses a accoustic guitar transducer pick up on the inside of a clay Odu drum....he sends this thru a keynoard amp with a bit of reverb and gets a real nice sound out of it for live applications....



the Odu is actually much closer to a ghatam, and of course the pick up can go on the inside of the drum....which is not possible on the pakhawaj...



thanks very much



Indio

Sun, 04/17/2005 - 17:34 Permalink