Dholak

The dholak (Punjabi: ਢੋਲਕ, Bengali: ঢোলক, Hindi: ढोलक; Dutch: dhool in the Netherlands and Suriname and Sinhalese: ඩොල්කි) is a South Asian two-headed hand-drum.

It may have traditional cotton rope lacing, screw-turnbuckle tensioning or both combined: in the first case steel rings are used for tuning or pegs are twisted inside the laces.

The dholak is mainly a folk instrument, lacking the exact tuning and playing techniques of the tabla or the pakhawaj. The drum is pitched, depending on size, with an interval of perhaps a perfect fourth or perfect fifth between the two heads.

It is related to the larger Punjabi dhol and the smaller dholki.

Construction

The smaller surface of the dholak is made of goat skin for sharp notes and the bigger surface is made of buffalo skin for low pitches, which allows a combination of bass and treble with rhythmic high and low pitches.

The shell is sometimes made from sheesham wood (dalbergia sissoo) but cheaper dholaks may be made from any wood, such as mango. Sri Lankan dholaks and dholkis are made from hollowed coconut palm stems.