Thavil
The Thavil (Tamil: wikt:தவில்) or Tavil is a barrel shaped drum from South India. It is used in temple, folk and Carnatic music, often accompanying the nadaswaram. The thavil and the nadaswaram are essential components of traditional festivals and ceremonies in South India.
In folk music contexts, a pair of wider, slimmer sticks is sometimes used. Thanjavur is famous for thavil, so called Thanjavur Thavil. In Kollywood Filmi songs thavils are mostly used, Notable movies: "Thillaanaa Mohanambal", "Paruthiveeran", "Karagattakaran".
History
Physical components
The thavil consists of a cylindrical shell hollowed out of a solid block of jackfruit wood. Layers of animal skin (water buffalo on the right, goat on the left) are stretched across the two sides of the shell using hemp hoops attached to the shell. The right face of the instrument has a larger diameter than the left side, and the right drum head is stretched very tightly, while the left drum head is kept loose to allow pitch bending. The larger face is higher in pitch than the smaller face.
Methods of use / Posture
The instrument is either played while sitting, or hung by a cloth strap (called nadai) from the shoulder of the player. The right head is played with the right hand, wrist and fingers. The player usually wears thumb caps on all the fingers of the right hand, made of hardened glue from maida flour. The left head is played with a short, thick stick made from the wood of the portia tree. It is not uncommon for left-handed players to use the opposite hands, and some nadaswaram groups feature both a right- and a left-handed thavil player.
Strokes
Modern usage
Veteran thavilists
Some master thavil players:[1]
- Valangaiman A. Shanmugasundaram Pillai
- Valayapatti A.R. Subramaniam
- Haridwaramangalam A. K. Palanivel
- Thedchanamoorthy
- Needamangalam Meenakshi Sundaram Pillai
- Bhusurapalli Adiseshaiah
- Iluppur Panchami
- Kumbakonam Thangavel Pillai
- Natchiarkoil Raghava Pillai
- Needamangalam Shanmugavadivel
- Valangaiman Shanmugasundaram Pillai
- Thiruvalaputhur T A Kaliyamurthy
- Tanjore T R Govindaraj
- Kovilur K.V.Palanivel an eminent Thavil vidwan and professor
- P Karunakaran Polur Thavil & Thabela Vidwan and Manufacturing
- Karuna Murthy [2]
See also
 | Indian classical music portal |