Ok, so there’s no such place as Doumbekistan on a map, but there is such a place wherever you find a person with such a drum, playing one of the rhythms of the middle east. I am sometimes such a person, and admittedly at the beginning stages of my doumbek drumming journey, but I’d like to use this space nonetheless, to provide whatever information I can about rhythm, drumming and dancing to a live drum. This is for drummers and dancers alike, for the two go hand in hand, held together by the same rhythm.
I’ve been kit drumming for over 13 years, and hand-drumming for about 5 now. Rhythm comes fairly naturally to me, but I know that inside everyone is a place where we can connect to that inner sense of timing-whether it be through drum or dance or both. I’d like to impart to you not only the technical side of drumming-the how to’s- but also the ‘feeling’ side of drumming-that is, what it feels like to find a rhythm, find a groove, and make it your own. There are many great styles and patterns from all over the middle east, but you can also create your own pieces by using and adapting other ‘known’ rhythms, or creating your own, from whatever you feel like drumming at the time. There are many teachers, with many philosophies, and with many ‘rules’ (many of which are of course great to follow-that is why they are ‘rules’!), but in the end, it is about learning to drum well, and having fun.
In this space, I will introduce: aspects of technique; various rhythms (broken down for ease) with notation so that you can practice at your leisure and have a handy reference guide; doumbek information and history; links to places where you can find out more, find a teacher, hear a rhythm, or learn whatever you need to learn or improve your playing.

From listening to Middle Eastern music, whether from a dancing or drumming perspective, it is easy to hear that the basic two notes played on the drum are the low ‘doum’, and the high ‘tek’. While these are the two basic sounds heard from the doumbek when played in it’s simplest form, there are actually three basic ‘notes’ that are played, with two of them sounding the same. More on that in a minute.
First of all, the reason for the different notes on the doumbek, as with any drum, is in it’s shape, and where the drum is struck with the hand or fingers. The low-pitched ‘doum’, akin to the ‘bass’ tone on a drumset, is achieved by striking the center of the drum (or near the center, sometimes) with your fingers together, and held flat as they strike. The fingers should bounce freely back off of the drumhead, to allow the note to resonate quickly and freely through the barrel of the drum (this is where the sound resonates and the pitch reproduced). If the fingers do rest on the drumhead for a time, it will mute the tone, making it sound ‘flat’ (sometimes that is desired, but not for now). As the fingers strike the drum, the rest of the hand can either be held ‘above’ (off) the drum, or the heel can rest on the rim of the drum (without touching the drumhead, as this would change the tone being made). The second note, the high-pitched ‘tek’, is achieved by striking the drumhead with the fingertips only, as close to the edge of the drum (where the drumhead ends, and the drum shell begins) as possible. You will hear, through practice, how the pitch varies with even the slightest variation in distance from the edge of the head, so practice striking the drum as consistantly as possible, for both placement, and pitch (how hard you strike). The third note, the ‘ka’ (which literally means ‘double’, as in a person’s double) is like the tek, but struck with the other hand. The goal is to achieve a tek-like sound, and with practice it can sound just like the tek. Good Luck! (ie- practice, practice practice)
DOUM (right-handed)
-the fingers of the right hand, flattened, strike the center of the drumhead quickly and sharply.
-fingers are relaxed, but firm

Now, what could the ‘body’ mean to drumming or the dummer? You shall see . . .
A drum - any drum - is really a very basic instrument. It consists of a shell, and a ‘head’ (or skin, as most are traditionally made from animal hides or fish skin). When the skin is stretched over the shell, and fixed to it in some fashion, it is ready to be struck to make a sound. The shell can be made of many different materials, such as wood and wood by-products, metals and their alloys, plastic, fiberglass or any number of other man-made materials. The skin also can be made from a variety of materials, ususally divided into two main categories: animals skins and synthetic (man-made) ‘heads’. Now, the point in introducing the variety of types of shells and heads is to make it apparent that this very simple instrument can take on an infinite number of shapes and sizes, and thus tones. Every component within the drum (including the ‘empty’ air space which resonates the sound) contributes to the sound of the drum. The bigger the shell, the lower the tone (notice the bass drum on a drum kit is the largest shell, and the lowest tone). As well, the looser the skin is affixed to the head, the lower the tone, until the point is reached whereby the skin is loose enough as to be ‘flat’ and not make any tone at all (because in order to make a tone, the skin must move and then return to it’s original point-when it is ‘flat’, it will simply move and stay there). So, even though, as a general rule, the tone lowers as the shell size increases, it is also possible to tune two identically sized drums to different tones by simply tightening the skin over the shell. On drums with an animal skin, this is usually done with a system of cords or strings, while on a synthetic drum there is usually a ‘key’ (hex key, drum key or wrench) to do the job. The next factor, regarding the skins themselves is, well, the skin, but for the rest of this article, we are going to focus on the shell - the body - of the drum.
Every culture has drums which have been created for various purposes (not always musical), and from various local materials, thus creating the diversity of sounds we have being made by drums in the world today. The Egyptian tabla, or doumbek was originally fashioned from clay (presumably from the Nile), and topped off with fish-skin. The clay would have been moulded and fired to harden, and was probably made in the same basic shape we see today, starting out wide where the skin attaches, narrowing through the middle, the widening slightly again at the base. This goblet shape is what gives the doumbek it’s distinct tones, most notably the low ‘doum’ and the high ‘tek’. At it’s simplest, an infinite number of rhythms can be played using only these two tones, but of course, us drummers like to play around, and you’ll notice that professional doumbekkers can get many varied sounds from the drum. Generally speaking, the ‘heavier’ the shell, the deeper the doum - examples of this being those made of heavy metals (cast nickel, nickel/brass, or even aluminum veneered with shell), or ceramic. Clay would be a little bit lighter than these, and light metal drums (like thinner aluminum and tin) would have a higher pitched doum. All have their merits, but I definitely prefer a good low doum, as you can make a pretty high tek from any of these shells, whereas the doum is more fixed by the shell weight. Another important factor, is the density of the shell itself - a drum of the same material, but in different thicknesses will produce different sounds. The porousness of the drum also affects the sound, with non-porous metals being crisper, and porous clay being more ‘earthy’ and soft, while maintaining great tones. Any combination of all these factors will produce different sounds, so be aware as you play, as you shop for a drum, of why they sound the way they do, so that you can get the sound you want.
TEK
-fingers strike the head, just at the edge of the drumhead, hitting the shell also
KA
-fingers strike the head, as in the tek, but with the left hand
-there are many different actual techniques (ie-hand off the drum, arm off the drum, or ‘grabbing’ to make the sound).

These 2 beats are probably the most used in all middle eastern music. You will hear them over and over again, buried beneath the music, and behind secondary doumbek accents. But to identify them is important to learning to dance to them. Hearing the accenting of the DOUM's and TEK's will become as much a part of this dance to you and going to a nightclub and hearing the basic beat behind any song that gets you moving.
For more information on the rhythms and to hear examples of them played, visit the following websites: