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student vs pro pudhis PERCUSSIVE INSTRUMENTS
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98 posts raanan 98 posts
raanan
thank you alarm123, i've recorded this information, i'm going to work on this particular pudhi until i've gained some tuning experience.

Of course sound and tone is something left to the player though balancing the tuning on this pudhi is proving to be challenge, especially when the Tun pitch goes towards E and above.

I'd like to know from someone, this particular pudhi has a cut barthi you can see it underneath, there is also 1 section of the pudhi where the insertion point is only 1 braid away from another, you know, standard 48 insertion pudhis have an 'insertion-1-2-insertion' and this pudhi i am working on does also, except in one place where it has 'insertion-1-insertion' so its close together, and also the point where the gajra braiding starts and ends is twice the thickness of the gajra around the rest of the drum, do these fabrication issues have any effect on the tuning and pitch quality or is it just my work with the tension and kundal ordering, i still cant get an even defined NA on the drum though i'm retying over and over until I manage it.
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raanan 98 posts
raanan
Hi

can anyone outline the difference between so called 'student' tabla pudhis and professional pudhis?

are student pudhis necessarily easier to tie and tune?

Thanks

Ra'anan
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wilsaxo 163 posts
wilsaxo
Installation and tuning is the same for for both student and professional.

Student usually means that the maker did less than his best work in making them.

Professional can mean many things:
The best the maker has to offer.
The seller want's to make the most profit from the sale.

I have installed student heads that sing like Mukda Das's professional heads and I have installed "Artist Quality" heads that sounded like cardboard.

Best advice is to find a maker who makes tabla that you love the sound of and get their heads, if they make them available, as some makers don't.

David
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raanan 98 posts
raanan
Hi David,

I assume that the bharti of student pudhis is thinner and less durable?

I've seen pudhis with a darker chat section than others, does this come into the question?

I assume pudhis with a darker brownish chat section are more durable and elastic.

all the pudhis I've had until now had white chat and maidan though i've seen tablas from professionals with the darker chat, is this the difference?

the reason I'm concerned is that my dayan has some very slight warping on the edges and on the rim itself, slight buldges, i'm afraid buying less durable pudhis will see me breaking them during tying.

Ra'anan
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Keshavdas 351 posts
Keshavdas
It has nothing to do with lightness or darkness. Calcutta pudis can be of excellent quality but tend in general to be thinner than those from Bombay or Delhi. The cheapest pudis are generally made in Jaipur and they are usually very white and attractive to the eye with very perfect looking shyahi. The best quality Banares pudis almost always look kind of old and yellow-brownish and very home-made and the shyahi doesn't have the perfectly neat concentric layers one sees on the cheap Jaipur pudis. Recently we received our first shipment of tablas from Vhatkar and the pudis on his Bombay tablas are thicker and stiffer than those from Calcutta and they are very light white in color.
Cheers,
Keshav
"More harm is done by fools through foolishness
then is done by evildoers through wickedness."

The Prophet Mohammed

http://www.keshav-music.com
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raanan 98 posts
raanan
Hi Keshav,

How much are your student pudhis?

I'll tell you, the pudhi I want is a pudhi where the syahi circles are not even visible anymore and the syahi is slightly 'mounded' and not flat thats the pudhi I had on the dayan before it broke i want the same thing. maybe I cant get it. I would assume that pudhi was reworked with massala added. It was a 2nd hand drum.

Anyway, money is short and shipping charges are high :roll:

Thanks,

Ra'anan
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tablafreak 548 posts
tablafreak
Ironically, the dirtiest, ugliest pudis worked out to be some of my best. Whats up with that?

Not sure if they were labelled "student" or "pro"...that really means nothing to me at this point...

Quote:
The cheapest pudis are generally made in Jaipur and they are usually very white and attractive to the eye with very perfect looking shyahi
 ....yup..looks can be very deceiving...
youtube.com/tablasolo
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Keshavdas 351 posts
Keshavdas
raanan wrote:
Hi Keshav,

How much are your student pudhis?

I'll tell you, the pudhi I want is a pudhi where the syahi circles are not even visible anymore and the syahi is slightly 'mounded' and not flat thats the pudhi I had on the dayan before it broke i want the same thing. maybe I cant get it. I would assume that pudhi was reworked with massala added. It was a 2nd hand drum.

Anyway, money is short and shipping charges are high :roll:

Thanks,

Ra'anan
Hi Ra'anan - pudis with a shyahi as per your description are usually the good (more expensive) ones. If you need the most economical ones - it would make more sense to buy them direct from Inni Singh at DMS, rather than to buy them from me here in NYC. My rates from Fedex are literally double that charged by Fedex to their Indian clients. Shipping to S.A. would be really expensive from NYC.
Cheers,
Keshav
"More harm is done by fools through foolishness
then is done by evildoers through wickedness."

The Prophet Mohammed

http://www.keshav-music.com
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hbajpai 892 posts
hbajpai
I think I know thr pudi's rannan mentions above.

The shai on them has no visible concentric circles. If I had to describe it they are like a cake with smooth icing on top while the others are cake with no icing. I have 1 tabla with the smooth mounded, no circle pudi.it almost seems like the shai was pressed on it with a machiene sort of like how they make tiles. Its probably not I am guessing. Also, the mound is very noticable and the grains are very even and very very close to a point where they disappear. Its almost like the concentric cirles ones are a sticker like while this is like a blob.They are good indeed.

Does anyone know what they are called? Either name or the shai style? I mean when one asks for for them how to refer to one? Maybe upendra...

Btw the one that I have is from damodhardas in lal bag bombay.
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raanan 98 posts
raanan
Hello hbajpai

The I had was from Varanasi I dont think its a special type of pudhi I think its just been worked Its common for tablawallas to improve on the initial setting of the syahi, we know of machine polishing and we know of stone polishing though I've seen Upendras pudhis in previous threads he talks of chaostasi or something and pukkas :] maybe Upendra will forgive me an order one day he was going to send me massala.

what I noticed audibly was more volume and a deeper fundamental on pudhis with a reworked syahi its not 'pro' or 'student' dependable i think its for those who know

it also takes work and understanding.
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hbajpai 892 posts
hbajpai
Raanan - chaostasi is a style of Gajra where instead of 3 slits per slot there are 4. I have used them in the past.

I am not sure if they are actually re-worked Pudi's as you say. I think they most probably use a more denser masala and the application is most certainly different different. Possibly, the number of layers as well.
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raanan 98 posts
raanan
ah ok, chaostasi = 64 insertions, got it. thanks.

here, take a look

http://www.infinitevortex.com/mantis/oldpudhi.jpg

notice the formation of the syahi. this pudhi is atleast 5 years old.

i would be so happy to find a pudhi like this again though I dont know how to make it so i might as well continue happily with a student pudhi a normal one with only the initial syahi application and hopefully it will last.

i'm in tears i havent had a dayan since february.
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sohummusicals 601 posts
sohummusicals
no syahi is mounted just like that.
Before the last concentric 5 layers are applied, there are a group of 30-35 thin layers which are applied to every pudi one by one. Takes around 3 to 4 hrs depending on the climate.
The one pic that raanan showed doesnt have the concentric layers. Those may not be applied if the sound of the pudi is louder and stable. Or just one small layer at the center is applied if that creates good sound during final tuning.

Upendra
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raanan 98 posts
raanan
i'm finally getting a new pudhi next week, later i'll buy the more expensive benares pudhis i suppose the syahi will be similar then.

the whole syahi application and variations are out of my control it matters but oh well.

careful tying pays off maybe i dont need to have it.

its not about the tuning as much as the volume, that pudhi made both my bayan and the guitar sound and it wasnt even tuned right.

i even held a funeral you know... i burned it and then buried it :roll:
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Keshavdas 351 posts
Keshavdas
raanan wrote:
ah ok, chaostasi = 64 insertions, got it. thanks.

here, take a look

http://www.infinitevortex.com/mantis/oldpudhi.jpg

notice the formation of the syahi. this pudhi is atleast 5 years old.

i would be so happy to find a pudhi like this again though I dont know how to make it so i might as well continue happily with a student pudhi a normal one with only the initial syahi application and hopefully it will last.

i'm in tears i havent had a dayan since february.
BTW - the shyahi in your picture looks like those on our good Banares pudis. The flash seems to make it look more "mounded" than it really is - but it's the same style.
"More harm is done by fools through foolishness
then is done by evildoers through wickedness."

The Prophet Mohammed

http://www.keshav-music.com
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Aanaddha 1,932 posts
Aanaddha
raanan wrote:

http://www.infinitevortex.com/mantis/oldpudhi.jpg
The syahi in this photo looks very uneven in shape, thickness, and particle size. The thickness at the edges is also a bad sign.
Also, can't really tell from the angle, but the syahi looks much too thick for the size of the head (compare to the gajara).
If he could sing, and nature to accompany him, what need would he have for an instrument?
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