I love the sound of doumbek! It is known as many different names. Darbuka and Tabla are also commonly used. It looks like this.

Photography by Juan Eduardo Sara Zaror.

It’s usually made of metal, and has a plastic or animal skin. And because it’s made of metal, it’s pretty heavy. Most doumbeks weigh about 4-7 kgs. Musicians would place the instrument on their leg to play it. If you place it on your left leg, then your left arm would support or rest on the doumbek to keep it in place.

There are many drums that resemble the doumbek, and even in the Middle Eastern region alone, there are different styles and shapes. For example, Turkish doumbek has a sharper rim, and the skin is exposed more. Iran has Tombak, which looks similar to the doumbek, but made of wood and animal skin. Tombak tends to make a mellower sound than an Egyptian doumbek.

The one in the photo is an Egyptian type. It has lots of adornment all around. I’ve seen one that has different color lights inside, and they flash as the musician plays it. A bit cheesy, but it worked fine because it was part of a belly dance show.

Speaking of belly dance, have you watched belly dance drum solo?

So awesome. This is a famous American belly dancer, Bozenka, and a well-known doumbek player, Issam Houshan, When there is a good connection between the dancer and the percussionist, it creates such a beautiful piece.

Another famous doumbek player is Amir Naoum Chehade.

So fun and danceable!

Often used in Arabic music, the doumbek plays an important part in rhythmical songs. Arabic music has so many rhythms, and just like each maqam (Arabic scale) has a unique name, each Arabic rhythm has a special name as well. Below are just a few examples. D indicates Doum, the lower note, and T indicates Tek, the higher note.

First, here are 4/4 rhythms. 4/4 is very common in Western music.

Baladi 4/4

1  +  2  +  3  +  4  +

D D      T  D     T

Saidi 4/4

1  +  2  +  3  +  4  +

D T      D  D      T

And here is an interesting 10/8 rhythm.

Samai 10/8

1  +  2  +  3  +  4  + 5  +  6  +  7  +  8  +  9  +  10  +

D                       T             D       D      T               T

If you are interested in the world of Arabic rhythms, check out dubsahara.  Their website has all types of rhythms, which are nicely explained with sound samples.

This instrument is so integral to Arabic music, and it is gaining popularity among percussionists in North America in recent years. So you may have seen it in drum circles and cultural events. It is a fun and relatively easy instrument to get started on. Yes, fancy techniques would take a long time to develop, but if you can keep a rhythm, you can play it.

Next I’m going to write about this instrument that I saw in person for the first time just a few days ago. It is not so well-known, and shocked me with its features. Stay tuned!