The Making of a Dhol

…from start to finish…

[Material not to be reproduced without permission or proper citation]

One of my favorite lines in H. D. Thoreau's Walden goes, "No one's too poor to have to sit on a pumpkin"…or something like that. In the Punjabi translation: koi manukkh vi ena gareeb nahin ki us noon halva kaadu te hi baiThna pave. This was in reference to his constructing all the basic objects of civilized living from the materials available around him. Nor need anyone older than this little lad be stuck with an old bucket for a dhol.

Read on and see how desi dholis make their instruments, right down to the drumsticks (no more expensive than a pair of spoons) and decorations. What follows is an overview of the process, based on guidance by dhol ustad Garib Dass and on my own original research at sites throughout Punjab and U.P. In it you'll find a motley jumble of: details on the construction of my own dhol; lore connected with the dhol making practices of Garib Dass; my personal observations and attempted insights; and quasi step-by-step photos, often superfluous but hoped to be interesting nonetheless…

–Gibb Schreffler

CHANDIGARH, 2005

CONTENTS

Part I: From the Tree

1. Trees and wood

2. Carving the shell

Part II: From the Shop

3. Shopping for a dhol

4. Prepping the dhol shell

5. Treating the dhol with masaala

Part III: Drumheads

6. The Treble Side: Part 1 - Part 2