Hi, I'm Kuljit Bhamra and in this episode we'll be talking about Tabla Touch - what is it and why
did we create it? But firstly i'd like to thank you for watching our videos. We've had a massive
response and interest for Tabla Touch and lots of very positive feedback from people who are very
excited about this new invention. So, a bit of history. I was in a show in the west end called
Bombay Dreams which was produced by Andrew Lloyd Webber, music by A R Rahman and each song in that
show was in a different key. So one song was in C the next song was in F, the next song was in
G - and i had lots of tablas pre-tuned in front of me on the floor, but there was not enough time to
change over. And also, they had gone out of tune. So i fantasized at that time - which i think was
2002 - about having an electronic tabla that i could just turn a dial and change the tuning. And
that's one of the main features of Tabla Touch. Another feature of Tabla Touch is that it has
other sound banks in it. Now, if you think about how how we play tabla, we play it in a very unique
way. This gesturing doesn't work on any other instrument. It only works on tabla.
Whereas you know, if you play guitar, perhaps you could play banjo - because it's a similar
sort of action. If you play the clarinet, perhaps you could play the saxophone - because it's very
similar. If you play the violin, perhaps you could move to the viola - because it's very similar. But
when you play tabla - and many people spend years and years learning these strikes - once you've
learned to play tabla, you can really only do it on a Tabla. So one of my visions was to actually
make it connectable to a computer or sound module, so by playing these gestures,
you could also trigger other sounds. Now there is another video about this and about the MIDI
capabilities of Tabla Touch and i urge you to watch that if you want to find out more about
it. But i have to say that the midi side of things was more to do with the notation of tabla music
and how to write it down.. So i really wanted composers to be able to write a score for tabla.
And they could either write it by hand, or in a computer software program - or
they could have a Tabla Touch and play a simple rhythm. And by connecting it
to a computer it would print out a score which they could then give to a musician to play. So
that was the main reason of it earlier on, but now what's happening is the MIDI is being used
to explore further avenues of creativity and different sound worlds with these gestures.
Another reason for creating Tabla Touch was - you know tablas are bulky.
They're about 4Kg each - i've got many behind me as you can see - and so a set of tablas would
weigh about 8Kg. Once you've got a case it's 10Kg. When i travel with my accessories, it's usually
about 13 or 15 kilograms. This only weighs 3Kg! So there's a portability aspect of this as well.
One of the main reasons for creating this instrument is that i realized that - i don't
know how to say this - but i realized that people are 'scared' of the tabla.Tabla Touch - actually
the way it's designed - i mean it's designed to look like a tabla because i love the tabla and i
want more people to come into the world of tabla - it's not it's not scary like an acoustic tabla.
i know that's a funny thing to say, but this is like a sort of interface - like i mean it's not
an ipad or anything like that - but it's a simple interface. What i've noticed when i've taken it
to conventions and conferences is people come up to this and just play it straight away. They're
not scared of it - whereas an acoustic tabla - many people are scared of breaking it, or perhaps
conducting a religious faux pas or something - or doing something wrong spiritually. But with this,
it's much more accessible. So there you are - those are the reasons for creating Tabla Touch.
And it's really wonderful to see musicians who have already bought Tabla Touch, who are exploring
further creative possibilities with these gestures - connecting it to computers using midi,
using the sound banks in tabla touch - and using it in a way to make brand new music.
Thank you very much for watching and see you soon.