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Give The Drummer Some: The Instruments Of Jaki Liebezeit
The Quietus , January 25th, 2020 07:28

In an exclusive extract from his new book, Jaki Liebezeit: Life, Theory and Practice of a Master Drummer, Jono Podmore takes us through the instruments that contributed to the former Can drummer's unique sound and playing style

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Dholak and Mridangam
Indian hand drums of ancient design. Like the davul they have a skin on both ends producing different but related pitches. The mridangam (centre and right) has an extra ring on the upper skin, not unlike the damping Jaki used on the bass drum, a technique later developed to produce the more recent tabla. India has many different drums with very slight variations in design and sound, but these were two of Jaki’s favourites: the larger dholak he kept close at hand under the table in his practice room, the smaller mridangam he kept at home. He played these drums daily for at least thirty-five years.