DAMPHU - FOLK MUSICAL DRUM
Music is a universal language that ties all the people
together and has the ability to make us upbeat and re-stimulate our brain, body, and soul and brings harmony. This is the reason why people all around the globe
love to tune in to and even play music. Music is a lovely solid which is a
blend of tunes and congruity and which mitigates you. Music may likewise allude
to the craft of forming such wonderful sounds with the assistance of the
different instruments. It plays an important role in Nepalese (Gorkha)
community as music is inescapable in Nepalese (Gorkha) culture. Talking about
the music and the musical instrument, Nepalese (Gorkha) are rich in cultural
diversity as they celebrate many festivals. Due to the different Ethnic groups
present in the Himalayan region, it has its own way of expressing different traditional
folk music and playing various traditional folk instruments. Not only the song
plays an important part in the Nepalese culture but also traditional
instruments have their own charm and harmony. As talking about the traditional
musical folk instrument Damphu is one of the ancient and popular traditional
musical folk instrument which is played widely in the Himalayan region by the ethnic tribe Tamang.
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| Traditional Folk Musical Drum |
Damphu
(डम्फु): Damphu is a percussion instrument
that somewhat resembles a huge tambourine. It is believed that this
traditional musical instrument is used by the Tamang individuals to play the Tamang
Selo music. Tamang Selo, performed by the Tamang community, is not only
entertaining but also has a religious appeal. Tamang Selo dance is incomplete
without the beats of the Damphu. This instrument symbolizes the culture and
tradition of Tamang culture. As per old stories, Damphu was concocted by Peng
Dorje a Tamang King and named it after Nepal's national winged animal the
Daphne fowl. The Damphu and Tungna are the primary instruments of the Tamang
individuals and these two instruments are supposed to be the 'nail and tissue'
on a finger. Numerous accounts exist in the Tamang people group about how the
drum was first made and turned into a backup to Tamang melodies. It is said
Peng Dorje once executed an especially excellent deer which profoundly disheartened
his loving wife and was in tears so and Peng Dorje chose to brighten her up. He
made the drum utilizing the deer's delightful skin. To begin with, he bought a
portion of wood and made a circle. At that point he fixed the dried deerskin on
one side of the circle, utilizing 32 bamboo sticks called phurba. The circle
made resonant sounds, trak dhin. He began to sing, recollecting his
predecessors and divine beings with the beat of that new-conceived instrument.
The story goes that all animals danced after hearing the melodious music
generated by the Damphu, as did his
wife. A fowl, the bird "Danphe", was likewise moving to the tune. So
Peng Dorje named the circle drum, "Damphu". At this point in time, the
instrument became a part of Tamang culture and tradition. Tamangs play on the
Damphu on the occasion of worship and prayer and during exhibitions and
festivities and resembles a bodhrán, a solitary-sided round edge drum
embellished with images or left plain. It can have a little stick 4 to 6 inches
since quite a while ago joined to the instrument body or played just with the
hands. This stick is made of a slim bit of bamboo and the skin is fixed and
held set up by 32 bamboo pegs. These 32 pegs speak to the Buddha and
Bodhisattvas or Buddha's 32 physical symbols (lakshanas). Sometimes it has a
versatile metal or wooden winged creature appended speaking to the legendary
eponymous fledgling. The Damphu isn't to be mistaken for a comparative drum,
the Dhyāngro having jingles, which is utilized only in custom by Nepali
shamans. The Dhyāngro is a twofold-sided circle molded drum finished off with a calfskin having a long wooden handle. Dhyāngro is utilized for strict and
custom work as it were. As a customary society instrument, the antiquated
Damphu is well known. Alongside the first cadence of Tamang Selo music, it has
a significant impact on Nepalese culture. It is anything but difficult to learn
and simple to play. Tamba artists present Tamang chronicled and ceremonial
melodies with the Damphu. Tamang individuals use Damphu in each occasion, for
example, weddings, burial services, uncommon events, ceremonies, and
celebrations where significantly, they express satisfaction, pity, recall progenitors
and tell their history through melodies joined by the Damphu.
Types
of Damphu: Damphu is generally of two types (i) A
regular Damphu and (ii) A Bird-shaped Damphu. A regular Damphu generally
comes with a small bamboo stick to keep rhythm, while on the other hand the
bird-shaped Damphu an extra wooden bird carved with artisanship is
attached.
How is Damphu
Played: Damphu is quite
simple to play as it expresses simple rhythms like the catasra (4/4) beat and
the second and third strikes are made with four fingers of the right hand in a
straightway. On the other hand, both the suspension and intensity of the first
strike are comparatively higher. A long stick is used to generate the sound. On
striking a Damphu the leather membrane vibrates, alternately compressing and
releasing air and this constant vibration generates a deep-toned sound.
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