Frame drums form a major component of a number of major world musics; variations on the basic stucture (a skin stretched over one side of a circular frame a few inches deep, usually made of wood) are found in Ireland (the bodh'ran ), North America (the tambourine), Siberia, Turkmenistan, Aizerbaijan and the Middle East (the thar), to name a few. The frame drum is strongly associated in many traditions with shamanism and shamanistic rites and ritual. I t is also often depicted in relicsfrom various Mother Goddess cultures, notably with images of Isis in Egypt.
While in some traditions frame drums are played with a striking stick (notably the bodh'ran), in most traditions it is a finger-drum, held upright in front of the body and played with the fingers of both hands - much like the rik, which is itself a member of the family. Larger drums, like the one I use, are sometimes held on the knee; I use t his position to get a wider variety of performance tones, as can be heard in the audio clips below.
An instrument with as broad a cultural and historical range as this oneis likely to have many 'masters', and the frame drum in no ex ception. I have particularly been inspired by two: Nabil Khaiat, who graces several of the albums of composer/oud phenomenon Rabih Abou Khalil; and Glen Velez, who has distilled most of the world's major frame drummingtechniques into an absolutely stunning synthesis. My ownplaying is influenced in both spirit and technique by these two remarkable musicians.