Darbuka Glossary: Dum, Tek, Iqa’, Usul and More
Plain definitions of the words you’ll meet: dum, tek, ka, sak, iqa’, usul, raqs sharqi, tabla baladi, maqsum, takht.
9 questions answered
CMP-087 What do “dum” and “tek” mean? #
They’re the two basic spoken sounds of Middle Eastern drumming. Dum (Turkish düm) is the deep, low stroke near the centre of the head; it’s the bass, and it’s the core of any rhythm. Tek (or tak) is the high, crisp stroke at the edge, usually played with your strong hand. Rhythms are taught and written as strings of dums and teks, like “dum tek-tek dum tek.”
CMP-088 What is “ka” (and why do some teachers say “tek” for both hands)? #
Ka is the edge stroke played with your weak hand, named separately so you can tell it apart from the strong-hand tek. Some teachers call both strokes “tek” and simply mark which hand plays it. Others write D, T and K for dum, tek and ka.
CMP-089 What is “sak” or “pa”? #
It’s the slap: a sharp, muted or “closed” stroke where your hand stays on the head to choke the sound. You use it as an accent. Different teachers and regions call it sak, pa or just slap.
CMP-090 What is an iqa (iqa’a)? #
Iqa’ (plural iqa’at) is the Arabic word for a rhythmic mode or cycle: a fixed pattern of dums, teks and rests that repeats under a piece of music. Maqsum, baladi, saidi, malfuf, ayyub and the long classical cycles are all iqa’at. Remember that the written pattern is only a skeleton — players decorate it freely.
CMP-091 What is usul? #
Usul is the Turkish (Ottoman) word for a rhythmic cycle, the equivalent of the Arabic iqa’. Usuls are spoken with düm and tek syllables, and they run from 2 beats to very long cycles of 100+ beats. The well-known ones are sofyan (4), düyek (8) and aksak (9).
CMP-092 What is raqs sharqi? #
Raqs sharqi (“eastern dance”) is the Arabic name for the stage or cabaret form of what English speakers call belly dance, developed especially in Egypt. The darbuka is its main drum. Raqs baladi is the related folk or social style: earthier, less showy.
CMP-093 What does “tabla baladi” mean? #
It’s loose usage: the Egyptian word for the drum (tabla) plus baladi (“of the country”). Players use it for the darbuka played in the folk baladi style or rhythm, or for Egyptian folk-style drumming in general. Watch the context, though, because there’s also a separate Egyptian bass drum carried on a strap in folk music that’s sometimes called tabl baladi.
CMP-094 What is maqsum (maqsoum)? #
It’s probably the most common rhythm in Egyptian and Arabic pop and belly dance: a 4-beat pattern spoken roughly “dum-tek, -tek, dum, tek.” It’s my favourite, and I reckon I play it about 70% of the time I perform. Baladi is its close relative, with a doubled dum at the start (“dum-dum, tek, dum, tek”). Rhythms are covered in depth in Rhythms.
CMP-095 What is a takht? #
A takht is a small classical Arabic ensemble: typically oud, qanun, ney, violin and riq, sometimes with darbuka. Listen to a few takht recordings and you’ll hear exactly how the darbuka and the riq share the rhythmic duties.