Melbourne resident Nathaniel Schmidt’s fascination for the tabla (the principal percussion instrument in Hindustani classical music) began one weekend in 2009. He was watching Pete Lockett, a world-renowned percussionist, play at Frank Corniola and Drumtek’s Australia’s 17th Ultimate Drummers Weekend that year.
For the uninitiated, among a number of other things, Lockett is possibly most well-known for composing and recording the percussion components of the soundtracks for five of the more recent 007 James Bond films, most notably Quantum of Solace.
“I was quite fascinated by his playing and had always wanted to know more. But for a long time, I suppressed my desire for knowledge and experience,” says Nathaniel.
Though it took him a while, Nathaniel began his tabla lessons in March this year with Dr Sam Evans, a contemporary Australian musician and tabla player. Evans is also founding director of the Melbourne Tabla School and the first Australian to hold a PhD in tabla.
Nathaniel bought his first complete tabla set from India in July. He knew it was going to be a long commitment before he could play at the Melbourne Tabla School annual concert. “The technique is very complex and utterly unlike any drums I have played previously (acoustic drum kit and Djembe).”
However, Nathaniel’s challenges proved to be altogether new. Being completely blind, owing to a congenital genetic eye condition, he cannot see any shapes, shadows or light. And as the only visually impaired student at the Melbourne Tabla School, he has had to use strategies to overcome some of them.
View this post on Instagram
Nathaniel shares his story to shed light on the fact that apart from “one or two scanty or even unreliable sources, there is very little (if any) information publicly available concerning the theoretical and practical applications of tabla learning, playing and performance for a blind or vision impaired musician”.
One of the biggest challenges, he says, is the tuning of the two-pair drum. “Most students are not taught how to do this until they either have been learning to play for about 18 months and, or, can play a good, solid, robust and especially consistent dhin, which is a somewhat difficult bol (or note) to play, which I can do but not consistently.”
Nathaniel further explains that tuning involves using a brass hammer to bash the pegs which adjust the tension of the straps holding the skin; and hit the rim of the drum close to but not on the skin. The latter process is a very delicate one which, if not done properly, results in the head of the tabla/daya getting irrevocably cracked.
“Because one hand is required to use the hammer and the other to play a dhin, it is not possible to use one hand to protect the skin; and anyway, the hammer has to be used forcefully enough that it would probably damage one’s fingers to an extent if one tried,” he says.
As of yet, there is no workable solution for this, he rues. “One possibility is a skin/head guard but it would need to not interfere with any open bol playing in ultimately closing off/deadening them, the latter of which is not what we want.”
The other problem, notes Nathaniel, has been rendering the music notation in written form. “While there is Braille music for English and I am not sure about other languages from the Indian subcontinent, this is predominantly for non-percussive instruments and only relatively simple notes can be rendered which doesn’t really appear to be something that would work very well for a bol system as complex as tabla.”
“For instance, in the classical Braille music system, you have to use one note per drum to represent it, which might work for a bongo or something at a stretch. But not with tabla where you’ve got something like between a dozen and 30 notes across one or the other, or both drums. I have been using notes both with and without spaces to distinguish between quavers and semi-quavers. However, this is not adequate for more complicated pieces” he says.
And yet despite the challenges, Nathaniel says it is also a pleasant surprise that certain things tend to naturally work well.
Evans, who teaches Nathaniel says, “What is fascinating is that Indian music, as a whole, is perfectly designed for some of the challenges because there is a system of memorisation which comes from tabla playing and its long history of oral tradition. The system of tabla bols, where every note has a corresponding syllable, means long sections of music can be learnt in language form. Many compositional forms, such as kaida, are systematic and once the form and structure is understood, detailed music can be reproduced with relative ease.”
Evans says there is little difference for someone with a visual impairment in terms of finding the note and placement of the hands and fluency between notes. “It’s not like piano where you have to move your hand a long way to find the next keys. With the tabla, your hands are on the drums all the time. Sometimes it can be hard to locate certain notes on-the-fly, like certain expressions of dhin, but this can also probably improve over time.”
In terms of improvement for students like Nathaniel, he says having a bit of technology helps. So, he has used strategies to tackle some of the problems. For instance, taking a video or an audio recording of a material that Nathaniel is learning which he can then listen back.
“Similar to the traditional way of learning, I have primarily been using videos and secondarily using textual notation to remember the bols and compositions to play,” adds Nathaniel.
It’s also a bit of a learning curve for Evans teaching a visually impaired student for the first time, but he has been fascinated by the progress Nathaniel has made. “Nathaniel has learnt very quickly combining new technology and old wisdom, which is the Indian traditional way. It’s been a great process.”
Looking ahead, Nathaniel hopes more resources would be available along the lines of this cross-sectional subject of tabla playing and vision impairment. Having not had pleasant experiences in terms of disability advocacy at previous educational institutions he has studied at, he believes he has had some good outcomes with the tabla learning.
Nathaniel’s passion and persistence are inspiring, allowing him a full musical life.
Support independent community journalism. Support The Indian Sun.
Follow The Indian Sun on Twitter | Instagram | Facebook
Melbourne resident Nathaniel Schmidt’s fascination for the #tabla began one weekend in 2009. He began his tabla lessons in Mar this year. However, being blind Nathaniel’s challenges proved to be altogether new. #TheIndianSunhttps://t.co/9GBnV721bQ
— The Indian Sun (@The_Indian_Sun) September 21, 2022
Donate To The Indian Sun
Dear Reader,The Indian Sun is an independent organisation committed to community journalism. We have, through the years, been able to reach a wide audience especially with the growth of social media, where we also have a strong presence. With platforms such as YouTube videos, we have been able to engage in different forms of storytelling. However, the past few years, like many media organisations around the world, it has not been an easy path. We have a greater challenge. We believe community journalism is very important for a multicultural country like Australia. We’re not able to do everything, but we aim for some of the most interesting stories and journalism of quality. We call upon readers like you to support us and make any contribution. Do make a DONATION NOW so we can continue with the volume and quality journalism that we are able to practice.
Thank you for your support.
Best wishes,
Team The Indian Sun
