The Darbuka

The Darbuka is a single head membraphone with a goblet shaped body . This percussion is mostly played in the Middle East, North Africa and East Europe countries . The traditional darkuka is made of clay, or wood , or in different metal as aluminium. The ancient darbuka drum heads were animal skin, goat and even fish. Modern ones are made with synthetic material


Nowadays animal skin is only used for studio recordings. Synthetic skin or plastic mateiral replace it during shows, or tours and to play outside ( That is what we are doing with Groupe OC) because it is less sensitive to temperature variations and more resistant to moisture ; it is not necessary to heat the skin unlike animals skin.


The instrument is played resting on the knee, or in a central position and there are a multitude of oriental or other rhythms. Its secret is the "dum" and the "tak", the link between the low and the high, and the different possible hit. It's up to you to find out more ... This percussion has gone through history and has existed since the dawn of time. Very popular, it accompanies men' life. It is also a major instrument in the classical Arab music especially in Arab-Andalusian music. We now hear the various rhythms of Derbuka in many musical types(world, jazz, song, electro ...).