Jake (Aug 19, 2002 04:41 p.m.):
What do they use to make the shyahi,and how is it applied.
Hi,
The Syahi powder (syahi masala) is a secret recipe. . but people say that it contains iron filings and rice paste. It is applied one layer at a time and polished with a smooth stone.
Knowing how much to put, and where to put it is a real art; it's not something that you can do yourself just by reading about it.
Orlando Fiol (and his associates) at surila.com is the only person I know in North America who can do this properly.
Siyahi is made by combining rice, iron filaments, and a special glue with a mixture of wheat and glutin, and applied in layers.This is a very lengthy process and requires tons of patience.In India, a damaged siyahi can be replaced by reapplying the siyahi, but here in NA, we have to completely rehead the tabla.
David has nice stuff about that on his page (i thnk) the buzz is sometimes caused by one of the pieces in the syahi getting loose and buzzing against the ones surrounding it. if you can find the loose piece (it moves around when you play na or tun) you can put nail polish in it or just remove it.
ChrisG (Aug 20, 2002 10:43 a.m.):
I have a question: Sometimes the shyahi can get a "buzz" in it, and other than the minor buzz it sounds great.
Wow shyahi powder that sounds cool , never heard of it.
But a little buzz is not bad , it should be less noticable if the drum is tuned the same all the way around . and playing the drum when it is out of tune (has 2 different tunings) will make it buzz more.
