Hi,
I want to buy a tabla pair. i saw an indian site selling student model and intermediate tabla sets. would anyone suggest the difference in a professional set and a student model. is there sound difference. why would anyone want to buy a student model? what is a student model and a professional model?
i would appreciate replies to help me decide what to buy??
Thanks,
Sino
Yes there is a difference, especially the Bayan sound. If you have just started and would like to try out, you can get the Student model. I have a student Model and professional model . The Dayan is perfect but the Bayan sounds different. Professional Bayans are made of Brass or maybe copper and Student models normally are made of aluminium. If you are really serious about learning the Tabla, then get a professional set. The quality of sound is important in order for you to be motivated and continue playing for the years to come.
All the best to you. I sell Tablas in UK. If you are in UK, I can supply you with some good quality ones. If you are in US, the only problem is shipping price which it very costly.
Is there sound difference. why would anyone want to buy a student model? what is a student model and a professional model?
There are differences all down the line. I've never seen a pair of "Student Tablas" that didn't have poor quality skins. Poor quality skins don't last and won't tune up to C or C# (or at least not for more than a few seconds). Poor quality straps are what you can expect - leading to more tuning issues. Student tablas come with lousy featherweight bayans. Save your money and buy a good pair of off-the-shelf pro-tablas. Buckingham, AAMC, Sitars Etc. Keshav Music, Khazana all carry comparable pro-tablas. Pick one.
Thanks for the messages. i have decided to buy a higher range. They seem to have good range. your help in this matter is appreciated. Though i still dont understand why a cheap quality no good tabla pair is known as a Student Model?
As yet, there are no hard-and-fast standards or benchmarks in the qualification of tablas. There are bad apples on every branch. A tabla pair advertised as "professional grade" might well be rejected or classified as amateur-grade by a true professional.
On the other hand you might be better off purchasing the student-grade tabla pair as your first set, saving you the money to knowingly and with some experience purchase a better instrument in the future if you decide to stick with it. I've seen kids, 8 years old, playing with skills surpassing mine with broken instruments passed down for three generations that aren't even in tune. They couldn't afford to purchase a "professional" tabla set at the current prices if the whole family saved their entire earnings for a year.
If you must purchase from a retailer sight-unseen then negotiate a return agreement if the item is defective or does not meet the advertised level of quality. FYI most retailers will refuse but that is your only option other than to purchase directly, in person, from the store.
