Dhol maintenance: few questions

[loginitin]

I have a few questions regarding maintenance of my dhol, i would greatly appreciate your help.

Dhol type: Sheesham, dagga: goat skin with strings, treble- nylon with screws

• When loosening the dagga after practice, should i loosen all the rings of all the strings? or loosening a few rings would do?
• the dagga side seems a bit uneven on touching when loose. does it need oiling or sun? if yes how to do it?
• do i need to oil the inside or outside of the dhol? i live in north india and the temperature varies 45C [0-45] round the year.
• the treble side loosens on its own after some time. is it normal?

thanks for your time

 

[ADholiCalledAli]

Hi
I'm pretty sure you loosen all the rings for the dagga side as over time it will get over stretched. So if you loosen just a few then the places that are still tightened will become over stretched so you'll get some parts which sound different to others..
I'm not too sure on how to oil but leave the dagga side in direct sunlight for as how long you need (it will make the bass sound way deeper) if its too deep tighten it a bit more, if its to high pitched smack it with your palm).
You oil the outside of the Dhol.
That would seem normal as when metal is heated it expands therefore it may loosen a little, fine tuning will overcome the problem when it loosens.
Hope this helped!

 

[Dholi harsh]

Loosen all rings so there is no uneven tension

if it seems uneven, chances are it is uneven, so loosen the rope, and re tighten it so the problem gets fixed (sorta like re roping but without actually taking all of the rope off)

When you oil a drum, you usually oil the outside of the drum, thats what is going to be exposed to most of the weathering and outside ware, oiling the inside doesn't hurt the drum so try it, it might help the sound???

The treble loosening on its own happens all the time, thats why some people loosen the treble side after each use, others just tune it time after time till it gets to the point where it doesn't stretch anymore, thats when it will stop loosening.

 

[monisingh]

thats why some people loosen the treble side after each use
[/quot


should be noted that this is for dhols that are roped on the treble side and roped both sides only

 

[Dholi harsh]

I know people who have a roped dhaga and bolts on the tilli side who untighten both sides. Its very rare but people do it. I used to do it before as well, but then i just got really tired of tuneing over and over again so i stopped.

 

[loginitin]

Many thanks for the replies, your experience and advice is most valuable
PS: for oiling the dhol, can i use Sesi ghee or Mustard oil?

 

[Dholi harsh]

i personally use mustard oil, i haven't really heard of anyone using ghee, but i may be mistaken. Mustard oil does the job beautifully though

 

[DholiMitulG]

Oiling the dhol? Why is this done? On what part of the dhol is this done?


Dagga side in the sun? I understand this is to produce deeper bass, but is this to be done while the dagga side is tightened or loose?


Thanks.

 

[loginitin]

thanks

 

[ADholiCalledAli]

Oiling the dhol? Why is this done? On what part of the dhol is this done?


Dagga side in the sun? I understand this is to produce deeper bass, but is this to be done while the dagga side is tightened or loose?


Thanks.

You leave the dagga side tightened in the sun

 

[Dholi harsh]

Well actually, you can have it tightened or loose. if you don't want it to get too much deeper, leave it loose, otherwise tighten it. And yeah you oil it to protect the wood from moisture but it still allows the wood to breathe