Tbal Jerba Peau Diam : 68 cm, Ha : 48,5 cm Centre des musiques arabes et méditerranéennes, Tunisie

I was five years old when I heard a tbal for the first time. It was during a party at our house on the occasion of my little brother’s circumcision. I looked at this instrument with some astonishment since I was a city dweller and was used to listening to urban music played on totally different stringed and percussion instruments that were played by many of the musicians in my family. The sound of the tbal seemed rather vulgar to me because it was meant to be played outdoors. To the ears of the little urbanite, it seemed to make a lot of "noise" and its beats filled the surrounding air. They were so loud, in fact, that I felt them right to my core. I can safely say that I was very impressed. Later, this impression got even stronger when I visited the Island of Jerba (southern Tunisia) where I attended a wedding at which there was a tabbal (tbal player) who carried his instrument by the middle strung around his neck. I then understood that the tbal was actually many different drums and that there is an infinite variety of them. The most impressive is, undoubtedly, the Jerba tbal that can be distinguished by the national flag painted on its body. Today, I am a music student trained to see things differently and able to grasp the beauty and wealth of sound that the tabbals give us during their very special improvisations on this instrument. Lastly, in contrast to my personal impressions, I would like to give you some historical and technical details about this instrument.

The tbal originated in Egypt during the Old Kingdom (2850 - 2160 BC) where it was part of the cult of Isis. The first drums were developed in the Far East for religious rituals and court entertainment. The instrument varied from one region to another. The tbal that we find in Tunisia even exists in Eastern Europe, in the East and the Far East. It belongs to the family of membranophones and is made from a skin stretched by cords on each end over a cylindrical wooden body 680 mm in diameter and 485 mm high. The instrument is played with two sticks. One is quite large and slightly curved and plays the down beat. The other, which is thinner, produces the weaker beats. The tbal player almost never sits down. The tbal is mainly used to play folk music for weddings and circumcisions on the Island of Jerba (in southern Tunisia). The wonderful thing about the Jerba tbal is the Tunisian flag painted on the body.