Tabor (instrument)

A tabor is a small, portable drum with two skins, often used to keep rhythm while someone plays a tune on a pipe. It is usually played with one stick held in the right hand. This combination of pipe and tabor has been used for centuries to make music and add excitement to events.

The tabor is also called by different names in various places, such as tabour, tabret in Welsh, tambour de Provence or tambourin in Provençal, and tamborí in Catalan. The word "tabor" comes from the Persian word tabīr, which also means "drum." Similar words appear in many languages, like tambor in Catalan, tambour in French, and tamburo in Italian.

In addition to music, tabor drums have been used in military settings as a marching instrument[/w/4]. They can be heard during parades and processions, helping to set the pace and add a lively rhythm.

Construction

A tabor is a small drum with a wooden body and two skin heads stretched tight by ropes. It also has a leather strap and a snare that can be made from gut, silk, or rough hemp. The larger the tabor, the lower the sound it makes. Players use a single short stick, often made from bone or ivory, to hit the snare head. The tabor is held by a strap worn on the arm, keeping the drum parallel to the ground when played. In Catalonia, the tamborí has been used since the Middle Ages, usually played together with a flabiol or pipe by the same musician. In Spain, a deep drum is used for this purpose, while in England a shallow tom tom is sometimes used, even though medieval pictures often show a large shallow tabor similar to a bodhrán.

Usage

The tabor is most often used to add rhythm to music played on a pipe or small flutes like the flageolet. It is a key part of a "pipe and tabor" one-man band, where one person plays both instruments. The tabor is played on its snare side.

Famous composers like Georges Bizet, Aaron Copland, and Darius Milhaud have used the tabor in their music. In classical music, the tabor is sometimes played with two sticks because some pieces need very fast rhythms. Sometimes, composers have mistakenly asked for other drums when they really meant the tabor. The music written for the tabor is usually simple, with repeating patterns of notes.

History

The tabor is a type of drum that belongs to a group called membranophones. It first appeared in Europe during the Medieval period. Early drawings and writings show that these drums were about 11 to 12 inches wide and 4 to 10 inches deep. Over time, the shape of the tabor changed, with some later versions being almost the same width and depth.

These drums were made from wood with skin stretched over them. They were often used outside and were an early version of what we now call a side drum. People usually played the tabor together with a pipe, making it seem like one person was playing a whole band. This combination was popular for dancing events and was especially used in the Cotswold tradition of Morris folk dancing.

At first, a horn was sometimes played with the tabor before the pipe and tabor became a common pair. Between the 13th and 16th centuries, this duo was often used by noble people in musical shows. The tabor could also be played alone. By the 15th century, tabors got bigger, and players started using two sticks instead of one. The bigger version with two sticks was mainly used in military music, while the smaller one with a single stick stayed popular for dance music. Use of the tabor slowed down by the mid-17th century, but it kept changing through the 19th and 20th centuries. Today, a similar style is still used in the tambourin de Provence.