Pontian Ndaouli

George Gevgelis the best in Greece (Australian tour photo)

In Pontos the drum is known as the Ndaouli (daouli, tymbano). The Ndaouli is a wooden cylinder that has both ends covered with skin held taut by rope. It is a rhythmic instrument.

The way a Ndaouli is played is by striking the drum - ends with two specially made drumsticks (Ndaouloksila).

The Ndaouli is made in many sizes starting from 25cm going up to one meter, and the distance between the skins from 20 up to 60cm. In Ponto it was nor common to find smaller Ndaoulia. In most cases the Ndouli player (Ndaoultsis) made the Ndouli to his measure, to suit his height and arm length etc.

For the two ends of the Ndaouli the most common skin used is wild goatskin, but for the strength people have used donkey, wolf and even dog hides, according to older drummers, "they are strong and do not have many pores".

The perpetration of the skin traditionally consisted of bathing the skin in salt and drying it outdoors but not in direct sunlight, however today ready made commercial skins are available. After the tanning period the skin is stretched and fastened to two wooden hoops, which in turn are fitted to the two ends of the cylindrical shell of the drum. Holes are then cut around the circumference of the skin. A rope is then passed through the holes of the two skins, bringing them together. To tighten the Ndaouli there are different ways of bounding the rope.

Different ways to tie the rope to bound the two skins of the Ndaouli

The large stick "Kopano" different designs

The Ndaouli player play while standing upright, his drum hangs from his left or right shoulder (depending on the drummer). If it is hung to the left then the Ndaouli should have the deeper sounding skin on the right hand side. On this side of the Ndaouli he uses thicker "kopano" stick to maintain the strong beats (and visa-versa if your left handed).

On the other hand the Ndaoultsi will use lighter "Vitsa or Verga" stick. When playing the drummer strikes the strong beats of measure with the "Kopano" held in the right hand, and weak beats with the "vitsa", held in the left hand. Periodicity, however, does not always mean exactly the same pattern (in other words, the right and left hands so not necessarily repeat identical sequences of strokes).

Note that being a natural skin instrument weather conditions can effect the sound allot, heat makes the skin tighter and the cold keeps it loose.

Playing at a Pontian festival

Giannis Polihronidis

The main trick ( I think) to playing the Ndaouli is with the larger stick "Kopano" keep the beat which your feet keep when tapping to the rhythm of music, the thinner stick "vitsa" fills - in the rest.

In any kind of music, the sound of a loud drum can really make a difference, not only in keeping the rhythm, it boosts up the life of the music and the dancers. The good new is that the Ndaouli is gaining popularity amongst young musicians world wide in the last 10 years.