Do woman know how to play the darbuka?

[troy]

Do woman know how to play the darbuka?
I have seen only man with this musical instruments but i have never seen a women play the darbuka and if i see one she was really sucks!
Any reason for that? Is it because they have smaller fingers?
Any Suggestions?

[JeffWebb]

I have been asked by the moderator of this forum to answer this question.

The ability to play darbuka (or as I call it, derbakki) has absolutely NOTHING to do with X or Y chromosomes. It has to do with passion and talent. There are many exceptional darbuka players that are women and the fact that you don't know of any is only evidence that you haven't been around that long or haven't really looked.

I am from America and here there are many. At the very top of my list is West Coast dynamo, Susu Pampenin who is regarded as a scholar of Middle Eastern percussion and belly dance music and has been an inspiration for many (myself included.)You can get a flavor of her playing in the following video. Give it some time. She starts out slow and builds:
Susu Pampenin


A relative newcomer to the darbuka (only last couple of decades) is New York musician, Raquy Danziger (who currently lives in Istanbul) and has gained the admiration and respect of Middle-Eastern musicians worldwide. You can get a flavor of her playing in this video from about 10 or more years ago. She is joined by her friend, Egyptian darbuka master, Osama Farouk as well as the rest of her Raquy and the Cavemen members:
Raquy Danziger with Osama Farouk


Here is a live video from a loud nightclub performance by Sarit Hadad:
Sarit Hadad


These are by no means the extent of great darbuka players that just happen to also be women. There are many and their skills are often exceptional.

As for your comment about small fingers.....I am friendly with the great Arabic musician, Issam Houshan and I call him "The Doumbek Genie" because of his extraordinary ability and skill. His hands are quite small (in fact almost half the size of mine) but his ability and sound that he gets from his derbakki is unsurpassed.

I think that when you wander into the area of associating musical proficiency with gender you are entering unstable ground.  You will find that there are more exceptions than there will be "stereotypes." I believe that study, skill and passion is what makes greatness. The only time I ever think about gender is when I am looking for a mate.

Respectfully,
Jeff Webb

[Omar Madni]

To be honest even I have only seen man with this instruments, but I have no doubt that there are many woman who can play it as well as any man can do or even better, but there are very few and it’s just due to their interest not because of small or big fingers.

[Saad Ayman]

To be honest even I have only seen man with this instruments, but I have no doubt that there are many woman who can play it as well as any man can do or even better, but there are very few and it’s just due to their interest not because of small or big fingers.

I do agree that it’s a man’s dominated world but still there are some powerful and great woman players i have heard about, I have obviously not seen them live but whether you check it on YouTube or any other site there are some fascinating woman players!

[Rae]

Hello! I actually registered to answer this! There most certainly are some brilliant female darbuka players. I'd like to add Simona Abdallah to JeffWebb's list. This is a clip of her playing (note, I chose one with a close up of her fingers!  ) Enjoy!
 

[Abdullah Xavier]

Yeah there are a lot of girls that I know who loves playing Darbuka, but obviously they are not expert, it’s just about passion so that’s why there are few woman doing it and more males, but seriously you can’t put it to fingers, as even I have got small fingers yet I love it!

[Abdul Shams]

Yes, there are brilliant women players I have seen live performing, so this is rubbish thinking that women can’t play or don’t it’s just that we don’t see it very often, so we should never comment on that basis as there are so many people here providing names of great player.

[hylian_shieldmaiden]

I'm a female durbakke player

I've personally seen several very talented female durbakke players performing both online and in person, some of whom were better than many male players I've seen. Gender has nothing at all to do with how well a person can play any musical instrument; there are amazing musicians who are male and female, and terrible musicians who are male and female. It just comes down to how dedicated each individual musician is to mastering their instrument.

Personally, I'm just an ok durbakke player, I can play the basics but not advanced stuff. I have two reasons for this. The first reason is that my mom and sister won't really let me practice because it's so loud. The second reason is that I'm also an artist, and I developed carpal tunnel syndrome about 10 years ago from drawing too much, which makes playing the durbakke really difficult and painful for me. Which is a shame, because I really love the durbakke, and would really like to improve. I also play other instruments, mainly the ocarina, which I play better than the durbakke because they don't hurt my wrists.

Basically what I'm getting at is that every musician is different, and has different goals. Some want to be professional, others just play as a hobby. Their skill is determined by their dedication and other factors, but not by gender

[Abdul raheem]

Some of the videos shared are simply mind blowing, it’s superb seeing how good woman actually are at playing Darbuka and I must say that some of the greatest players are woman, so they definitely know it and much better then man, so we should never underestimate them.

[Nurahan Nori]

There are many ladies in my own group so this thing is completely wrong that women can’t play or they don’t. I had a group in college where out of 8 people there were 3 ladies, so that’s certainly not any less numbers for women.

[Habib ul hamdi]

Yes, there are many women Darbuka players, but usually if you look at complete band then you often find them playing a supportive kind of role and that’s why we see more women playing Oud instead of Darbuka, but it’s obviously it can be different.

[Kalasinar]

I'm also a female darbuka player

I really enjoy seeing the wonderful videos of amazing women playing the instrument that people have kindly shared in this thread. And i also agree with the wise words stated here - it is all indeed a matter of passion and drive that determines the dedication of an individual (regardless of gender) to an instrument.

I am from England and as such i have grown up with Western styles of music and i have been playing drums since the age of thirteen. I played on a kit and had weekly lessons for years until my health declined in my last few years of education, and i had to quit my lessons and my weekend job. After that was a very dark time emotionally for me dealing with health issues, and i rarely played my drums at all. Which was a shame because i was good at it and had learnt a great deal from my teacher.

Over the years i am happy to say i am more at peace with the realities of my health, and to accept the fact that there is nothing i can change. Last year i was introduced to the darbuka quite by chance at a music shop, and i fell in love with it straight away. Ever since i have been learning the darbuka, remembering how my teacher taught me drums, and being strict on myself to learn properly. I am very grateful for the fateful day that i walked into that music shop - the darbuka has rekindled my love for percussion, and i endeavour to practice daily enjoying every second of it. I hope that in time i will be able to make some videos to share, but in the meantime i will continue to progress and aspire to be as good as i possibly can.

However i am sad to say that the title of this thread did not shock me in the least, as it is not the first time i have experienced such stereotyping where percussion in general is concerned. I have played in a few bands in my youth when i played drum kit exclusively, and i would have played for more groups had i not immediately been rejected for being a female and thus not fitting the 'cool and fashionable' aspect of an all male rock band. At first it shocked and upset me, yet eventually i found i had to laugh it off. But in general i prefer to remember with kindness the young band members i did play for who did not even think of gender being an issue in the first place. These were the people i respected as dedicated musicians who knew that making good music was more important than creating any sort of shallow public image.

Oh and for the record, the size of one's hands has nothing to do with ability or skill. I have tiny hands and fingers and i manage just fine!

[Sellybar]

I have seen it on shows , on forums and among the man percussion players.
It fills like they are totally disrespect  darbuka / percussion players which are females.

Do other woman fill like that? Even in this forum i found a stupid guy who think that woman don't have the right skills to play.
Can anyone explain this phenomenon ?

Where are all the females players? I want to here your voice!

[NicCris]

I think women can play at least as good as men at any instrument. So, yes, there are many brilliant female darbuka players.

[elmarianexx]

If they take lessons then surely they know how to play the darbuka, and that goes for every other instrument too.