Welcome to The Dhol Factory we set the standards that others try to imitate. Our team has over 20 years of experience in supplying beginners and professionals all over the world, with the right product at the right price. We retail and wholesale in traditional Punjabi instruments and we specialise in the Dhol drum.
All of our Dhols are hand made by our team in India out of the highest grade taahli wood (Indian rosewood) and are then shipped over to the U.K, where they are finished off to a high standard at our Factory. We can provide ready made Dhols and are the only supplier in the world that can and will make a custom made Dhol to the requirements of the individual, this includes everything from the dimensions of the Dhol, types of skin used even down to smallest detail of how the Dhol is roped. Our team at the Dhol Factory provide this unique service and believe that it is second to none.
The Dhol Factory also provides high quality accessories for the Dhol these include Hooks, Belts, Flight Cases, Decorations, Microphones, Daggas, Tillis, Basses and Treble skins. As one of the market leaders in our field, our instruments speak for themselves.
If you require more information about our products or services please contact us, we will be happy to help.
For more information on our dhols and accessories feel free to contact us via E-mail on: sales@thedholfactory.co.uk
The Dhol Factory ………The Professionals Choice.
While in the past dhols were carved out by hand– a process that would take 2 days and wasted a lot of wood– now they are practically all carved on a lathe (kharaad). To carve the outside of the dhol, the craftsman sits on a specially made wooden contraption that braces up against the revolving dhol and provides a resting point to steady the carving tools.
The "machine" (i.e. the lathe), as they call it, has a long iron lever used to control the speed of revolution, which is operated by the craftsman's foot. They shape the outside of the dhol using a chisel-type tool with a slightly bevelled edge. While the dhol rotates, the worker takes a chisel with a flat, 90 degree-angled edge and uses the corner of the blade to score lines which make an appealing design around the dhol.
To bore out the inside, a large, wedge-shaped tool with a pointed edge is used, which they call a chaina. Using the steel bench on the side of the lathe as a resting and pivot point, they begin to force the tool into the wood so that it cuts a groove. Gradually the tool can be inserted further and further in. Once it reaches the center point, the dhol's direction on the lathe is reversed, and the process is repeated for the other side. The procedure requires a lot of strength and control by the worker so as not to damage the dhol.
The shell at this point is too thick and heavy to be used; it is not possible to cut it thinner on the machine. Therefore, the inside must be further carved out by hand with a chisel. All this makes for a better tone in the end.
Each shell then has goat skin heads made. The heads have bamboo hoops around which the skin is dried. Holes are made at regular intervals around the edge near the bamboo rim, and the skins are laced together over the shell and tensioned.
The modern trend with the dhol is to have a plastic skin on the treble end, tensioned by metal tuning hooks. The rope for the bass skin then fits around the lug boxes of the tension bolts so you still get the traditional rope on the outside of the shell.
