The darbuka, also called doumbek or derbeki, is a traditional goblet-drum known for being the foremost percussion instrument in Middle Eastern music.(Sacred Arts Reasearch Foundation)
It started, like how all magical things started, from a song (imitating the opening line of Neil
Gaiman’s Anansi Boys. Haha). The song is Dumaan Ako, it was a poem by late
Maningning Miclat and then later transformed into a song by Joey Ayala, my
favorite song.
What makes a favorite song? I really don’t know. It is a
spiritual thing, and maybe, a mixture of the spiritual pleasures the song
elements triggers, intrigues, and touches our senses. It’s seeing an elegant
tree, a perfect flower, a beautiful morning. A first kiss maybe, a sweet hug in
a very rainy night, a smile from a crush. These things are indescribable, as is
proclaimed by another song by Pinikpikan “Walang
hangganan ang lakbay ng diwa, ‘wag mo na lang pilipiting alamin pa” (our
consciousness has no place of limits, don’t force yourself to understand) What
I can elaborate now is how the lyrics of Dumaan Ako touched me.
Look at these lines: “Kung
mag-isa ako ay ‘wag nang isipin. Sa dilim ay dapat pa akong hanapin. Habang may
luha ay ‘wag pang ibigin. Sa pangarap ko ay ‘wag nang gisingin. Kaya kong
maghintay sa mga tula mo, at makinig sa awit mula sa kabilang dako. At sa
paglalakad sa lilim ng mga puno, matutuklasan ang laman ng pusong malayo” (Don’t
mind me when all alone. I am still needed in the dark to be found. I still have
tears, so don’t love me. Don’t wake me up on my dreams. I can wait for your
poems, and listen for your song on the other side. And as I walk under these
trees, you will discover the burdens of this heart that is away.)
Where on earth can I find a poem as lovely as this? It
captivated me. It’s a combination of a favorite song and a poem. It’s a budget
meal, a Gemini; it’s a feeling of eating your favorite food while in favorite
place.
But if there is still an element of this Dumaan Ako
experience that is more worthy to note, it is the arrangements and the musical
accompaniments. The simplicity and
elegance of Cynthia Alexander’s version of Dumaan Ako soon permanently changed
my standard on considering a song beautiful. This performance is what beautiful
really means. That was about three years ago, when I first noticed a peculiar
percussion instrument, a hand drum played using hands to be specific. The instruments
sang to me alongside the violin, a shaker made of goat horns that mimic that
sound of falling water (the sound of this shaker when played alongside violin
is very eargasmic), keyboard, the voice of Joey Ayala and her sister Cynthia,
and acoustic guitar (beautifully and skillfully played by Cynthia Alexander
herself). The name of the hand drum is Darbuka. At first I don’t know its name,
but by inquiring a player of this instrument, I discovered and searched for it
on the internet.
The sound of the Darbuka when I first heard it reverberated
in my soul. I am a drummer the time I first heard it, and man, Darbuka
satisfied me unlike a typical full-set drum. I now began to think of me playing
it, and owning one.
I was informed by researching on internet that the Darbuka
is native in Middle East Asian countries specifically Egypt and Saudi.
My father is an overseas worker in Saudi for nearly 6 years
so I told him to look out for this specific drum. He said, oo naman sige pangako ko ihahanap kita niyan (sure I’ll find you
one). But the search is not that easy as it was expected. He tells everyone he
knew for them to help him in finding the drum but majority of these people said
“Ay malabo kang makahanap niyan” (You
have a very little chance of finding one). But he don’t mind, he looked for it
at every corner of the places he went, and even when he sees one - the
musicians who owned it don’t want to let the drum be taken away by a Filipino
stranger. One day he saw a Darbuka for the very first time. It was owned by a wealthy
Arabian man. He happily lifted it for the joy of seeing and the owner smiled at
him. He told the Arabian that he is looking for the instrument for a very long
time. The man said that he really wants to give it to my father but the Darbuka
is very valuable to his family because he inherited it from his fourth
generation ancestor.
[My father holding the Darbuka the day he bought it]
We waited and waited, until one day a man approached him saying
that he is selling a used Darbuka. After a very long time of searching, he
finally found a darbuka, not a brand new, but a vintage and used one at least.
All the magic of playing this hand drum started. It now became another element of my life as a musician.
Listen to my songs featuring the Darbuka drum here:
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