Dholak Players - Do you need to untune dholak when finished?

To all my dholak players, I have a question for you guys. Do you need to loosen the bolts or strings on the dholak when you are finished playing? Does it cause damage to it if you leave it tuned? Tell me what you think.

 

Re: Dholak Players - Do you need to untune dholak when finis

A lot of dholak players would say to loosen the skin after playing, but personally I believe it all depends where you store your dholak. If you have it in a room where its a normal room temperature and not too hot or not too cold, then you won't run into the problem of the skin shifting over time or ripping (if its not loosened). However, if you are an advanced dholak player and can set a dholak quickly and accurately, then by all means slacken the skin after you have played, but personally I don't because I have my dholak in my bedroom and I'm not at a professional level. I've had dholaks that were not loosened for over 6 years and still had no problems. So it just really depends where you normally keep your dholak most of the time.

 

Re: Dholak Players - Do you need to untune dholak when finis

^^ Yup. If you don't loosen it, there is the risk of damage in slightly extreme temperatures. I personally loosen mine - firstly to avoid this possibly happening, and also because I like to re-set it whenever I play anyway.

 

Re: Dholak Players - Do you need to untune dholak when finis

Just adding to your comment SocaSelectah- by re-setting the skin every time I find you actually improve your tuning skills. I would reset my skin some times but I really like the sound I have right now lol. So its really your preference, its not mandatory that you slacken but doesn't hurt to do it either.

 

Re: Dholak Players - Do you need to untune dholak when finis

You guys made some good points. I have experience playing the dholak but I never owned one. I like the idea of untuning it when finished playing it because you do get experience of tuning it back quicker and quicker. That's what I currently do.