Low-Country Yak Bera drum skin acoustic tuning: Mangullama boiled rice paste formulation?
Why do ritual drummers apply a temporary circular paste of boiled sticky rice and iron ash to the bass head of cylindrical wooden Yak Bera drums before exorcisms?
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6 Answers from travellers
Acoustic tuning of the Low-Country drum (Yak Bera / Ruhunu Bera) used in all-night curative exorcisms (Tovil) demands application of a temporary weighting paste (Mangullama or Bera Batha). Drummers grind cooked sticky red rice with fine iron forge dust, tamarind fruit pulp, and carbon ash into a dense black circular paste applied directly to the center of the left drum head (made of cured cow stomach lining). The added mass lowers the resonant fundamental frequency of the membrane and dampens chaotic higher-order overtones, producing a deep, booming bass thud that synchronizes with the sharp treble snap of the right head.
The paste dries and hardens over three hours; drummers must scrape it off with an areca-nut scraper after rituals to prevent the dried paste from rotting the skin.
The drum barrel is hand-carved from seasoned heartwood of mature coconut palm (Cocos nucifera) or Kitul, hollowed to a uniform 1.5cm wall thickness.
High coastal humidity relaxes leather tension; drummers tighten braided cow-hide lateral cords (Waram) using small wooden tuning wedges before dancing begins.
Drummers play standing with the barrel suspended horizontally from the waist, striking both heads with bare hands using complex syncopated Deva Thala meters.
The acoustic sound pressure level of two Yak Bera drums playing together cuts through open village air for over two kilometers on still tropical nights.
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