Maker

Gawharet El Fan

Cairo maker of Egyptian percussion

Gawharet El Fan builds tablas (darbukas), riqs, and frame drums in Cairo, inlaid in mother-of-pearl and shell, and is the name most often seen on Egyptian percussion sold abroad.

Models

  • Gawharet El Fan Riq

    Hand percussion · Egypt

    The riq is a small frame drum with heavy paired jingles, and in Arabic classical music it is a lead instrument rather than an accompaniment — a riq player carries the rhythm and its ornament at once.

  • Gawharet El Fan Tabla

    Hand percussion · Egypt

    Called tabla in Egypt and darbuka further north, this is the drum of Arabic classical and shaabi music. Gawharet El Fan's are aluminium shells inlaid with mother-of-pearl and shell, as much decorated object as instrument.

Categories

  • Hand Percussion

    Congas, bongos, djembes, cajons, timbales, frame drums, and the small instruments that live on a percussion table: tambourines, cowbells, shakers, and claves.

Representative model

  • Gawharet El Fan Tabla

    Hand percussion · Egypt

    Called tabla in Egypt and darbuka further north, this is the drum of Arabic classical and shaabi music. Gawharet El Fan's are aluminium shells inlaid with mother-of-pearl and shell, as much decorated object as instrument.