Ghatam
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The name of this instrument from India means "water-pot." It is used in two ways. By striking the fired clay of the pot directly with your hands, it can be used as a percussion pot. By stretching a skin across the mouth, it becomes a pot drum. As a percussion pot, the ghatam rests in your lap. The sound it makes depends on whether you use your fingers or the rings on your fingers, nails, palms, or wrists, and where you strike the pot.
| Family |
| Percussions |
| Pitch range |
| None. |
| Material |
| Clay, sometimes with a covering of stretched skin (in which cave it is classified as a membranophone.) |
| Size |
| Variable : this example is about 14 in (36 cm) high. |
| Origins |
| Indian musicians have played water-pots for 2,000 year's. Pot drums are first seen in Indian art in the 8th century. |
| Classification |
| Idiophone: an instrument that produces its sound through the use of the material from which it is made, without needing strings or a stretched skin. |
| And also... |
| In the past, some ghatam players ended their performance in a truly spectacular way : they threw the instrument into the air, so that it smashed on the ground on the final beat. |
