World’s first playable electronic tabla goes on sale

The world’s first electronic tabla — the Table Touch — has gone on sale, created in Mumbai by a research team at Keda Music, led by British producer Kuljit Bhamra MBE.

First announced in 2021, the Tabla Touch is now available to order and features built-in sounds from traditional Indian instruments such as dholak, khol, mridangam, pakhawaj, gautam, hang, tabla tarang, manjira, temple bells, jhanj and four different tabla sets.

The intricacies of the acoustic tabla meant that designing an electronic version was very challenging. Its designers, Keda Music, a startup at Central Research Laboratory, was founded five years ago to make Indian drumming more accessible to a global audience. Given that it’s an electronic instrument, the Tabla Touch can transition between different keys quickly and easily, without the need for manual tuning. The units all feature MIDI output to control other hardware from the tabla. 

The Tabla Touch comes in three versions: Pro, Studio and Solo, with each one designed for different settings and scenarios. Tabla virtuoso, Kuljit Bhamra, was involved in creating the Tabla Touch, and said at the launch event in Mumbai, “The electronic tabla is a way of celebrating the traditional tabla; it’s not a replacement, it is an option. But, it is a beautiful option if you’re carrying 38kgs of tabla and you’re changing the sur on every song.”

Watch the Tabla Touch in action in the video below and find out more about the Tabla Touch here.