Drum with two heads (it is classified as a membranophone). The term is used especially, for a particular group of such drums held horizontally so that both heads can be used. Such instruments, which may be cylindrical, slightly conical, double-conical or barrel shaped, are important in an area which stretches from southern Europe and North Africa to South Asia. For some, such as the Davul of Turkey and the Middle East, the player uses a different beater for each side. On many, including the davul, the dangali and Ganga of Chad, the dhol of Armenia, the Dhol, Dholak and Mrdangam of India, and the gâta bēre of Sri Lanka, the heads are of different construction, size or thickness, providing two (often more) distinct timbres; sometimes one head is termed ‘male’, the other ‘female’.
See also Drum, §I.