Daf Workshop: The Instrument of Sufi Mystics

On May 15, we hosted our first workshop of 2021 — a practical introduction to the daf, the large frame drum at the heart of Persian Sufi musical tradition, led by Darioush Madani.

Three people attended. Nine more had been thinking about it. For a specialist workshop on an instrument most people in the region had never held, three serious participants felt exactly right.

The Daf: More Than a Drum

The daf is not simply a percussion instrument. In the Sufi tradition, it is a vehicle for spiritual practice — used in the sama, the meditative listening ceremony, to carry rhythm into a space where rhythm becomes something closer to prayer.

Its physical form is deceptively simple: a large circular frame, traditionally made of wood, with a skin head and metal rings or chains attached to the inner rim. When played, those rings shimmer against the skin, adding a continuous metallic resonance beneath the fundamental stroke. The result is a sound that is at once percussive and atmospheric — driving and meditative in the same breath.

In the Persian mystical centres, the daf is used to play specific rhythmic patterns known as maqam — modal frameworks that carry not just musical but spiritual significance. Learning the daf means learning these patterns, their names, their contexts, and the physical technique required to produce them cleanly.

What the Workshop Covered

Darioush Madani led participants through the fundamentals: how to hold and set up the instrument correctly, how to produce the basic strokes, and how to begin working with the rhythmic patterns used in the Persian Sufi tradition.

The focus was practical. Participants worked with their own hands on real instruments, learning through repetition and correction rather than theory alone. By the end of the session, each person had the foundational technique needed to continue practising independently.

Darioush Madani

Darioush Madani is a specialist in Persian frame drum traditions, with deep experience in both the technical and spiritual dimensions of daf practice. His teaching approach combines rigorous attention to physical technique with an understanding of the musical and cultural context that gives the instrument its meaning.

He would return to Tapadum for further workshops and concerts — a sign that the format worked and the interest was there.

Workshops at Tapadum

The daf workshop marked the beginning of a more structured workshop programme at Tapadum. Alongside concerts and jam sessions, we wanted to offer something more hands-on — a chance for people to learn instruments from the Mediterranean and Near Eastern traditions directly from master practitioners.

The daf was the right place to start. Few instruments carry as much history in as simple a form.

Tapadum hosts workshops, concerts, and jam sessions throughout the year. Browse our frame drum and percussion collection or follow our upcoming events.

Özgür Yalçın is the founder of Tapadum and the founding member of Karagüneş. He has performed ethnic and world music across Europe for over twenty-five years and builds custom instruments from Tapadum’s workshop in Brisighella, Italy.