"Ghatam"

The ghatam is percussion instrument : an earthenware pot played in the south indian classical music.

Two main kind of ghatams exists, very thick wall and light walls. the thick wall ghatam is considered having a nicer sound than the second type, but is more difficult to play. The pots are tuned to the tonic of the musician, so a ghatam player can have up to 50 different ghatam to perfectly suit the pitch of the vocalist. The percussionist uses the flat, the knuckles and the sides of both hands to hit the walls of the ghatam but he also uses his belly to cover the mouth of the pot, generating controlled tuning and even notes in the lower octave.