Pandit Kamalesh Maitra - Tarang

Born in 1928 in the East Bengali part of North India, the musician, composer and teacher, Pandit Kamalesh Maitra, has been living in Berlin since 1977. He may be the last and greatest master of the tabla tarang, a nearly forgotten classical instrument from North India. He has played with musicians as eminent as Ravi Shankar, Ali Akbar Khan, Trilok Gurtu, Charlie Mariano and Giora Feldmann.
... In the long history of Indian percussion, (the Tabla Tarang) evolved rather late but, in spite of its magical sound, has not shared the public appeal of complex "classics". It is made up of 10 to 16 single tabla-drums, tuned to the traditional raga scales and placed in half a circle in order of rising pitch. Tarang means waves and aptly describes the sounds evoked by the drummer. Quickly and suggestively, notes group into melodies and continually new cadences. The tabla tarang sounds rather like a marimba with a hint of gamelan and the resonance of a deep vibraphone. - Gabriele Stiller-Kern / full article here.

his popular recording is "Tabla Tarang - Melody on Drums". this one here, courtesy of Ambrose Bierce (who may have seen this concert with his own eyes?), is as far as i know not commecially available. (and incidentally, the House of World Cultures where this was recorded, is the place where we are planning a summer time NGOMA. fingers crossed!)

Pandit Kamalesh Maitra - Tarang
Live at the House of the Cultures of the World, Berlin, November 5, 1993
Kamalesh Productions CD9802, 1998

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and here is an example of the Tabla Tarang performed: