The larger, kettle-shaped bass drum, played with the left hand (for right-handed players). Its shell is usually metal — copper, brass, or steel — its syahi sits off-center, and its head is tuned low and loose so the pitch can be bent: pressing and sliding the heel of the hand raises the note, releasing lets it fall.
That bend is the tabla's signature expressive device — the gliding pitch work under open Ge strokes. The bayan carries the weight of the full/khali contrast and, in Benares and Punjab playing especially, a soloist's power. Also called dagga.