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The SwarShala Indian music software includes Pakhawaj and over 100 other perfectly sampled virtual Indian instruments.
The Pakhawaj is an ancient Indian drum, ancestor to the Tabla. It has a barrel-shaped body made of wood, with intricate skin work on both sides. The right side head is made the same way as for Tabla (or rather Tabla is built the same way), with the Pakhawaj skin being usually larger and therefore deeper in sound. The left hand head is similar to Tabla’s bayan skin except that it doesn’t bear a permanent black paste circle in its middle. Instead the musician prepares a dough every time and applies it before playing, to make the sound of that skin very low and deep.
This is also one of the reasons the left hand strokes are more limited than on Tabla, since sliding of the hand would remove the dough. But nevertheless the sound of Pakhawaj is absolutely majestic and fascinating.
As Pakhawaj is an ancient drum, it is the preferred percussion instrument of the ancient singing style called Dhrupad. The more recent vocal style of Khyal has since shifted to Tabla.