Tambora??

Yes, it's an Indian instrument. Tambura. It provides, I think, the drone in Indian music.

The Tambura that they are referring to is most likely the Indian one, as Musenfreund said... but the one in the picture is a European (Croatian) Tambura (or Tamburica). My wife plays and teaches the Croatian Tambura

This is an example of an Indian Tambura...

Alternatively - Tambora as in tambourine

Strike the strings with the flat of the hand/ fingers, the side of your pinky or the side of your thumb. The sound produced is quiet but it means all six strings have been hit equally hard.

A :-)

Yes, it's an Indian instrument. Tambura. It provides, I think, the drone in Indian music.

Yes, it's the drone accompaniment. Spelled different ways. In his introduction to the Indian music section at The Concert For Bangladesh George Harrison says "... and this evening the drone instrument, the tampura is being played by Kamala..." (can you tell how many times I've listened to the recording!? :roll: ).

Looks more like something you would smoke stuff in? :lol:

I'd say Alan's interpretation is more likely. Tambora (or tambour) is a known guitar technique. I can't think why they'd mention an Indian/ Croatian drone instrument above two measures of guitar tab.

OR.... it's a drum actually called a Tambora.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b3VLoQ1nA2A&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xlVICUUUGBI&feature=related

The tambora (from the Spanish word tambor, meaning "drum") is a name for a group of Afro-Caribbean musical instruments. Its origins came along with the African slaves brought by the Europeans during the colonization of North and South America. It is used in many Latin American countries musical styles; in the Dominican musical folkloric styles and merengue, the Cumbia in Colombia, and the Venezuelan gaita.
Ethnomusicologists maintain that there was a wide distribution of tambora-like drums throughout the African continent, but the drum is now used more in Latin music. This musical instrument was used for African traditional cultural rituals. In many countries, especially the Dominican republic, tamboras were made from salvaged rum barrels. Performers on the tambora are referred to as tamboreros.
Merengue:
There are three types of tambora for the merengue style of music. The oldest kind is the rope-tuned tambora with black-colored heads. This is seen more in folkloric music of the Dominican republic and Afro-Caribbean slaves. The second type is a rope tuned tambora played with goatskin, or "chivo" heads, either with or without the hair left on. The third type, recently made by company Latin Percussion and other modern companies, is the bolt-tuned kind with rawhide conga heads. This kind usually has metal or wooden rims to hit as a filler for rhythms, sounding, if one strokes it correctly, something reminiscent of a wood block. This type can also be tuned to higher settings and can sound like a conga.
Role in Merengue:
In merengue tipico, known also as perico ripiao (the oldest form of merengue), the tambora has a significantly large role, playing many different types of rhythms and variations on those rhythms. However, in orchestra merengue, the tambora usually only plays the merengue derecho rhythm as a background instrument, while congas are the main rhyhtm instrument, followed by the güira. In orchestra merengue, a separate performer for timbales can be seen very frequently, while in perico ripiao, the timbales and tambora are played most of the time by the same musician (timbales are used most of the time for fills, and, occasionally, solos). Timbales are said to have been introduced into the genre by Dominican percussionist Ray "Chino" Diaz.
Cumbia:
In Colombian Cumbia, the tambora is a bass drum, played in the very first Cumbia rhythms before the accordion entered the cumbia scene, now Colombian cumbia's main instrument. It is rarely seen today as most of the percussion instruments of traditional Cumbia have been replaced by the more versatile conga, güira, claves, and timbales. Now, Colombian tamboras are generally only seen at folkloric presentations.
Venezuelan Gaita:
In Gaita music, the tambora is a one-headed drum played with sticks. The player can sit on it or put it between his or her legs to perform rhythms on the instrument.

I'd say Alan's interpretation is more likely. Tambora (or tambour) is a known guitar technique. I can't think why they'd mention an Indian/ Croatian drone instrument above two measures of guitar tab.

As a further FYI, the Croatian Tamburitza has many different sizes all the way from a bass cello size to a small mandolin size. My wife plays mostly plays the prim (pictured above) which is played with very quick picking:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3RicZ3q-RGA
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vScUyGsmGuY
She puts my simple scale practice to shame with her fingering and picking speed.

Thanks guys! It's the guitar technique that Alan was talking about. The tab just has the word over the tab. I tried it and it created a different kind of sound that went with the music.