Ok, I have a decorative bodhran. I need to hang it on the wall. I tried the old put-a-screw-in-the-wall trick, but it doesn't seem secure... it's a 22 inch... is there some magic way to hang these things securely without drilling holes in the shell?
I've hung a tambourine by attaching a small piece of twine with a teeney bit of glue to the back of the rim. Works like a charm and the glue can be removed if needed. Don't know how bodhrans are constructed but you might try something similar.
I am so glad you didn't put an exclamation point at the end of your subject line.
Even so, I think it makes a brilliant tune title. Right up there with "Smash the Bodhran," "Merrily Burn the Bodhran," "Banish the Bodhran," and who can forget "Farewell to the Bodhran" and "The Bodhran's Retreat"?
Tie a short loop (about 2" long) of rawhide, twine, ribbon, etc. around one of the crosspieces and hang on a large picture hook. A hook intended for 50 lbs will be large enough for the loop. If you don't have cross pieces, try a large hook or even one of the large Command hooks (the kind you don't have to nail into the wall) plus a blob of that poster-hanging sticky stuff inside the bodhran rim to create a little slot for the hook. Or secure 2 appropriately decorative brackets to the wall at a distance appropriate for resting the bodhran.
We actually have TWO bodhrans hanging on the wall, with a bowed psaltery between them -
O^O
looks a bit like a face if you screw your eyes up tight and squint out of them.
I just had a batten screwed to the wall, and had screwed cuphooks into them, have had various different instruments hanging on these over the years, from bouzoukis to an electric guitar, so there is enough strength in the fixings to take quite a bit of weight. The rounded part of the cuphook sticks out far enough from the wall, and the slightly rough inside of the rim provides all the friction needed.
But all of these instruments are definitely functional, not decorative as a primary purpose.
You guys are always so mean about bodhrans!
Haven't you ever found a good player to enhance your sessions?
(OK - I'll admit I've had to tell one person to stop playing - and that's a bummer - but it has only happened once in the 6 years that our session has been running....)
I love a bodhran in a session. A friend of mine has been playing since he was four and can do some really classy stuff with it. not just beating the living sh*te out of it, he can get notes out of it. Class player.
wow... I didn't expect such passion about this subject. My bodhran player is from Co. Tyrone. I think I have to buy another bodhran so I can do the "2 on the wall" trick so I can squint my eyes funny after a drink and see a big scary face 0v0... I'm working on a fiddle tune now... "hang the bodhran" at this point, it's pretty atonal.
As Tracie said, if you have crosspieces, a piece of string tied between two of them and a picture hook on the wall works great.
In our back room, we have two bodhrans on the wall, with the celtic ink designs, that we got on sale from a US catalog outlet that obviously bought too many during the Riverdance/Titanic days. On occasion they come down and get thumped, but mostly they just look nice. And my wife's starter fiddle and bow hangs next to them, and my old guitar in another corner. Not to mention pictures of musicians, etc. The room has a definite Irish music theme to it.
Yeah, I got a relatively cheap one at an Irish shop in PA. Sounds great though (for a bodhran)... and it's painted nicely with a map of Ireland. I'm trying to talk my daughter into playing it at mass on Christmas eve... but she's a bit too much of a percussion snob to hold a bodhran at this point.
Just to set the record straight, I couldn't resist submitting my list of possible bodhran song titles, but I am a bodhran player. I often wish I could be two people so I could accompany myself when I play flute. To me, no session or recording is complete without a bodhran. Not on every tune, certainly, but the momentum it creates is irresistable IMHO.
Still, the subject line for this thread was just too delicious to pass up. Anyone for a rousing rendition of "Toss the Bodhran"?
I sometimes ponder on the idea of if Keith Moon had been a bodhran player. Maybe on stage with the Cheiftains and an explosive packed bodhran in hand. Then the Hard Rock Cafe of London could hang it on their wall. Hmmmm?
Thanks everyone... the solution to the bodhran-hanging question took form in this way: I tied some Jute twine to the cross in back and hung it on a hook under my clock that says "singing, dancing, carrying on... closed during mass." Surprisingly simple... I just lacked the problem solving skills required for this two weeks ago.
I use two nails and hang my bodhran that way, it's very convenient since I don't have a case for it and I don't play too often. I still haven't figured out what to do with the tipper.
The Well Hung Bodhran was actually a piece written in deadly secret by J.S.Bach to accompany his Well -Tempered Klavier when the world was ready for it - if it had been found in his lifetime, he would have been banished, or worse. Several bodhran players are rumoured to have had a go at the piece, but none has managed to play it well enough to impress the Early Music / Period Orchestra world into recording them, so they tend to be rather tight-lipped about it.
I'm thinking of changing my username with all this violence against bodhran players. Seriously does anyone actully view the bodhran as an actual instrument?? Come on guys!!
Those who dislike the sound of the Bodhran should beware:
"If you develop an ear for sounds that are musical it is like developing an ego. You begin to refuse sounds that are not musical and that way cut yourself off from a good deal of experience."
Hang the Bodhran
Hang the Bodhran
Ok, I have a decorative bodhran. I need to hang it on the wall. I tried the old put-a-screw-in-the-wall trick, but it doesn't seem secure... it's a 22 inch... is there some magic way to hang these things securely without drilling holes in the shell?
# Posted on December 19th 2006 by pastrings
Re: Hang the Bodhran
I've hung a tambourine by attaching a small piece of twine with a teeney bit of glue to the back of the rim. Works like a charm and the glue can be removed if needed. Don't know how bodhrans are constructed but you might try something similar.
Mary
# Posted on December 19th 2006 by Antikhntr
Re: Hang the Bodhran
Ooohhhhhh, this one is asking for it!
# Posted on December 19th 2006 by jtrout
Re: Hang the Bodhran
I am so glad you didn't put an exclamation point at the end of your subject line.
Even so, I think it makes a brilliant tune title. Right up there with "Smash the Bodhran," "Merrily Burn the Bodhran," "Banish the Bodhran," and who can forget "Farewell to the Bodhran" and "The Bodhran's Retreat"?
# Posted on December 19th 2006 by Ailin
Re: Hang the Bodhran
My first reaction was to comment that "Hang the Bodhran" would make a great title for a tune or would that be
"Hang the Bodhran.........player"
# Posted on December 19th 2006 by Antikhntr
Re: Hang the Bodhran
Tie a short loop (about 2" long) of rawhide, twine, ribbon, etc. around one of the crosspieces and hang on a large picture hook. A hook intended for 50 lbs will be large enough for the loop. If you don't have cross pieces, try a large hook or even one of the large Command hooks (the kind you don't have to nail into the wall) plus a blob of that poster-hanging sticky stuff inside the bodhran rim to create a little slot for the hook. Or secure 2 appropriately decorative brackets to the wall at a distance appropriate for resting the bodhran.
Can you tell I watch too much HGTV?
# Posted on December 19th 2006 by Tracie
Re: Hang the Bodhran
We actually have TWO bodhrans hanging on the wall, with a bowed psaltery between them -
O^O
looks a bit like a face if you screw your eyes up tight and squint out of them.
I just had a batten screwed to the wall, and had screwed cuphooks into them, have had various different instruments hanging on these over the years, from bouzoukis to an electric guitar, so there is enough strength in the fixings to take quite a bit of weight. The rounded part of the cuphook sticks out far enough from the wall, and the slightly rough inside of the rim provides all the friction needed.
But all of these instruments are definitely functional, not decorative as a primary purpose.
# Posted on December 19th 2006 by Guernsey Pete
Re: Hang the Bodhran
You guys are always so mean about bodhrans!
Haven't you ever found a good player to enhance your sessions?
(OK - I'll admit I've had to tell one person to stop playing - and that's a bummer - but it has only happened once in the 6 years that our session has been running....)
# Posted on December 20th 2006 by morning star
Re: Hang the Bodhran
A talented bodhran player wouldn't just show up at any session.....would they??
eh hem
# Posted on December 20th 2006 by Lint - upon - Tweed
Re: Hang the Bodhran
.....it depends on the bodhran player!
# Posted on December 20th 2006 by morning star
Re: Hang the Bodhran
Dose anyone like the bodhran?
# Posted on December 20th 2006 by Phantom Button
Re: Hang the Bodhran
They're OK in a performance context!
# Posted on December 20th 2006 by ethical blend
Re: Hang the Bodhran
deja voodoo..........Danger Will Robinson!
# Posted on December 20th 2006 by morning star
Re: Hang the Bodhran
I love a bodhran in a session. A friend of mine has been playing since he was four and can do some really classy stuff with it. not just beating the living sh*te out of it, he can get notes out of it. Class player.
# Posted on December 20th 2006 by session savage
Re: Hang the Bodhran
How old is he now, five?
Joking.
# Posted on December 20th 2006 by Dr. Dow
Re: Hang the Bodhran
No. I beg your pardon. He's 6
# Posted on December 20th 2006 by session savage
Re: Hang the Bodhran
wow... I didn't expect such passion about this subject. My bodhran player is from Co. Tyrone. I think I have to buy another bodhran so I can do the "2 on the wall" trick so I can squint my eyes funny after a drink and see a big scary face 0v0... I'm working on a fiddle tune now... "hang the bodhran" at this point, it's pretty atonal.
# Posted on December 20th 2006 by pastrings
Re: Hang the Bodhran
As Tracie said, if you have crosspieces, a piece of string tied between two of them and a picture hook on the wall works great.
In our back room, we have two bodhrans on the wall, with the celtic ink designs, that we got on sale from a US catalog outlet that obviously bought too many during the Riverdance/Titanic days. On occasion they come down and get thumped, but mostly they just look nice. And my wife's starter fiddle and bow hangs next to them, and my old guitar in another corner. Not to mention pictures of musicians, etc. The room has a definite Irish music theme to it.
# Posted on December 20th 2006 by AlBrown
Re: Hang the Bodhran
Yeah, I got a relatively cheap one at an Irish shop in PA. Sounds great though (for a bodhran)... and it's painted nicely with a map of Ireland. I'm trying to talk my daughter into playing it at mass on Christmas eve... but she's a bit too much of a percussion snob to hold a bodhran at this point.
# Posted on December 20th 2006 by pastrings
Re: Hang the Bodhran
Just to set the record straight, I couldn't resist submitting my list of possible bodhran song titles, but I am a bodhran player. I often wish I could be two people so I could accompany myself when I play flute. To me, no session or recording is complete without a bodhran. Not on every tune, certainly, but the momentum it creates is irresistable IMHO.
Still, the subject line for this thread was just too delicious to pass up. Anyone for a rousing rendition of "Toss the Bodhran"?
# Posted on December 20th 2006 by Ailin
Re: Hang the Bodhran
I Buried My Bodhran and Danced On Its Grave?
# Posted on December 20th 2006 by jtrout
Re: Hang the Bodhran
The Bodhran (Maker) With The Money.
# Posted on December 20th 2006 by nicholas
Re: Hang the Bodhran
Bang Your Bodhran on the Sofa
Roger
# Posted on December 21st 2006 by rogfox
Re: Hang the Bodhran
Take a rope, make a looped knot, make an eloborate trap door thing and have some fun
# Posted on December 21st 2006 by ...
Re: Hang the Bodhran
I sometimes ponder on the idea of if Keith Moon had been a bodhran player. Maybe on stage with the Cheiftains and an explosive packed bodhran in hand. Then the Hard Rock Cafe of London could hang it on their wall. Hmmmm?
I am of little use at this point.
# Posted on December 21st 2006 by Lint - upon - Tweed
Re: Hang the Bodhran
Well, at least if Keith Moon had been a bodhran player, there'd be one less of them now
# Posted on December 21st 2006 by ...
Re: Hang the Bodhran
99 bodhran players on the wall,
99 bodhran players.
Take one down and kick it around,
98 bodhran players on the wall.....
# Posted on December 21st 2006 by Lint - upon - Tweed
Re: Hang the Bodhran
The Burnt Old Bodhran.
# Posted on December 21st 2006 by nicholas
Re: Hang the Bodhran
Was Keith Moon not a bit staid to be a bodhran player.
# Posted on December 21st 2006 by bodhran bliss
The Well-Hung Bodhran
Thanks everyone... the solution to the bodhran-hanging question took form in this way: I tied some Jute twine to the cross in back and hung it on a hook under my clock that says "singing, dancing, carrying on... closed during mass." Surprisingly simple... I just lacked the problem solving skills required for this two weeks ago.
# Posted on December 27th 2006 by pastrings
Re: The Well-Hung Bodhran
Did the original question
ask whether hanging a
frigin' bodhran was
the best thing to do with one?
Creatively speaking, I'm
unsure. I'd prefer it if it
never ever existed. But
then again, abuse is fun
# Posted on December 27th 2006 by ...
Re: The Well-Hung Bodhran
I use two nails and hang my bodhran that way, it's very convenient since I don't have a case for it and I don't play too often. I still haven't figured out what to do with the tipper.
# Posted on December 27th 2006 by Corey Murphy
Re: The Well-Hung Bodhran
I think you use the tipper to whack on the skin. It compensates for being poorly hung.
# Posted on December 27th 2006 by polkageist
Re: The Well-Hung Bodhran
6" tippers are good... 10" to 12" tippers are better...
# Posted on December 27th 2006 by pastrings
Re: The Well-Hung Bodhran
There NEEDS to be a tune called The Well-Hung Bodhran.
# Posted on December 27th 2006 by cathrynb
Re: The Well-Hung Bodhran
But would bodhran beaters be able to "play" it?
# Posted on December 27th 2006 by jtrout
Re: The Well-Hung Bodhran
.............. only if they're able to
meet the beat.......
# Posted on December 27th 2006 by morning star
Re: The Well-Hung Bodhran
What....with their feet? as they dangle from the rafters?
# Posted on December 27th 2006 by FiddleFancy
Actually....feel sort of kindly towards bodhran players today....following a truly dire attempt at a session with a djembe player!
# Posted on December 27th 2006 by FiddleFancy
Re: The Well-Hung Bodhran
Ah come on, were not that bad...
# Posted on December 27th 2006 by bodhran guy
Re: Hang the Bodhran
The Well Hung Bodhran was actually a piece written in deadly secret by J.S.Bach to accompany his Well -Tempered Klavier when the world was ready for it - if it had been found in his lifetime, he would have been banished, or worse. Several bodhran players are rumoured to have had a go at the piece, but none has managed to play it well enough to impress the Early Music / Period Orchestra world into recording them, so they tend to be rather tight-lipped about it.
# Posted on December 27th 2006 by nicholas
Re: Hang the Bodhran
I'm thinking of changing my username with all this violence against bodhran players. Seriously does anyone actully view the bodhran as an actual instrument?? Come on guys!!
# Posted on December 28th 2006 by bodhran guy
Re: Hang the Bodhran
All drums are instruments. Not all drum beaters are instrumentalists. Hence - the bad rep.
Pity....... pitty pat pat...
# Posted on December 29th 2006 by morning star
Re: Hang the Bodhran
Hi Morning Star and everyone!
I think you nearly had it, MG, but my take on it is that not all instrument-players are musicians and that's the bit that counts!
\())
# Posted on January 2nd 2007 by greenman
Re: Hang the Bodhran
MS not MG. Nowhere near! No excuse!
# Posted on January 2nd 2007 by greenman
Re: Hang the Bodhran
put glue the whole way around the rim
# Posted on January 13th 2007 by Conzer
Re: Hang the Bodhran
Those who dislike the sound of the Bodhran should beware:
"If you develop an ear for sounds that are musical it is like developing an ego. You begin to refuse sounds that are not musical and that way cut yourself off from a good deal of experience."
John Cage
# Posted on March 16th 2007 by Ptarmigan