Heh, well, before I go any further I'd better pre-empt the obvious 'Don't!' . . .
But seriously, I'm a bodhran player looking to buy a decent drum after some time spent learning on one of Waltons finest . . .
After a bit of playing around in the local shop with a few different brands, I find it's a toss-up between a Belgarth (the most beautiful skin I've ever played, but at 16", smaller than I'm used to - I like the space to roam on an 18", and the frame feels a little lightweight) and a Vignoles (18", built like a tank and beautifully finished but toppier than the Belgarth and maybe lacking some of the tonal possibilities). Just wondered if any of you goat-thwackers out there can help me make up my mind.
And while I'm here, a little technique question (what? there's a 'technique' to bashing a bodhran?): the drum I learnt to play on has crossbraces, and I've unknowingly developed a slightly odd way of playing - I never felt comfortable tucking the thing under my armpit and found that it deadened some of the tones I wanted to get out of the drum, so I actually hold it a little way in front of me, keeping it in place by wedging my hand between the crossbraces and the skin. This also helps with putting pressure on the skin - I just roll my left hand to increase the pressure and raise the note, rather than having to actually push with my hand, and rarely play it completely 'open'. It also means I can play the rim close to my body and still get triplets, which I can't get if I play on the rim furthest from my body. However, the upshot of this is that I'm buggered without a crossbar (and one which is a very particular distance from the back surface of the skin, at that), which kind of limits my choices of drums - in the shop, I also tried a rather beautiful Norwegian drum, with a reindeer skin, but the lack of a crossbar meant I was flailing around like a fish out of water. Anybody out there had a similar problem, and if so, how did you deal with it? Just stick with crossbars? Put your own crossbar into barless drums? Re-learn from scratch with the 'correct' technique? Just interested to know your experiences.
Anyway, thanks in advance - and I love this site - very entertaining banter!
KC - if you're real - my pal Dennis does that thing with the crossbraces and the rolling hand and not the armpit. He also tends to end up with his left cheek bone (face cheek that is) resting on the top of the rim, and his eyes shut. I can't offer any help on your requirements, but I know your style isn't unique, so help is probably available.
Now why wouldn't I be real? Not unreal, just new and only today decided to 'de-lurk' and join in.
Actually, yes, I've tried that 'resting my cheek bone on the rim' thing, too, to hold it steady when I do want to play open, but it can feel like my fillings are rattling out of my head, so I didn't pursue it too far . . . Are you sure your mate Dennis isn't asleep, by the way? Sure sounds that way - have you tried prodding him?
My drum has no cross-braces. If you like the tone of the braceless drum you found, go for it. It's worth getting used to the new technique, and you can get a better range of sounds when you can move your hand over the whole skin without being restricted by the braces. (Sorry if the last bit sounds like a teen-age boy fantasy). You can always get a brace put in later (preferably by a skilled bodhran engineer.)
Sit, Watch and laugh if the other goat-bashers are not up to it.
Practise at home to radio/tapes/cds anything & everything.
Don't take it to a session for a year or two (unless you are already a musician - then why?).
my sister has a bodhran from a maker by the name of Albert Alfonzo. I hear a completely different tone out of it. to my knowledge he makes a variety of instruments, if you want to check him out. I'll see if I can find anymore info on him and post it.
I removed the brace on my second bodhran because it limited my left hand movement when I wanted to do a roll onto a bass note. It was just a nuisance.
I think the Albert Alfonzo bodhran is a bit advanced for your skill level, but I've played one and they are very good, probabaly just as good as the best, which is who knows? There is an excellent "Pakistani" bodhran in the market at a very reasonable price, but it is flourescent green, and the skin is very stiff (inflexible),
but could save you a few bucks until you decide if you want to take the abuse that undoubtably will be heaped on you for even thinking about trying to become a respected percussionist.
I have a "Buck" made by Carl Deitrich of Philly, but don't know if he is still builing them. It has a 4" wide rim, is tunable and the skin is very flexible for a wide variety of sounds. I play mostly other instruments but when called upon, I still do a few accompaniments for a tune like "Catharsis" or any other fiddle "special". I would never consider taking it to a session where I didn't know what was going to be played beforehand.
Hope that helps.WB
I have a little-used 18" inch untunable Buck with a nylon bag that I'd sell, if anyone's interested. I've been meaning to post them on ebay but I haven't got around to it.
4 years ago I picked up a Brendan White bodhran in Cork...
Really nice drum!
He has a web page you might like to visit http://www.bodhran.nl
May give you an insight into his drums....
As I said..
this is really nice and has a great tone.
Don't goats die of natural causes, or may be slaughtered for other, quite legitimate, reasons? I too feel unhappy about the possibility of an animal being killed solely for the purpose of providing parts for a musical instrument.
Ottery's running that ragged old flag up the flagpole again! So I'll salute it appropriately
The fact of the matter is that cats have never sourced fiddle strings. The "gut" usually comes from the intestines of sheep and goats, and possibly other agricultural animals. Cats were too much of an investment as working animals to keep down vermin than be used as a source for fiddle strings.
This common mistake about "cat-gut" probably arises from the old mediaeval word for a precursor of the fiddle - "kit", and, coupled with the unhappy noises invariably made by all beginners on the instrument, it was fairly natural to mistakenly associate cat-gut with cats.
The que for goats waitin to "donate" their skin for the sake of an uninitiated,and underappreciated, though dedicated drummer is quite forlornly empty at the moment and not likely to change, considering the vagaries of Irish weather in the northwest (where skins are thicker.)
So, if we are to have bodhrans at all, for whatever desperate reason, we'll have to kill them on purpose, or wait for road-kill.
Hi Kidcharlemagne, I play a Bodhran made by a guy called Nick Driver which I've had for 20 years or so (re-attached the skin 3 times).
It has thin metal cross-bars (well only one now) and I to play with my hand between the skin and bar.
As to the "correct" way to play forget it, this is a very recent instrument and technique is still being invented.
Don't fall into the trap of thinking that because some well rated players have invented a style that does not use brasses, that this is inherently superior.
My technique involves using and suppressing the natural resonances of the skin mostly with my thumb and little finger.
I prefer to play low "notes" to occupy the space where usually no one else is.
So feel free to invent and improve your own style, as it is your unique contribution to the music.
As for the Vegan Bodhran, Life eats Life if you don't like it get born in a different Universe.
And PP, thanks for the encouragement: I hear all this talk about the benefits of being able to move all over the back of the skin, but I'm not a great fan of the 'up-and-down the scale' style of bodhran playing that seems to be in fashion these days (somebody, in this discussion forum I think, described it aptly as sounding like 'the glug-glug of someone pouring water out of a plastic bottle') - I prefer the deeper tones in general, with just enough 'top-end action' to give a bit of ornamentation and articulation. And I don't actually need to move all over the back of the skin to do that. But I still get the impression that folks in music shops tend to scoff a bit when I ask to see a bodhran with a cross bar: 'Don't you know, everybody these days plays them without the bars!' Yeesh.
Oops, fell asleep!, the ONLY bodhran worth buying
in my opinion is an O'kane. He has a new design and its no longer necessary to tighten different screws just one central thingie. Bought one recently for my bodhran partner and he really loves it and the sound of an O'Kane is very subtle and blends in with the session and is not obtrusive, even in inexperienced hands. Woops, my cursor is doing strange things, very distracting!!!
d
Yes, lots of people have recommended O'Kane's bodhrans to me - but I've checked his site, and there has been a pop-up for the last few months, warning visitors that Seamus isn't taking any more new orders for the moment. I'd love to order one, but it seems he must be swamped right now. Is this the case? When did your partner order his? I'm guessing it must have been quite recently, if it's got the new tuning mechanism. Anybody else here ordered one lately? Is it just internet orders he's not taking?
No goats slaughtered, true, but what about the poor goose who gave up his feathers to fill that? Or can you actually pluck a goose while he's still alive? You've got me wondering now . . . but I don't reckon I've seen many naked geese waddling about, so I'd guess you can't. And it would kinda adversely affect his buoyancy and aerodynamics, not to mention his self-confidence, I suspect . . .
hi
well i bought a bodhran last year (was a bit drunk at the time n bort it cheap) n i was told if i got into it the best place to buy a better one was at a fleadh n its also a gr8 place to pic up tips. try goin 2 sessions or joinin comhaltas if ur lukin 2 get proper advice
Besides, Ottery, goats are not just sentient beings, but ruminant sentient beings, which is more than can be said for many of the so called homo sapiens species - not to mention cats.
PS. There is an interesting connection between cats and goats in the history of human irrationality. The scapegoat was conveniently believed to carry off the sins of the tribe. And because witches were believed to change into cats, it is thought that the animals were hunted almost to extinction at one stage, resulting in the spread of the Black Death by flea laden rats. It has also been suggested (by David Attenborough et al) that hares and foxes were also believed to be favoured "familiars" of witches and thus became popular hunting prey, notwithstanding that foxes were uneatable.
PPS, Pied Piper, regarding your suggestion that I remove myself from your universe for adhering to vegan principles, I don’t intend leaving before I post the following response at least. Your profound observation that “Life eats Life” calls to mind the satire by the illustrious Jonathan Swift in which he ironically suggested that British people take to eating Irish babies and thus solve both the problem of food shortage in Britain and over-population in Ireland at the same time. Taking a lead from Swift’s suggestion and in keeping with your ethics-free pragmatic “Life eats Life” maxim, presumably you would be perfectly happy to eat babies from overpopulated impoverished countries and thus solve at least one major problem of this universe. And you could solve another one by eating me.
OK K. Just a couple of thoughts - I wouldn't discount a drum just because it hasn't got cross-braces if it sounds good to you. I ordered an O'Kane some time ago and asked for a cross-bar. He mistakenly sent me one without, but gave me instructions for fitting one myself. I didn't want to ruin the drum with my inept craftsmanship so got used to playing without and now prefer it.
Bodhran's are available with plastic/fibre skins which is good news for goats, kangaroos and fish. Also keeps it playable in different atmospheric conditions.
I read somewhere on here (I think) of a little girl asking her mum "If God didn't want us to eat animals, why did he make them out of meat?"
Hey, what's with this picking on cats now?
I'd recomend getting your goat from Marcus Music at Tredegar House in Wales. Mines 25 years old and still going strong, cross braces and all. I also like to play the low notes that can only be acheived with a good skin and a little finger. Incidentally, I once had my drum taken away from me with the comment 'no-one's shown you how to play this properly have they?' My reply 'I like how I make it sound, so that's the proper way for me'
play it how you want and enjoy!
If you re-reed my comments phonsie you will see that I did not ask you to leave this Universe but implied that denying for squeamish and self-indulgent personal reasons the validity of the mechanism that brought you into existence and maintains the stability of the biosphere, is the height of hubris.
The Potato famine and eating babies Hmm; are you related to Donald Rumsfeld?
Pied Piper, your reply implies that you don't understand the words "ironically" or "satire", nor the difference between such concepts as ethical and self-indulgent. As to how you could associate a vegan, ITM playing reasonably literate and historically aware Paddy with a soulless plutocratic war-mongering vampire such as Rumsfeld, that's beyond me. I would humbly suggest that you read my comment again, preferably with the aid of a dictionary and think, man, think.
Buy a Roundstone and you will regret it. I purchased a cheap Paki drum, removed the head, rounded the edges, sanded and refinished the rim. Then I retacked the head just in from the original tacking job and have a pretty nice drum. It's a hell of a lot nicer than the Roundstone and will do well until I can afford and O'Kane, Alfonzo or Grady.
Advice on buying (and playing) a bodhran
Advice on buying (and playing) a bodhran
Heh, well, before I go any further I'd better pre-empt the obvious 'Don't!' . . .
But seriously, I'm a bodhran player looking to buy a decent drum after some time spent learning on one of Waltons finest . . .
After a bit of playing around in the local shop with a few different brands, I find it's a toss-up between a Belgarth (the most beautiful skin I've ever played, but at 16", smaller than I'm used to - I like the space to roam on an 18", and the frame feels a little lightweight) and a Vignoles (18", built like a tank and beautifully finished but toppier than the Belgarth and maybe lacking some of the tonal possibilities). Just wondered if any of you goat-thwackers out there can help me make up my mind.
And while I'm here, a little technique question (what? there's a 'technique' to bashing a bodhran?): the drum I learnt to play on has crossbraces, and I've unknowingly developed a slightly odd way of playing - I never felt comfortable tucking the thing under my armpit and found that it deadened some of the tones I wanted to get out of the drum, so I actually hold it a little way in front of me, keeping it in place by wedging my hand between the crossbraces and the skin. This also helps with putting pressure on the skin - I just roll my left hand to increase the pressure and raise the note, rather than having to actually push with my hand, and rarely play it completely 'open'. It also means I can play the rim close to my body and still get triplets, which I can't get if I play on the rim furthest from my body. However, the upshot of this is that I'm buggered without a crossbar (and one which is a very particular distance from the back surface of the skin, at that), which kind of limits my choices of drums - in the shop, I also tried a rather beautiful Norwegian drum, with a reindeer skin, but the lack of a crossbar meant I was flailing around like a fish out of water. Anybody out there had a similar problem, and if so, how did you deal with it? Just stick with crossbars? Put your own crossbar into barless drums? Re-learn from scratch with the 'correct' technique? Just interested to know your experiences.
Anyway, thanks in advance - and I love this site - very entertaining banter!
K.
# Posted on October 28th 2004 by kidcharlemagne
Re: Advice on buying (and playing) a bodhran
KC - if you're real - my pal Dennis does that thing with the crossbraces and the rolling hand and not the armpit. He also tends to end up with his left cheek bone (face cheek that is) resting on the top of the rim, and his eyes shut. I can't offer any help on your requirements, but I know your style isn't unique, so help is probably available.
# Posted on October 28th 2004 by showaddydadito
Re: Advice on buying (and playing) a bodhran
Now why wouldn't I be real?
Not unreal, just new and only today decided to 'de-lurk' and join in.
Actually, yes, I've tried that 'resting my cheek bone on the rim' thing, too, to hold it steady when I do want to play open, but it can feel like my fillings are rattling out of my head, so I didn't pursue it too far . . . Are you sure your mate Dennis isn't asleep, by the way? Sure sounds that way - have you tried prodding him?
Good to know I'm not alone, anyway! Cheers!
K.
# Posted on October 28th 2004 by kidcharlemagne
Re: Advice on buying (and playing) a bodhran
Ha ha, "If you're real"
And, "Oooh, bulls and red rags, bulls and red rags".
But lets look on the bright side:
Charlemagne was only a kid till he greww up. So there's hope for you
# Posted on October 28th 2004 by ...
Re: Advice on buying (and playing) a bodhran
http://www.chronique.com/Library/MedHistory/charlemagne.htm
# Posted on October 28th 2004 by BegF
Re: Advice on buying (and playing) a bodhran
Ah, no, this one actually . . .
http://www.thewilyfilipino.com/blog/archives/000388.html
K.
# Posted on October 28th 2004 by kidcharlemagne
Re: Advice on buying (and playing) a bodhran
Get along now.
# Posted on October 28th 2004 by BegF
Re: Advice on buying (and playing) a bodhran
Aha. Just as well there's gas in the car, then.
K.
# Posted on October 28th 2004 by kidcharlemagne
Re: Advice on buying (and playing) a bodhran
I know who you are.
# Posted on October 28th 2004 by BegF
Re: Advice on buying (and playing) a bodhran
Are you one of those people down the hall? Cos I'm still an outlaw in their eyes. Apparently.
Um, anybody gonna talk bodhrans, or have we scared everybody off with our (rather alarming, admittedly) knowledge of 70s jazz-rock?
K.
# Posted on October 28th 2004 by kidcharlemagne
Re: Advice on buying (and playing) a bodhran
Oh yeah, sorry...I'll be moving on
# Posted on October 28th 2004 by BegF
Re: Advice on buying (and playing) a bodhran
My drum has no cross-braces. If you like the tone of the braceless drum you found, go for it. It's worth getting used to the new technique, and you can get a better range of sounds when you can move your hand over the whole skin without being restricted by the braces. (Sorry if the last bit sounds like a teen-age boy fantasy). You can always get a brace put in later (preferably by a skilled bodhran engineer.)
# Posted on October 28th 2004 by Kerri Brown
Re: Advice on buying (and playing) a bodhran
Sit, Watch and laugh if the other goat-bashers are not up to it.
Practise at home to radio/tapes/cds anything & everything.
Don't take it to a session for a year or two (unless you are already a musician - then why?).
# Posted on October 28th 2004 by geoffwright
Re: Advice on buying (and playing) a bodhran
my sister has a bodhran from a maker by the name of Albert Alfonzo. I hear a completely different tone out of it. to my knowledge he makes a variety of instruments, if you want to check him out. I'll see if I can find anymore info on him and post it.
Cheers!
# Posted on October 28th 2004 by picking up that fiddle
Re: Advice on buying (and playing) a bodhran
I'll risk it that you are real.
I removed the brace on my second bodhran because it limited my left hand movement when I wanted to do a roll onto a bass note. It was just a nuisance.
I think the Albert Alfonzo bodhran is a bit advanced for your skill level, but I've played one and they are very good, probabaly just as good as the best, which is who knows? There is an excellent "Pakistani" bodhran in the market at a very reasonable price, but it is flourescent green, and the skin is very stiff (inflexible),
but could save you a few bucks until you decide if you want to take the abuse that undoubtably will be heaped on you for even thinking about trying to become a respected percussionist.
I have a "Buck" made by Carl Deitrich of Philly, but don't know if he is still builing them. It has a 4" wide rim, is tunable and the skin is very flexible for a wide variety of sounds. I play mostly other instruments but when called upon, I still do a few accompaniments for a tune like "Catharsis" or any other fiddle "special". I would never consider taking it to a session where I didn't know what was going to be played beforehand.
Hope that helps.WB
# Posted on October 28th 2004 by wvwhistler
Re: Advice on buying (and playing) a bodhran
I have a little-used 18" inch untunable Buck with a nylon bag that I'd sell, if anyone's interested. I've been meaning to post them on ebay but I haven't got around to it.
Oh, and the Mel Mercier bodhran and bones video.
# Posted on October 28th 2004 by s1m0n
Re: Advice on buying (and playing) a bodhran
4 years ago I picked up a Brendan White bodhran in Cork...
Really nice drum!
He has a web page you might like to visit
http://www.bodhran.nl
May give you an insight into his drums....
As I said..
this is really nice and has a great tone.
# Posted on October 28th 2004 by Eoino
Re: Advice on buying (and playing) a bodhran
A question touching on an ethical dimension to this topic: Does a goat have to be killed in order to make a bodhran?
# Posted on October 29th 2004 by An Goban Saor
Re: Advice on buying (and playing) a bodhran
Don't goats die of natural causes, or may be slaughtered for other, quite legitimate, reasons? I too feel unhappy about the possibility of an animal being killed solely for the purpose of providing parts for a musical instrument.
Trevor
# Posted on October 29th 2004 by Trevor Jennings
Re: Advice on buying (and playing) a bodhran
Around here, goats die for greek easter and if you ask in the right butcher shops, they'll give you all the skins you like for a few bucks.
# Posted on October 29th 2004 by s1m0n
Re: Advice on buying (and playing) a bodhran
What about all those cats slaughtered to make catgut?
Mieeow!
# Posted on October 29th 2004 by Ottery
Re: Advice on buying (and playing) a bodhran
Ottery's running that ragged old flag up the flagpole again! So I'll salute it appropriately
The fact of the matter is that cats have never sourced fiddle strings. The "gut" usually comes from the intestines of sheep and goats, and possibly other agricultural animals. Cats were too much of an investment as working animals to keep down vermin than be used as a source for fiddle strings.
This common mistake about "cat-gut" probably arises from the old mediaeval word for a precursor of the fiddle - "kit", and, coupled with the unhappy noises invariably made by all beginners on the instrument, it was fairly natural to mistakenly associate cat-gut with cats.
Trevor (0113 GMT+1)
# Posted on October 29th 2004 by Trevor Jennings
Re: Advice on buying (and playing) a bodhran
The que for goats waitin to "donate" their skin for the sake of an uninitiated,and underappreciated, though dedicated drummer is quite forlornly empty at the moment and not likely to change, considering the vagaries of Irish weather in the northwest (where skins are thicker.)
So, if we are to have bodhrans at all, for whatever desperate reason, we'll have to kill them on purpose, or wait for road-kill.
WB (0156 GMT +1)
# Posted on October 29th 2004 by wvwhistler
Re: Advice on buying (and playing) a bodhran
Hi Kidcharlemagne, I play a Bodhran made by a guy called Nick Driver which I've had for 20 years or so (re-attached the skin 3 times).
It has thin metal cross-bars (well only one now) and I to play with my hand between the skin and bar.
As to the "correct" way to play forget it, this is a very recent instrument and technique is still being invented.
Don't fall into the trap of thinking that because some well rated players have invented a style that does not use brasses, that this is inherently superior.
My technique involves using and suppressing the natural resonances of the skin mostly with my thumb and little finger.
I prefer to play low "notes" to occupy the space where usually no one else is.
So feel free to invent and improve your own style, as it is your unique contribution to the music.
As for the Vegan Bodhran, Life eats Life if you don't like it get born in a different Universe.
PP
# Posted on October 29th 2004 by Pied Piper
Re: Advice on buying (and playing) a bodhran
Cheers for your advice so far, people!
And PP, thanks for the encouragement: I hear all this talk about the benefits of being able to move all over the back of the skin, but I'm not a great fan of the 'up-and-down the scale' style of bodhran playing that seems to be in fashion these days (somebody, in this discussion forum I think, described it aptly as sounding like 'the glug-glug of someone pouring water out of a plastic bottle') - I prefer the deeper tones in general, with just enough 'top-end action' to give a bit of ornamentation and articulation. And I don't actually need to move all over the back of the skin to do that. But I still get the impression that folks in music shops tend to scoff a bit when I ask to see a bodhran with a cross bar: 'Don't you know, everybody these days plays them without the bars!' Yeesh.
K.
# Posted on October 29th 2004 by kidcharlemagne
Re: Advice on buying (and playing) a bodhran
The
# Posted on October 29th 2004 by MollyB
Re: Advice on buying (and playing) a bodhran
Oops, fell asleep!, the ONLY bodhran worth buying
in my opinion is an O'kane. He has a new design and its no longer necessary to tighten different screws just one central thingie. Bought one recently for my bodhran partner and he really loves it and the sound of an O'Kane is very subtle and blends in with the session and is not obtrusive, even in inexperienced hands. Woops, my cursor is doing strange things, very distracting!!!
d
# Posted on October 29th 2004 by MollyB
Re: Advice on buying (and playing) a bodhran
Hi Molly,
Yes, lots of people have recommended O'Kane's bodhrans to me - but I've checked his site, and there has been a pop-up for the last few months, warning visitors that Seamus isn't taking any more new orders for the moment. I'd love to order one, but it seems he must be swamped right now. Is this the case? When did your partner order his? I'm guessing it must have been quite recently, if it's got the new tuning mechanism. Anybody else here ordered one lately? Is it just internet orders he's not taking?
K.
# Posted on October 29th 2004 by kidcharlemagne
Re: Advice on buying (and playing) a bodhran
This is the best sounding bodhran, and no goats slaughtered : http://lnt.imageg.net/graphics/product_images/pLNT-1061051_group_reg.jpg
# Posted on October 29th 2004 by Bren
Re: Advice on buying (and playing) a bodhran
No goats slaughtered, true, but what about the poor goose who gave up his feathers to fill that? Or can you actually pluck a goose while he's still alive? You've got me wondering now . . . but I don't reckon I've seen many naked geese waddling about, so I'd guess you can't. And it would kinda adversely affect his buoyancy and aerodynamics, not to mention his self-confidence, I suspect . . .
K.
# Posted on October 29th 2004 by kidcharlemagne
Re: Advice on buying (and playing) a bodhran
hi
well i bought a bodhran last year (was a bit drunk at the time n bort it cheap) n i was told if i got into it the best place to buy a better one was at a fleadh n its also a gr8 place to pic up tips. try goin 2 sessions or joinin comhaltas if ur lukin 2 get proper advice
# Posted on October 29th 2004 by wannabeaccordionist
Re: Advice on buying (and playing) a bodhran
Besides, Ottery, goats are not just sentient beings, but ruminant sentient beings, which is more than can be said for many of the so called homo sapiens species - not to mention cats.
# Posted on October 30th 2004 by An Goban Saor
Re: Advice on buying (and playing) a bodhran
PS. There is an interesting connection between cats and goats in the history of human irrationality. The scapegoat was conveniently believed to carry off the sins of the tribe. And because witches were believed to change into cats, it is thought that the animals were hunted almost to extinction at one stage, resulting in the spread of the Black Death by flea laden rats. It has also been suggested (by David Attenborough et al) that hares and foxes were also believed to be favoured "familiars" of witches and thus became popular hunting prey, notwithstanding that foxes were uneatable.
# Posted on October 30th 2004 by An Goban Saor
Re: Advice on buying (and playing) a bodhran
PPS, Pied Piper, regarding your suggestion that I remove myself from your universe for adhering to vegan principles, I don’t intend leaving before I post the following response at least. Your profound observation that “Life eats Life” calls to mind the satire by the illustrious Jonathan Swift in which he ironically suggested that British people take to eating Irish babies and thus solve both the problem of food shortage in Britain and over-population in Ireland at the same time. Taking a lead from Swift’s suggestion and in keeping with your ethics-free pragmatic “Life eats Life” maxim, presumably you would be perfectly happy to eat babies from overpopulated impoverished countries and thus solve at least one major problem of this universe. And you could solve another one by eating me.
# Posted on October 30th 2004 by An Goban Saor
Re: Advice on buying (and playing) a bodhran
OK K. Just a couple of thoughts - I wouldn't discount a drum just because it hasn't got cross-braces if it sounds good to you. I ordered an O'Kane some time ago and asked for a cross-bar. He mistakenly sent me one without, but gave me instructions for fitting one myself. I didn't want to ruin the drum with my inept craftsmanship so got used to playing without and now prefer it.
Bodhran's are available with plastic/fibre skins which is good news for goats, kangaroos and fish. Also keeps it playable in different atmospheric conditions.
I read somewhere on here (I think) of a little girl asking her mum "If God didn't want us to eat animals, why did he make them out of meat?"
\())
# Posted on October 30th 2004 by greenman
Re: Advice on buying (and playing) a bodhran
Hey, what's with this picking on cats now?
I'd recomend getting your goat from Marcus Music at Tredegar House in Wales. Mines 25 years old and still going strong, cross braces and all. I also like to play the low notes that can only be acheived with a good skin and a little finger. Incidentally, I once had my drum taken away from me with the comment 'no-one's shown you how to play this properly have they?' My reply 'I like how I make it sound, so that's the proper way for me'
play it how you want and enjoy!
# Posted on October 31st 2004 by The Cat
Re: Advice on buying (and playing) a bodhran
Take a look: mid-east.com for cheap bodhrans.
Tunable, with decent quality skin. w/X bar
WB
# Posted on November 1st 2004 by wvwhistler
Re: Advice on buying (and playing) a bodhran
If you re-reed my comments phonsie you will see that I did not ask you to leave this Universe but implied that denying for squeamish and self-indulgent personal reasons the validity of the mechanism that brought you into existence and maintains the stability of the biosphere, is the height of hubris.
The Potato famine and eating babies Hmm; are you related to Donald Rumsfeld?
PP
# Posted on November 3rd 2004 by Pied Piper
Re: Advice on buying (and playing) a bodhran
Pied Piper, your reply implies that you don't understand the words "ironically" or "satire", nor the difference between such concepts as ethical and self-indulgent. As to how you could associate a vegan, ITM playing reasonably literate and historically aware Paddy with a soulless plutocratic war-mongering vampire such as Rumsfeld, that's beyond me. I would humbly suggest that you read my comment again, preferably with the aid of a dictionary and think, man, think.
# Posted on November 8th 2004 by An Goban Saor
Re: Advice on buying (and playing) a bodhran
Buy a Roundstone and you will regret it. I purchased a cheap Paki drum, removed the head, rounded the edges, sanded and refinished the rim. Then I retacked the head just in from the original tacking job and have a pretty nice drum. It's a hell of a lot nicer than the Roundstone and will do well until I can afford and O'Kane, Alfonzo or Grady.
# Posted on November 10th 2004 by baxdrum