Bodhran lesson

Played some music with a semi-pro bodhran player yesterday, that was fun. We did "Copperhead Road" among others. I brought along the bodhran my daughter bought for me in Ireland, it's got a calfskin head with mythical green and red dragons painted around the edge. It's been hanging on the wall in my music room.


I took it out of the bag, he looked at it and said "that's what we call a wallhanger." I laughed and said "Yeah, I totally get it, well I'm glad it's qualified to do exactly what it's been doing!" LOL

I never claimed to be a percussionist, although I do beat out a lot of bass lines on my E, A, and D strings.

Lol cool

Good story. When I started getting interested in percussion, my wife bought me a bodhran at a local music store for about $40. It looked great; the top side of the skin was bright white and the wood rim was nicely finished, although it was thick plywood. On further inspection, the underside of the skin was poorly finished and the bracing was minimal (precluding using the left hand to change the sound). The skin tension was low; it sounded fairly good during the winter months, but in the humid summer it sounded like kicking a cardboard box.

A few years later I bought another bodhran from a small maker during a trip to Ireland (I paid more than $40). The rim was thin solid wood (like a good acoustic guitar), the skin was perfectly finished and extremely tight. The bracing was lightweight and allowed a lot of hand movement. The seller/maker also taught me a lot about technique and beater (drumstick) selection.

I'm still a terrible timekeeper, but I play this bodhran almost as much as I play my Guild. The original one stays on the wall.

Yeah, both the other guys with bodhrans had them in carry cases, one was from Ireland and the semi-pro guy had one made in Texas!