Paddy Keenan on Bodhran!!!!!!!!!!

jqpublick · Post by **jqpublick** » Sat Jul 03, 2004 8:06 am

If you want to hear some great Bodhran playing check out the band Flook, with John Joe Kelly on bodhran. Just dynamite playing, very inventive without being overbearing.

It's just my take, but I'd say most people, entering a room full of ITM instruments, would look at a set of pipes and take a step back in fear, try to honk on a flute and maybe get a bit of a whining noise, not even touch a fiddle BUT! Then they see the bodhran, their eyes light up and they start pounding away. 'Cos drums are simple, right? Grrrrrrrrrrrr.

Mark (spot the closet bodhranist)

benwalker · Post by **benwalker** » Sat Jul 03, 2004 1:12 pm

I was once at a session where an elderly rather frail looking gentleman
walked in with a sax case. He took out an alto sax and played the best set of reels you ever heard (on a saxophone). ornamentation, rolls everything. He could only play a few reels and jigs. He was an old jazzer who had a real passion for ITM. He also played bodhran. He was the quietest bodhran player, but he put a load of funky stuff in. You needed to listen really quietly or you would miss it. He played with brushes (or a brush)

djm · Post by **djm** » Sat Jul 03, 2004 4:31 pm

A fellow here got the ends of his tipper remade to be of wrapped felt, much like a regular drumstick for bass or tom-toms. It muffled the sound nicely while allowing him the freedom to play normally, so that he was never too loud, but always present. He had the good taste to know when and when not to play, as well, so was always welcome.

djm

Joseph E. Smith · Post by **Joseph E. Smith** » Sat Jul 03, 2004 5:13 pm

I usually stitch leather around both ends of the tipper. It produces a mellow sounding strike, but you can still get a good 'rattle' when you have a mind. Plus, it makes keeping the drum quieter a lot easier to do. But the way I like to play is simply with my first and middle finger, using the back or 'inside hand' to play embellishing notes......great....I have now admitted to playing the darn thing..... :roll:

fancypiper · Post by **fancypiper** » Sat Jul 03, 2004 6:15 pm

A 9" tipper with 1" knobs on the end and a bump to fit between the thumb and forefinger gives me the most control. It gives neat little rim shots that sort of "tick" instead of going "CLACK". You can be really quiet or obnoxious at your pleasure.

I wish I could find another just like the one I lost, but I think I will have to get a woodworker to lathe me out what I want.

I caught a Northern Ireland fiddler one year at the Galax Old Time Fiddlers Convention and did a few whistle tunes with him, dropped by with my bodhran later and noticed that he rolled his eyes. After a few tunes, he said, "You are pretty good on the bodhran. I can't even hear you playing it!"

Mypipes · Post by **Mypipes** » Sun Jul 04, 2004 4:00 pm

Oh well you all went off on the Bodhran diatribe yet no one could answer the question or provide proof of the Keenan-Power bodhran affair so I checked with forensics and what ya know!!!

I never saw David Power smile in the presence of a Bodhran player...what is this world coming to!!!

Joseph E. Smith · Post by **Joseph E. Smith** » Tue Jul 06, 2004 6:00 am

I am sure that if Paddy plays the bodhran with the same skill as he does the pipes, it is a joyous noise...perhaps that is why David Power is smiling...or I could just be talking out of my arse...yeah, alright, I'm talking out of my arse.