Forgive me fellow Chiffers; I bought a Bodhran

Martin Milner · Post by **Martin Milner** » Mon Aug 30, 2004 1:50 pm

OK OK, I lapsed, but it's rather fun and only for using at home when I've had enough fiddling, and what an Englishman does in the privacy of his own front room behind the net curtains is, well, you know.

I think it may actually help when listening to new tunes, because I can get the rhythm alone, and then the notes, or something.

Anyone else have any daft excuses?

meemtp · Post by **meemtp** » Mon Aug 30, 2004 3:14 pm

I don't have a Bodhran, but I should get one, my penknife isn't getting used often enough.

j/k, I think in the hands of a few select masters, Bodhrans can be great for certain tunes. Besides, like you said, in the privacy of the home......we all have our vices

Corin

kevin m. · Post by **kevin m.** » Mon Aug 30, 2004 3:46 pm

So Martin,was it an impulse buy-one of those ones labelled 'Guinness' or with some kitschy 'Celtic' design,or was it a 'proper' one??

glauber · Post by **glauber** » Mon Aug 30, 2004 3:57 pm

The bodhran is very cool. It's usually played with a funnily shaped stick called the "tipper", but we've discovered that using a sharp implement (such as a penknife or a kitchen knife for the larger models) greatly improves the sound!

Post by **Nanohedron** » Mon Aug 30, 2004 4:44 pm

A bodhran player that I give grief to from time to time was showing off her new improved drum yesterday, and mentioned its thick skin, and that thick skins on bodhrans are a Good Thing. I added that the same measure applies to the people who play them, to which she could only agree.

She didn't use the term "thick head". She's learning to watch her words lest I grab an opportunity.

djm · Post by **djm** » Mon Aug 30, 2004 5:46 pm

MMilner wrote:I think it may actually help when listening to new tunes, because I can get the rhythm alone, and then the notes, or something.

Didn't the Pope finally concede that the rhythm method doesn't work?

djm

meemtp · Post by **meemtp** » Mon Aug 30, 2004 6:14 pm

Of course the funny thing about Bodhrans is every good ITM musician I know bashes Bodhrans like we all do. But most of them actually can play one quite well. They're all closet Bodhran players!

Corin

Martin Milner · Post by **Martin Milner** » Tue Aug 31, 2004 6:02 am

kevin m. wrote:So Martin,was it an impulse buy-one of those ones labelled 'Guinness' or with some kitschy 'Celtic' design,or was it a 'proper' one??

Not an impulse buy! It has no design at all, just plain goatskin. I'm not too keen on the designs either! A couple of things over the summer nudged me over the edge into wanting one, and I took a trip up to Hobgoblin in London to select one.

It's only a £40 16" job, but tuneable. I wasn't quite ready to splash £150 or more on a bodhran just yet - I'm no John Joe Kelly.

_______________________________________________________________________________
'...to say John Joe Kelly plays the bodhran, is like saying Mount Everest is a bit of a climb'

FJohnSharp · Post by **FJohnSharp** » Tue Aug 31, 2004 8:30 am

FWIW, I fully plan on buying one at some point. My whistle teacher showed me his and taught me the rudiments of playing. I'm a drummer originally and I figure I need to add it to my repertoire.

Of course, thanks to this place, I have no intentions of taking it out in public.

kevin m. · Post by **kevin m.** » Tue Aug 31, 2004 12:04 pm

Martin Milner wrote:
kevin m. wrote:So Martin,was it an impulse buy-one of those ones labelled 'Guinness' or with some kitschy 'Celtic' design,or was it a 'proper' one??
Not an impulse buy! It has no design at all, just plain goatskin. I'm not too keen on the designs either! A couple of things over the summer nudged me over the edge into wanting one, and I took a trip up to Hobgoblin in London to select one.

It's only a £40 16" job, but tuneable. I wasn't quite ready to splash £150 or more on a bodhran just yet - I'm no John Joe Kelly.

***Fair does Martin.I haven't got anything against Bodhrans or Bodhrani as a group. ****

_______________________________________________________________________________
'...to say John Joe Kelly plays the bodhran, is like saying Mount Everest is a bit of a climb'

OutOfBreath · Post by **OutOfBreath** » Tue Aug 31, 2004 2:04 pm

Actually, Bodhrans can be quite useful. I've heard that the goatskin heads can be made into halfway decent moccasins in a pinch...

Unseen122 · Post by **Unseen122** » Fri Sep 03, 2004 10:05 pm

Bodhrans can be used as ass hammocks this is when you sit on one, quite comfortable. Now for a joke:

Q: What is the best thing to play a bodhran with?

A: A Razor Blade.

I in reality have no problem with the bodhran in fact I own one myself.

benwalker · Post by **benwalker** » Wed Sep 08, 2004 12:11 pm

BAD BOY!....... DIRTY BOY........... GO TO YOUR ROOM!

maze · Post by **maze** » Fri Sep 17, 2004 1:54 pm

Frankly I find that in the years that i have played the bodhran, it has vastly improved my piping. It is not a matter of getting a grasp on the rhythm, but the ability to hear alternative rhythmic patterns in the music that has come from really focusing some time to the percussive arts.

Plus if the bodhran in question is an Alfonso... they smell like feta cheese... hmmm... cheese..... baaaaa

Joseph E. Smith · Post by **Joseph E. Smith** » Sat Sep 18, 2004 3:53 am

Around 1985 I purchased a bodhran in Minneapolis Minnesota from the Homestead Pickin' Parlor. They had a brand of drum named: Boreal. It is a fine drum that has served me well for nearly twenty years, though its calfskin head needs replacing as it has developed 'permaflaccidity'
....'course, it doesn't help living in Florida. I have yet to play one of Albert's drums, though I have heard very good things about them.

I am getting bored with the tired 'slag the bodhran' attitude... just as I have with the same toward bagpipes, concertinas and nosewhistles....well, maybe not nosewhistles. The bodran can go a long way toward teaching rhythmic fundamentals within ITM for those who play 'melody inclined' and accompanying instruments. I have found it an invaluable device in this regard.

Chiff and Fipple Forums

Forgive me fellow Chiffers; I bought a Bodhran

Forgive me fellow Chiffers; I bought a Bodhran

goat boy