Very frequently it's bodhran players who seem to be the worst listeners - they think that possession of a circular section of dead goat in a wooden ring magically imbues them with a faultless sense of rhythm and tempo. Well, I suppose it might have, had the goat be appropriately sacrificed to the correct gods.

Some other traditions deal with that better. In Indonesian gamelan, the most senior player is the one who beats the gong agung (the really huge one: one beat every phrase). They will have graduated to that by working their way down every metallophone in the group, highest to lowest. Which recognizes that an old-timer might not have the virtuoso chops any more, but gum they'll have the timing right.

In Ottoman classical music from the Sufi tradition, the small kettledrum (kudüm) keeps the beat, again with rather infrequent taps. It has a sound that cuts through anything. It is considered to be an allegory for the creative impetus of God as the Prime Cause behind every event that occurs in the universe.

Perhaps we should insist that bodhran players graduate to the instrument after playing everything else in the traditional lineup, and that they should take on reponsibility for synchronizing every event in earthly time. Is that too much to ask?