Don't be beaten down there. A bodhran played well - and that doesn't mean played flashily, or over-loud - can really lift a tune sometimes, and not just in Irish tunes.

I've always understood that the right way to play the bodhran isn't to think in terms of playing the rhythm, you play the tune, following the lead melody instrument. So it has to be a tune you know, or you're good at picking up tunes.

And bodhrans should be solitary animals - one at a time, at most.