---My spatulate digits don't tend to make the same mess of my bodharn playing---honest!--As I was trying to say---I do NOT agree with the assertion that the bodhran can have no place following 3/4 time. I have used it ,and heard it used, very effectively as soft percussion to "Fanny Power" and several other similar melodies, usually in mandolin instrumentals. The drum, I would agree, is hardly suitable if a slavish adherence to the wooden tipper is indulged. But the bodhran, in spite of much popular belief, is NOT a "traditional" instrument. So it follows that neither is the wooden tipper! Many a nice waltz instrumental is complemented by a background of bodhran played [discreetly!] using a tipper composed of bunched kebab sticks---or better still in some cases, an even less intrusive stick made up by bunching broom twigs , which can be "tonally adjusted" by positioning elastic bands on either side of the central binding. A steel jazz brush also can add to the versatility of the bodhran, not only by directly playing the skin , but in certain instrumentals by using it to complement the wooden tipper simply by lightly keeping it in contact with the skin while the tipper does the striking; this can mimic a "snare drum" almost to perfection. So don't be intimidated by the detractors! If an instrumentalist or vocal performer does not want bodhran backing, by all means comply with their wishes. Experience will at length let you know when NOT to play bodhran---and there are many times when this will be so. Those who caution against multiple bodhran players in a session are in general quite right. Unless players can synchronise every beat the result is almost surely discord. And bodhrans are a BACKGROUND INSTRUMENT. Unless a drum solo is asked for, the bodhran sound should blend quietly with the rhythm being created by the group as a whole. As a bodhran player you can never be a "star" unless you can play jigs and reels while doing somersaults . Just enjoy what you do, don't intrude excessively [as many another instrument does!], and try all innovative methods of playing with c.d. or cassette at home first!