Non sequitur, Hilary (I'm trying HTML now, let's see how it works). A bodhran is just an example that being beaten does not always mean being touched wrong. (Oww!! I can only hope that I'm not beaten for this myself.)

( Let's quit joking for a moment:

There's rhytm but there's also RHYTM! Some are quite easy but there are some you have to put your whole soul into just to avoid to be as boring as so much else, and when the conditions are wrong and you can't get the right feeling at that very moment you will fail. I've seen bodhran players BENDING OVER their instruments in deep concentration, CARESSING them with their left hand, needing their WHOLE STRENGTH to keep their right hand moving, and I saw ECSTASY on their faces when they experienced MANAGING THE PROBLEM by that. Would have been much sexier if they just had been female.

Back to joking now: )

Well, if you misuse your phallic looking beaters to misuse your bodhran...

Joerg