My Bodhran is too tight

Subject: RE: My Bodhran is too tight
From: leeneia
Date: 24 May 21 - 12:20 PM

You can find info by Googling "care of rawhide drums".

This site seems good:

http://www.completedcircledrums.com/careAndFeeding.html

Subject: RE: My Bodhran is too tight
From: GUEST,michael
Date: 24 May 21 - 05:45 AM

a simple treatment for your bodhran skin will help to cure any problems. Regular application of O'Connors Irish Bodhran Cream should help to keep your drum skin supple and prolong life. You can find O'Connors irish Bodhran Treatment conditioning cream at tontojacks.co.uk

Subject: RE: My Bodhran is too tight
From: GUEST,Wood Pro
Date: 28 Jul 13 - 03:52 AM

hello dear,

try this...
www.ewoodpro.com

i guarantee you about its quality.

Subject: RE: My Bodhran is too tight
From: The Mole Catcher's Apprentice (inactive)
Date: 04 Mar 08 - 02:57 PM

well someone mentioned Rolf Harris...and well, as they say...the rest just followed *LOL*

Charlotte (is one quarter Welsh, but good for the odd pint or six)

Subject: RE: My Bodhran is too tight
From: GUEST,Chicken Charlie
Date: 04 Mar 08 - 10:17 AM

You got it, Mole Catcher's App.! Which proves once again that nothing can be proven!?!

Chicken Charlie

Subject: RE: My Bodhran is too tight
From: Jim Carroll
Date: 04 Mar 08 - 03:20 AM

"My Bodhran is too tight"
Why, won't it pay for a round.
Jim Carroll

Subject: RE: My Bodhran is too tight
From: GUEST,Puck
Date: 03 Mar 08 - 09:20 PM

[Try again !!]

Try reducing the percntage by volume - Welsh Bitter is piss poor stuff - maybe that would help!

Subject: RE: My Bodhran is too tight
From: The Mole Catcher's Apprentice (inactive)
Date: 03 Mar 08 - 03:09 PM

My bodhran is too tight,
My bodharn is too tight
While I wave it round all over the place
and bash it till I'm blue in the face,
I'm a big disgrace to the Celtic race
My bodhran is too tight!

Charlotte (wondering where that came from)

Subject: RE: My Bodhran is too tight
From: Jack Campin
Date: 03 Mar 08 - 11:09 AM

Any idea what to do if your drum isn't tight enough?

This isn't a bodhran, it's a def - a Kurdish drum like a large bodhran with no crossbars and a "snare" made or linked metal rings that hang inside and jingle against the skin along the top edge. You play it with your fingers. I bought it direct from the maker's stall in the butchery section of the market in Urfa. But it was the middle of summer and the temperature was 45C with humidity near zero. In Scottish weather it's far too dull.

If I heat it up to dry it out and then apply an oil like neatsfoot or Nikwax, will it stay tight?

Subject: RE: My Bodhran is too tight
From: GUEST,Chicken Charlie
Date: 03 Mar 08 - 10:15 AM

Look on the bright side! You can easily get a song out of this, as "My bodhran is too tight" seems to fit right in with "Me Boomerang Won't Come Back" and "Tie Me Kangaroo Down, Sport." Since it's been awhile since either of those aired, a new entry in the same category would no doubt be welcomed by the masses who feel an aching emptiness in that particular musicological niche. (Is it nitch or neesh; I'm not cultured?)

Chicken Charlie

Subject: RE: My Bodhran is too thight
From: The Sandman
Date: 03 Mar 08 - 09:14 AM

Try a little poteen.100

Subject: RE: My Bodhran is too thight
From: Dave Hanson
Date: 03 Mar 08 - 08:57 AM

Why ?

eric

Subject: RE: My Bodhran is too thight
From: maeve
Date: 03 Mar 08 - 08:48 AM

Time to refresh.

Subject: RE: My Bodhran is too thight
From: Rich(bodhránai gan ciall)
Date: 02 Mar 01 - 10:36 PM

With regards to mooserán, I always wondered what an antelope bodhrán would sound like. I've heard various African drums (djembe, dhun-dhun, congo) made with antelope in place of goat, and they seemed to have a warmer, deeper sound. Just a thought.

Rich

Subject: RE: My Bodhran is too thight
From: Rich(bodhránai gan ciall)
Date: 02 Mar 01 - 10:24 PM

3 years later and my $350 drum (now listed at $390) still sounds great, and it keeps gettin better. (at least I think so) I've put nothing on it but the oil from my hand. If I have to tighten it a lot, I'm careful to loosen it up before putting it away lest it end up getting dry and putting too much tension on the tuning ring and allen-screws. When I first suggested Albert's drums on this thread, a few people suggested I was nuts. If you went to buy a Martin guitar, you could spend over $2000. You could fill the back of a pickup truck with cheap student model guitars for that, but most guitarists I know, would probably go for the Martin.

OK, rant off.
To Mr. Red, regarding putting neatsfoot oil on the inside so that it roughens inside: A rough inside skin sounds like sandpaper when you move your hand along the inside, and a mic will pick that up. I move my left hand all over the inside of my drum, while playing. It's really one of the things that make the difference between playing a bodhrán and beating one. I'd seriously suggest you avoid anything that's going to make that less fluid.
Just my $.02,

Rich

Subject: RE: My Bodhran is too thight
From: gnu
Date: 02 Mar 01 - 09:24 AM

Mr. Red - Well, mostly it's a lot of grunting at my age, but some of the girls I goes wit'... well, that's too personal.

1979 - Any news on the younger O'Brian - can't recall first name - was in a duo called Anchors Away with another young fellow that played fiddle. Haven't been to The Rock for about six years, but I'll get back before I die, knock on wood.

Subject: RE: My Bodhran is too thight
From: 1979
Date: 02 Mar 01 - 06:50 AM

A moose is way to deep, can't deal with the skin. Have to take to much fat and layer off. Although I'm sure if you really worked at it you could make it sound good. I'm not sure that seal would work so well either, to much fat although maybe its worth a try! Thanks for the idea! I don't think that Con and Darcy will ever get back together, he's doin' to good with the Fables. I really wish some new good talent would start up, like Fine Crowd or Ryan's Fancy!

Subject: RE: My Bodhran is too thight
From: Mr Red
Date: 01 Mar 01 - 03:34 PM

needs the seal of approval, gnu.

What does gnu skin sounds like - apart from "new".

Subject: RE: My Bodhran is too thight
From: gnu
Date: 01 Mar 01 - 03:15 PM

Guest 1979 - I suppose a moosehran would be even deeper ! Now, if ye could make them out of seals, it might help the cod and salmon a bit. Get GBS to promote it and you're on the way ! Of course, there'd have to be a disclaimer saying that no cute little white ones were used, just the big nasty ones. By the way, we're getting little info about The Irish Descendants. Will D'Arcy and Con ever play together again ? Any other news on them ?

gnu

Subject: bodhrans
From: GUEST,1979
Date: 01 Mar 01 - 01:15 PM

I was just reading through some of the comments and it was mentioned that deer produces a nice deep sound. We have no deer in Newfoundland but the caribou which is essentially from the deer family i guess sounds equally amazing!

Subject: RE: My Bodhran is too thight
From: Mr Red
Date: 28 Feb 01 - 02:33 PM

Neatsfoot Oil.

1) get it from an equestrian centre, it pongs less.

2) someone thinks it loosens the skin, mine tightens a day after - so it probably depends on the skin.

3) Put it on the inside where it will roughen the surface and leave the outside alone for smoothness.

4) What do you call 6 bodhran players? Anything you want they can't hear you!

Subject: RE: My Bodhran is too thight
From: JeZeBeL
Date: 28 Feb 01 - 01:26 PM

Hi there. I have a seamus o'kane bodhrain aswell, although over here in england i dont really have any problems with my skin. If you want though try using kneats foot oil or dubbing, both of these will help to condition the skin and then you shouldnt have anymore problems with it. They recommend you do it every 6 months, it builds up a nice coat and looks really nice. only put it on the outside though. You can then just slacken or tighten it as you want normally with a screw driver. What do you think of your drum though? I love mine. I got it for christmas, I've never had one that i can get so many notes out of before!!

Good luck and enjoy.

Blessed be Emma xx

Subject: RE: My Bodhran is too thight
From: GUEST,Gary Owens
Date: 28 Feb 01 - 11:52 AM

Susan-Marie - IF they notice, tell them someone asked you to try it out for them to see if it was worth buying for a cheap price to start out with and ask the sessioneers to give an honest, unbiased evaluation. If you get a 50% favourable response, ignore the other 50%.

Last comment I made re waxing my first Hran got me to wondering, so I played it last night for the first time in well over six months. Even though the relative humidity was high yesterday, it sounded perfect for about 45 min and still sounded OK after an hour. Of course, not many people have six months to spare so my comments re a little at a time still go.

g

Subject: RE: My Bodhran is too thight
From: Ella who is Sooze
Date: 28 Feb 01 - 08:45 AM

I have an 18 inch tuneable Kevin O'Connell bodhran - which I love, it's a great drum, which is great for me, as I'm around 5 11, really long arms, and well, it's just the job. I have one bar, just so as I can keep a better hold on it if I move around.

I use dubbin on the outside of my tuneable bodhran skin around 2 times a year, and only a little.

On my other bodhran, a Malachy Kearns bodhran - I used water sometimes when it is a bit tight, but as I have used it well, I don't get too many problems with it now.

The more you use it the better it gets!

Ella

Subject: RE: My Bodhran is too thight
From: alison
Date: 28 Feb 01 - 08:29 AM

If you want a fantastic bodhran... check out Eamon Maguire

I got 2 when I wsa home.. they are wonderful

slainte

alison

Subject: RE: My Bodhran is too thight
From: Boab
Date: 28 Feb 01 - 03:21 AM

Tell the audience they can all start breathing again---it works, honest!:-)

Subject: RE: My Bodhran is too thight
From: Rich(bodhránai gan ciall)
Date: 27 Feb 01 - 11:47 PM

Susan-Marie,
I started with a synthetic head bodhrán and played it for a good while. I like the sound of my Albert drum better, but the synthetic worked fine for a long time. To me, the synthetic head will always sound decent, but not necessarily ever sound great. If anything you'll find people objecting to bodhráns in general, not specifically synthetic ones. If you play in time, and not overly loud, no one should object to a synthetic drum. Jimmy Higgins who sat in with Altan last fall, plays a remo synthetic head, in a snare drum body. If Altan doesn't object, who will?

Rich

Subject: RE: My Bodhran is too thight
From: GUEST
Date: 27 Feb 01 - 09:49 PM

The cure for thightness is neathsfoot oil. The cuare for speling is a dicthionary.

Subject: RE: My Bodhran is too thight
From: GUEST,Matthew S/V Bodhran
Date: 27 Feb 01 - 07:43 PM

To Margo wanting to buy a bodhran in Seattle. If you're going to be here, stop and check out Dusty Strings in the Fremont District. Many wonderful things and sometimes for less.

As for the rest, if you can't play the bloody thing, who gives a damn what you put on it. If you can play it, then you'll know the secret of bodhran playing; knowing when not to play. I still play mine in sessions. It's easier after the fourth Guiness.

None the less, I may try some of these suggestions.

Subject: RE: My Bodhran is too thight
From: Susan-Marie
Date: 27 Feb 01 - 06:20 PM

I bought my bodhran WITHOUT consulting the font of knowledge at Mudcat (stupid, stupid) and ended up with a tunable synthetic one because it has a deep tone and that's what I like. I'm pretty happy with it except I'm afraid to bring it to sessions because someone told me that "serious" traditional players have a universal disdain for synthetic heads. What do y'all think - do you ever see synthetic heads (bodhrans, I mean) at sessions?

Subject: RE: My Bodhran is too thight
From: Mr Red
Date: 27 Feb 01 - 05:56 PM

I guess the lasinoh is only here for the "crack".

I was told by Geoff Higginbottom - "neatsfoot oil" for reviving the skin but it tightens it.

I was told by the bodhran maker not to put anything on it, rely on the oils in your hands. Mine are pretty dry!

Subject: RE: My Bodhran is too thight
From: alison
Date: 26 Feb 01 - 10:20 PM

I don't know about using lasinoh on a drum.. but it works a treat on cracked nipples!!!! *grin* (hence the finding it in the baby aisle).... trust me I'm a midwife.....lol

slainte

alison

Subject: RE: My Bodhran is too thight
From: catspaw49
Date: 26 Feb 01 - 07:35 PM

I kinda' wonder what Michael did.......thread's a year old now...........Double r, thanks for the lightening refreshes!!

Spaw

Subject: RE: My Bodhran is too thight
From: Rich(bodhránai gan ciall)
Date: 26 Feb 01 - 06:56 PM

It must be getting close to March, Everyone is taking down their drums off the wall ;-)

Rich

Subject: RE: My Bodhran is too thight
From: Mr Red
Date: 26 Feb 01 - 06:47 PM

I get tighter as the night wears on. No but seriously folks.

My skin (bodhran) does get tighter as I play it. A bodhran maker explained it in terms of heat-work drying out the skin. It figures.

Subject: RE: My Bodhran is too thight
From: GUEST,Gary Owens
Date: 26 Feb 01 - 08:15 AM

Malachy Kearns' wax works well, but whatever you use, playing surface only and try to apply as little as possible per application, playing for a few days in between applications - remember, you can put more on after you play for a few days to see if you got it right, but you CANNOT take it off. You can RUIN a Hran this way.

Most important is WHEN you do this. If you live in a variable climate like I do (Atlantic Canada) and you treat your Hran when it's dry weather, it will be absolutely useless during wet weather. Using a hair dryer or whatever is much more bothersome than having to add a touch of water - by the way, I use a damp cloth in such situations rather than any spraying device. Wait for the wet weather and "tune" it then.

Perhaps the most comforting thing I can offer you is the fact that you are not alone - very few people have a perfect Hran. Years ago, I too went through this dilemma with my first Hran - key word is "first"......

Good luck !!!

g

Subject: RE: My Bodhran is too thight
From: InOBU
Date: 26 Feb 01 - 08:07 AM

Get tight yerself and keep it company! Larry

Subject: RE: My Bodhran is too thight
From: GUEST,Mark. West Sussex U.K.
Date: 26 Feb 01 - 05:52 AM

You know the makers - contact them and complain. Send it back and have it fixed or re-skinned. Frankly I think custom makers would rather have the opportunity to correct the problem than have their reputations brought into question on a popular forum like this. You can fiddle around with water and all sorts of oils but it won't remedy the basic underlying problem. At its loosest setting a tuneable skin should be quite slack and I am sure Seamus Keane intended this when it was made. They and you are victims of a rogue skin than was too fat-rich when fitted and has since dried excessively beyond remedy. By the time you have chased around buying and applying all this gunk you could have a new or re-skinned instrument. Above all, don't do what Bev suggests until you get a snub from the makers. If you mess with it yourself they will wash their hands of the problem. You can contact Keanes through the web. Search "Bodhran Makers". Whatever Catspaw may say, there are hundreds of them worldwide.

Subject: RE: My Bodhran is too thight
From: Noreen
Date: 26 Feb 01 - 03:37 AM

Thanks rr, enjoyed the refresh.

Subject: RE: My Bodhran is too thight
From: rangeroger
Date: 25 Feb 01 - 10:42 PM

Another anniversary refresh.These are also to lighten up the February Blues.

rr

Subject: RE: My Bodhran is too thight
From: GUEST,Spider tom
Date: 27 Feb 00 - 05:11 AM

On the subject of a dry bodhran:

I'm rubbing dubbin on me bodrhan
I think I'll put some more on
'Cause the skin is dry and lifeless,
Like the goat that wore it last.
If you treat it then you beat it,
Then you polish and repeat it,
It will sing a little longer,
Than if you leave it dry,
It will ring a little stronger,
And a new one you won't buy.
It will see a new tomorrow,
Be a bodhran fit to borrow,
You can even treat your beater,
Now, would I tell a lie?
If you ever split a skin,
You'll sit right down and cry.

Subject: RE: My Bodhran is too thight
From: Troll
Date: 26 Feb 00 - 10:01 AM

If yer sporran is too tight it could be a sign that ya need to put down the beer, turn off the computer, and go get some exercize.I would not suggest such draconian measures under normal conditions, but that's what my Wife just told ME to do (not the beer 'cause I don't drink)and I'll be damned if YOU get to stay online,Don, while I am being dragged off to the health club!

troll

Coming Dear!

Subject: RE: My Bodhran is too thight
From: sophocleese
Date: 26 Feb 00 - 09:35 AM

Yes Don that is a problem. When the sporran is too tight there's not enough room for the tipper to work to its full capacity. After several experiments we have discovered that hide glue or duct tape are NOT helpful in this situation but soaking in water to let things soften is useful, at least until you can get acquire a new sporran, or loosen the buckles on the old one.

Subject: RE: My Bodhran is too thight
From: DonMeixner
Date: 26 Feb 00 - 08:47 AM

This advice is all well and good but what does one do when their Sporran is too tight?

Subject: RE: My Bodhran is too thight
From: Molly Malone
Date: 25 Feb 00 - 01:39 PM

You don't have to play the head, you know.

The base works well, too...hell, at that rate, PaulKnight plays on pizza pans, walls, chairs, guitars, lead singers...

Hey! They deserve it.

Subject: RE: My Bodhran is too thight
From: Troll
Date: 25 Feb 00 - 01:34 PM

If it's a skin head, take a piece of hihe from a broken head and wet it; this will cause it to stretch. While it's still damp, attach it over the slit with HIDE glue.As the skin dries, it will pull the slit together.

troll

p.s. the razor blade does work. the head is slackened and there is the added advantage that the Bodhran cannot be played.

pax

troll

Subject: RE: My Bodhran is too thight
From: Molly Malone
Date: 25 Feb 00 - 01:24 PM

Don't try the fiber glass repair kit...doesn't work...but duct tape does!!! Doesn't look pretty, but by golly it works until you can get it reskinned/get a new one.

Gaffer tape works ok, but you have to replace often...it doesn't hold up to waterings and it's not great in the heat.

Athletic tape works well, too. Stands up to waterings better than gaff...

Yes, I've tried all of these. Like I said, we go through about 3 heads/year average.

Subject: RE: My Bodhran is too thight
From: GUEST
Date: 25 Feb 00 - 11:15 AM

Troll ~~~~ the razor blade method does not work . I repeat does not work. Is there anyone out there that can tell me how to patch a small 1/2 inch slit in a bodhran head?

Cap't Bob

Subject: RE: My Bodhran is too thight
From: Molly Malone
Date: 25 Feb 00 - 10:22 AM

It's kinda hard to change the humidity (or lack thereof) outside, where I do most of my playing.

$390 for a bodhran??? Hell, you could buy a goat for that, can't you? You could skin several bodhrans! Hell, you could tatoo the thing before you skin it so that the pattern doesn't come off when you play! I pay $80, and then when I break a head I pay $30-35.

Molly
(whodoesn'tbuy patternbodhransbecauseshegoesthroughskinstooquickly

Subject: RE: My Bodhran is too thight
From: InOBU
Date: 25 Feb 00 - 09:10 AM

Well Troll beat me too it, however, I would add, before trying the razor blade, you may wish to back your car over it a few times while chanting the name, Seamus Ennis.
Tom Clancy used to offer to piss on tight bodhrans, when he himself was in the same condition, thought I never took him up on the offer.
Larry