a tiny hole in a drum head

Subject: RE: a tiny hole in a drum head
From: dick greenhaus
Date: 10 Mar 09 - 01:29 PM

To some, of course, a tiny hole in a bodrhan head could be considered a good start....

Subject: RE: a tiny hole in a drum head
From: GUEST,leeneia
Date: 10 Mar 09 - 11:05 AM

Thanks for all the input. The concensus seems to be that the hole should be closed up in some manner.

Cap't Bob, can you tell me a little more about shoe goo? What it is exactly, where to buy it?

The drum is similar to a bodhran, but it's more shallow - about 2 inches deep. I bought it from a shop called Boulder Early Music abt 3 years ago, and we use it for early and Celtic Music. Any anthrax microbes it may have had have been knocked off by now.

Sinister, I know what you mean about the Remo fibreskin drum. I have a Remo drum called a Buffalo drum. It is 13 inches across but 3.5 deep, and it produces a lovely, resonant sound. I took it to an early-music workshop, and Danny Johnson, the director of the Texas Early Music group, lusted after it.

Thanks for the link to the Ambiance group. It led to some nice bendir videos, as well.

Subject: RE: a tiny hole in a drum head
From: GUEST,Dear Liza
Date: 10 Mar 09 - 08:01 AM

If only we'd had Mudcat in dem days.

Subject: RE: a tiny hole in a drum head
From: bobbytee
Date: 10 Mar 09 - 07:54 AM

with what shall he fix it

Subject: RE: a tiny hole in a drum head
From: Jack Blandiver
Date: 10 Mar 09 - 06:41 AM

Everyone's assuming it's a bodhran, although I might express a measure of concern over a rawhide head, given the risks of anthrax involved. Not too raw I trust?

A hole in the head of a chalice drum of the dumbek / darrabuka variety will compromise the integrity of the resonance; this is easily remedied with a piece of clear tape, assuming the hole is small enough, otherwise a new head is in order.

Yesterday we took delivery of a 16" Remo Frame drum with an artificial fibreskin head which sounds an absolute treat, though I wouldn't recommend it to bodhran players. That said, I've recently turned my bodhran into a bendir with the addition of three snares of fishing line and playing it aloft in the traditional frame drum manner.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A2zbI4YwPwY

Now that's what I call folk music!

Subject: RE: a tiny hole in a drum head
From: Dave Hanson
Date: 10 Mar 09 - 03:38 AM

There's a hole in my bodhran dear Liza dear Liza,

Oh good dear Henry dear Henry

Dave H

Subject: RE: a tiny hole in a drum head
From: Mark Ross
Date: 10 Mar 09 - 12:04 AM

30 years ago I poked a hole somehow in my banjo head, fixed it with clear nail polish, still using the same banjo head.

Mark Ross

Subject: RE: a tiny hole in a drum head
From: Cap't Bob
Date: 09 Mar 09 - 08:12 PM

I repaired 4 cracks, each around 3/8 of an inch long, with a small amount of "shoe goo". That was a few years back and they are still holding without any problems   The stuff is flexible and has no adverse effects on the sound.

Cap't Bob

Subject: RE: a tiny hole in a drum head
From: Bert
Date: 09 Mar 09 - 06:42 PM

Try silicone caulking.

Subject: RE: a tiny hole in a drum head
From: Skivee
Date: 09 Mar 09 - 05:39 PM

If the hole is small enough to allow, put a small drop of cyanoacrylate "Super Glue"-"Crazy Glue" to span the gap.
Alternately, using super glue to attach a small drum-skin patch will work for slightly larger holes. You can sometimes make the patch by cutting a tiny patch from an inconspicuous edge of the skin beyond the area needed for tensioning. If not, then get a head that is similar thickness and cut as many as you wish.
USE TWEEZERS to place the patch after placing a tiny bit of the glue around the hole...enough to distribute the glue across the whole patch, but not so much that it leaks all over from behind the patch.
Work carefully. Good luck.

Subject: RE: a tiny hole in a drum head
From: gnu
Date: 09 Mar 09 - 05:38 PM

Type "Bodhran Repair" into the filter and have FUN!

Or, PM Frank and ask him what he did. Worked well. He's in Oz now.

Subject: RE: a tiny hole in a drum head
From: gnu
Date: 09 Mar 09 - 05:24 PM

Shanghaiceltic had a similar prob a while back.... I wonder about a thread search... or contacting him.

Subject: a tiny hole in a drum head
From: GUEST,leeneia
Date: 09 Mar 09 - 04:57 PM

Yesterday I was playing a drum with a rawhid head, and I noticed a hole in it, very small. If you pushed a sewing-machine needle through the skin, it would make a hole about that size. It is 1.5 inches [4 cm] from the rim of the drum.

Is there anything I can do to keep the hole from getting worse? Is it possible that it will just stay the way it is indefinitely?

I would appreciate hearing from anyone who has had a problem like this.