BS: BODHRAN : advice for tyros

Subject: BODHRAN : advice for tyros
From: gnu
Date: 19 Apr 01 - 03:18 PM

A few weeks ago, I met a young lad who plays a synthetic by Remo. He arrived at my house on a wet, windy, snowy night, carrying his Hran in a cloth bag. It sounded pretty good despite the weather to which it had been subjected.

I have seen threads asking for advice on first purchases. I have seen threads discussing treatments. I have asked others these questions. I now have the answer to pass on to tyros.

The first Bodhran you should buy is a synthetic. Learn to play the Hran on this one. Listen to other players and other Hrans and ask the other players all those nagging questions while you are learning on your synthetic. It is the simplest way to begin and to move forward without the encumberment that comes from all of the questions which cannot, really, be answered. These questions are complex, as we have seen from the various threads.

Besides, synthetics are as cheap as turkey turd beer. If it don't work out, flog it for a few bucks... no harm to the pocketbook. And I am looking forward to taking my new Remo to the woods to play around the campfire without worrying about the weather and the sparks !

No, it doesn't sound as good as my Kearns', but I'm not worried about it.

Subject: RE: BS: BODHRAN : advice for tyros
From: mousethief
Date: 19 Apr 01 - 03:19 PM

What's a tyro?

Subject: RE: BS: BODHRAN : advice for tyros
From: jeffp
Date: 19 Apr 01 - 03:35 PM

A tyro is a beginner or novice.

jeffp

Subject: RE: BS: BODHRAN : advice for tyros
From: mousethief
Date: 19 Apr 01 - 03:37 PM

ANd here I thought (seriously!) it was somebody from Tyrolia.

Alex

Subject: RE: BS: BODHRAN : advice for tyros
From: gnu
Date: 19 Apr 01 - 03:41 PM

As a Tyrolian, I subject to that !!!

Subject: RE: BS: BODHRAN : advice for tyros
From: mousethief
Date: 19 Apr 01 - 03:44 PM

Gnu, you're from alpine Austria? I thought you were from New Brunswick.

Alex

Subject: RE: BS: BODHRAN : advice for tyros
From: gnu
Date: 19 Apr 01 - 03:47 PM

Oh, is that really a region ? I don't get around much anymore. Do they Hran there ?

Subject: RE: BS: BODHRAN : advice for tyros
From: jeffp
Date: 19 Apr 01 - 03:59 PM

No, they just wear those hats with the brush on the side.

Subject: RE: BS: BODHRAN : advice for tyros
From: GUEST,Karen
Date: 19 Apr 01 - 04:36 PM

Why IS that brush on the hat anyway?

Subject: RE: BS: BODHRAN : advice for tyros
From: gnu
Date: 19 Apr 01 - 04:40 PM

A tipper for the shy ?

Subject: RE: BS: BODHRAN : advice for tyros
From: mousethief
Date: 19 Apr 01 - 05:44 PM

They take it off and brush off their Lederhosen when they get crumbs on them?

Subject: RE: BS: BODHRAN : advice for tyros
From: Bardford
Date: 19 Apr 01 - 06:01 PM

Pardon the thread creep, but I need to know - when did Hran become an alternate name for the bodhran? The iddle, itar, histle, ass, iano, lcimer, and njo players I know are curious as well.
Bardford

Subject: RE: BS: BODHRAN : advice for tyros
From: gnu
Date: 19 Apr 01 - 06:29 PM

Well, I don't usually like to brag, but, if you are complimenting me on my imagination, my prowess with creative jargon and the boldness to be avant garde, that would be me. However, if you are snooting your nose at me, f*** off.

Subject: RE: BS: BODHRAN : advice for tyros
From: mousethief
Date: 19 Apr 01 - 06:33 PM

I see the natives are cranky, today.

Subject: RE: BS: BODHRAN : advice for tyros
From: gnu
Date: 19 Apr 01 - 06:44 PM

YO, ALEX, you talkin' to me ? I can lick any goatskin in here. What the hell did I just say ?

My apologies. I thought it was funny. I had a good laugh, anyway. Me cranky ? Naw. Just a good old boy funnin'. Hope noone ever takes me seriously. Life's too short... at least mine is.

Subject: RE: BS: BODHRAN : advice for tyros
From: mousethief
Date: 19 Apr 01 - 06:47 PM

I was just funnin' ya back, old bean.

"Goatskin." Um, if I had one, I don't think I'd let you lick it. Pervert.

You never know exactly how short your life is until you tell the wrong person to F*** off, you know! :-)

Alex

Subject: RE: BS: BODHRAN : advice for tyros
From: gnu
Date: 19 Apr 01 - 06:56 PM

Well, I was assuming Bardford, et al, have a sense of humour. If not, FEITCTAJ.

BTW, it's bodhrán.

Subject: RE: BS: BODHRAN : advice for tyros
From: catspaw49
Date: 19 Apr 01 - 09:43 PM

I'd like to inquire about the price of Turkey Turd Beer. Considering the time and mess needed in harvesting adequate amounts of turkey shit versus an equivalent amount of, say, hops......Well, it strikes me that this crap would be pretty expensive, so to speak. If you're aware of a cheap source of gobbler dung though, I can see where the expense might not be an issue. Don't bother shipping me any as I rarely drink beer anyway and it would seem to me that the taste here might resemble Budweiser which makes a better racing sponsor than it does a beer.

Spaw

Subject: RE: BS: BODHRAN : advice for tyros
From: Rich(bodhránai gan ciall)
Date: 20 Apr 01 - 01:50 AM

When did a bodhrán become a Hran?
And is it still proper to put the fada over the a?

Rich

Subject: RE: BS: BODHRAN : advice for tyros
From: ChaosCat
Date: 20 Apr 01 - 04:14 AM

>>You never know exactly how short your life is until you tell the wrong person to F*** off...

Or until you lick the wrong goatskin, I suppose... *S*

Subject: RE: BS: BODHRAN : advice for tyros
From: gnu
Date: 20 Apr 01 - 08:53 AM

Rich... geeeze, guys. Lighten up. It was me. I started calling it a Hran years ago. People shorten catspaw49 to "spaw" and Chicken Charlie to "CC" and gnu to "asshole" and noone get's their knickers in a twist.

Besides, I just couldn't think of catchy titles for my albums, so I shortened it and got Hranning Away, Hran Man Hran, Hran It Up, I Got Hran Over, Gettin' The Hran Around, and Hranning Off At The Mouth, where I sing Irish dirges with the Hran close to my mouth and at an angle such that the Hran acts as amplifier. Have more titles ready for future albums, but, you get the picture.

As soon as I learn to play, I'm sure the major music labels will start a bidding war to see who can sign me up first.

Subject: RE: BS: BODHRAN : advice for tyros
From: Seany
Date: 20 Apr 01 - 09:16 AM

I obtained a hran that was a hrand me down from my hran-dad. I hran into my house with it and beat it so loud that blood hran from my ears. There I was, playing along to a hran-the-man tune when one of the neighbors came in and hranned it down my throat.

What should I do, gnu - should I sue, gnu ?

Subject: RE: BS: BODHRAN : advice for tyros
From: catspaw49
Date: 20 Apr 01 - 09:33 AM

Gnu, it is improper to shorten Chicken Charlie to CC as this could refer to Carlos Costanza. The proper abbreviation is Cluck Chuck.

Spaw

Subject: RE: BS: BODHRAN : advice for tyros
From: gnu
Date: 20 Apr 01 - 09:40 AM

To sue would truly make you blue if you were someone who sued a gnu who took the view that you had to queue at the zoo for payment due to you while the gnu took a pooh in the loo.

I rue I wrote that ! Another pot of tea might help.... probably not.

Subject: RE: BS: BODHRAN : advice for tyros
From: gnu
Date: 20 Apr 01 - 09:51 AM

Spaw... my apologies. I took this abbn from a recent thread without doing any research. Perhaps the 'Cattiquette is to use such a handle only when it is clear which CC is being addressed ? For instance, most often, when people use "asshole", it is a broad or generic term/name unless it appears shortly after I have posted.

Subject: RE: BS: BODHRAN : advice for tyros
From: catspaw49
Date: 20 Apr 01 - 09:52 AM

Actually gnu, you need to pay a visit to the Mudcat Shite Free Tavern where Turkey Turd Beer is now being served in your honor. Have a glass on Bert's tab!

Spaw

Subject: RE: BS: BODHRAN : advice for tyros
From: Bedubya
Date: 20 Apr 01 - 04:08 PM

After watching her make several attempts at self-immolation while trying to dry out her soggy Cooperman on campfires, I finally bought my bodhrani wife a Remo just for high-humidity situations. She looks so much better with eyebrows.

Subject: RE: BS: BODHRAN : advice for tyros
From: GUEST,Arkie
Date: 21 Apr 01 - 02:12 AM

I feel sort of creepy interrupting the banner with a bit of advice, but its late, I can't sleep, and what the heck do I care. I read this somewhere and it seems pretty sound to me, and was specifically aimed at bodhran players. 1. Never, under any circumstances, enter a jam session without asking permission from other players. 2. If there is already a bodhran player in the session, don't even bother to ask.

Subject: RE: BS: BODHRAN : advice for tyros
From: sledge
Date: 21 Apr 01 - 09:46 AM

As Bardford asked, "when did Hran become an alternate name for the bodhran?". Maybe bodhran is too long for some to remember. Alternatively,is it so that when people ask what you play, you can say Hran, this way they are denied the pleasure of snearing at you until you actually turn up with the thing. And then its too late.

Sledge (double Hran/bodhran owner)

Subject: RE: BS: BODHRAN : advice for tyros
From: Bedubya
Date: 21 Apr 01 - 10:21 AM

Actually gnu, I like shortening the name to "hran" since there is no ambiguity about the pronunciation of that syllable of the word. It's universally pronounced like the name "Ron", right? It's the first syllable that gives people fits. Is it pronounced like the "bow" of a ship, the "bow" on a Christman present, the "bah" in Bah Humbug or the "bu" in butter? Kind of depends on which side of the Atlantic you're on and who you first heard the word from. The only thing for certain is that regardless of how you pronounce it, the next player you meet will pronounce it another way and look at you like you're an illiterate rube. Just calling it a "hran" is one way to solve the problem. Or you could do like my wife and just call it "a fucking Irish drum, smartass!".

Subject: RE: BS: BODHRAN : advice for tyros
From: sledge
Date: 21 Apr 01 - 10:25 AM

Bedubya,

your Wife could obviuosly give polititions a lesson or two in cutting through the crap.

LOL

Sledge

Subject: RE: BS: BODHRAN : advice for tyros
From: GUEST,Dita (at work)
Date: 21 Apr 01 - 11:14 AM

gnu, I am really disappointed - I misread your post and thought I was entering a thread called:-

BODHRAN: advice for pyros

love, john

Subject: RE: BS: BODHRAN : advice for tyros
From: gnu
Date: 21 Apr 01 - 11:26 AM

I wondered how long it would take.