Bodhran Music
Irish music relies heavily on bodhran players as an essential component. They will twitch through tonal shifts during Kid on the Mountain or accompany a guitarist playing Gravel Walks by plonking away with their instrument.
A drum is usually played from a seated position and struck with one hand, usually the right. At first this was performed without using anything other than hands; nowadays a stick called a cipin is often employed instead.
Origins
The bodhran is an ancient instrument likely brought from distant corners. A frame drum similar to those found in Arabic music and other Mediterranean cultures, its skilled players can evoke all sorts of emotions such as urgent taps, melodious ringing beats or even martial drumming sounds.
Peadar Mercier of The Chieftains, Christy Moore from Planxty and Johnny McDonagh from De Dannan all pioneered new bodhran playing techniques in the 1960s that became worldwide phenomena. Since then many innovative bodhran players have taken this humble farm instrument and turned it into an intricate musical instrument.
Styles
There are two primary bodhran playing styles, known as bottom-end and top-end styles respectively: bottom-end involves striking around the edge of the drum head with a beater while simultaneously holding both ends over it; while the latter enables players to strike specific regions on the drum for pitches and tonal variations on bodhrans.
Ceoltoiri Chualann and The Chieftains brought virtuoso bodhran playing to prominence during the folk music revival of the 1960s, becoming part of Irish traditional music as an integral element. Today, it remains part of Irish traditional music as an accompaniment tool for other instruments that provides rhythm and depth.
The bodhran has also gained widespread appeal among musicians outside its traditional Middle Eastern background. Its distinctive playing style makes it perfect for adding rhythm and energy to different types of music; however, players must remember that playing inappropriate music may harm both themselves and listeners!
Techniques
The Bodhran is an integral component of many Irish musical styles. In traditional music, its role is to match and ornament rhythm; never as a replacement for drums or solo performances; Mike O’Regan of IRTRAD-L wrote that “a bodhran player shouldn’t attempt to drive the beat like a rock drummer”.
Start with an instrument that sounds good right from the beginning and locate a teacher or online videos to help get you going. Listening to different styles is also crucial, with techniques available on bodhrans for changing its timbre and pitch. Middle Eastern frame drums use many techniques for striking skin to produce different tones whereas on bodhrans they often employ their bare hand instead of using something called a “cipin”.
Recordings
As bodhran players explore techniques and expand the instrument’s repertoire, they have contributed to a greater awareness of its unique sound. Bodhran music can evoke feelings ranging from sob to joy or martial enlistment; dampening one hand’s beat to vary its tempo by dampening another; adding accent rhythms with rim shots or playing rhythms independent from tunes are among recent innovations within bodhran music.
Harte draws upon extensive ethnographic interviews with makers, professional and amateur musicians, educators and enthusiasts of bodhrans to trace its worldwide evolution in playing styles and repertoire.
Malachy Kearns, who created the bodhran for Riverdance, believes quality goatskin is integral to its haunting sound. He crafts his drums by hand using age-old techniques and finds creating them “very spiritual and therapeutic for me”. As evidence of its popularity, even Titanic director James Cameron owns one.
