What is a Bodhran?
The Bodhran has become the beating heart of Irish traditional music. Since its humble roots as part of rural celebrations, it has expanded into theatre performances and concert hall performances.
Today’s bodhran has evolved significantly since it first came onto the scene, featuring adjustable tuning systems that enable players to tighten or loosen goat skins using hex keys. Read on to gain more knowledge about this remarkable homegrown instrument!
Origins
Beating Time shows us that while many might assume the bodhran to be Ireland’s oldest musical instrument, it could actually be one of its newest instruments.
For centuries it served both agricultural and musical functions, becoming a focal point in Wren Boys ritual on December 26th (Saint Stephen’s Day). Mummers or “strawboys”, dressed up as strawboys would wear costumes and visit various houses to entertain people for food, drink and good times in exchange for rewards such as food or money.
Sean O Riada introduced the bodhran into Ceoltoiri Chualann and thus began its evolution away from strictly ritual use. Today it provides the rhythmic backbone for Irish folk music sessions, adding a lively beat for fast jigs and reels as well as soulful ballads; its simple appearance belies its expressive potential.
Materials
Traditional Bodhran shells were constructed using staves – blocks of wood glued together – however these materials tend to warp more easily, leading to its replacement with veneered shells.
Quality goatskin is essential to the sound of a bodhran. Stretched loosely over a circular wooden frame, the goatskin can be attached in various ways: nails, staples or glue; for best results however gluing should be preferred as this ensures professional results.
Drum Diddly Bodhran Cream can help speed the breaking-in and tuning processes while protecting skin suppleness while decreasing punctures and tears. As soon as you use more, so will its sound quality increase!
Tuning
Professional bodhran players agree that when tuning their instrument, the most critical consideration should be maintaining an even tension across its vibrating skin surface. When this goal has been attained, the instrument should produce a bass tone with clear sound character, earthy bass pitch and good post-pulse oscillation.
cardboard “shims” may prove useful here; simply insert one inside each rim until its skin tightens up enough to produce an even tonal pitch.
Bodhrans that cannot be tuned are known as non-tuneable bodhrans. Some makers have created mechanisms enabling players to mechanically adjust tension of skin tension, known as tuneable bodhrans; these tend to have thinner skins.
Techniques
Traditional bodhrans are constructed using goat skin that has been treated with chemicals to soften it, loosely stretched over a circular wooden frame, tacked or glued in place and secured tightly enough to produce strong tones while remaining flexible enough for manipulation. A good maker takes great pride in this meticulous process – finding just the right balance between tightly stretched to produce maximum tone while remaining pliable enough to manipulate.
The bodhran was widely celebrated during the folk music revival of the 1960s and has become an intricate instrument capable of accommodating different playing styles since then. Seamus O’Kane developed an internal tone ring, known as an internal tone ring, to combat damp weather’s effect on skin dampening; this reduced edge-loading and dampened unwanted overtones for a more precise sound and more accurate playing sound quality.
Styles
Since its introduction into popular culture during the folk music revival of the 1960s, bodhran playing styles have seen significant transformation. Today they can be found across the world from concert halls to fireplaces.
McNeela offers non-tunable beginner bodhrans with shallow rims that are designed for younger players or those with shorter arms, making these instruments ideal for starting out or those just learning the instrument.
Irish word for bodhran (pronounced bow-rawn) is “bodhar”, which is also the English term for deafness. Although its exact origin remains uncertain, bodhar may refer to a specific tone or sound characteristic unique to this frame drum and differentiating it from others on the market.
