Care and Maintenance of Drums
Hobgoblin Music, P.O. Box 2522, Henfield, BN5 9SN, UK - 0845 130 9500
Bodhrans
Djembes
Bodhrans
Bodhrans can be temperamental instruments and need good care. If you follow these simple guidelines, your bodhran will be very appreciative!
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Never allow your bodhran to become overheated. Don’t store it near a heater, in sunlight, or in your car - even in the boot. If you live in a hot place, it is best to store it in a case or a cupboard, in very dry places you could leave a damp cloth with the drum to aid humidity. As the drum gets hotter, the skin tightens and can split or pull away from the pins holding it in place.
Treat the outside of the skin (the playing surface) regularly with a softener - dubbin and lanolin-based creams are best. This helps keep the skin supple and in good condition. Don’t overdo it or the skin will soon feel sticky to the touch and it will be difficult to get a “clean” sound.
Obviously, we are unable to honour our guarantee on your bodhran if you disregard these two points.
Before you begin to play, rub a little bit of clear water into the BACK of the skin. (Experience will soon tell you how much you need - you will only overdo it once!!) This lets the skin stretch a little and allows you to produce more variations in sound. If you are playing in a warm place the skin will tighten up again as you play, so you will probably need to do this more than once.
If the skin on your bodhran has become a bit too damp and is very slack, it can be tightened by vigorous rubbing with the palm of your hand, or by VERY GENTLE heat (be careful - see 1!).
If you observe these points, you and your bodhran should enjoy a long and happy friendship! Enjoy your playing!
Hobgoblin have been selling drums for years, are they wrong too?
Eran, 18" is the traditional size and probably would be the best for a beginner as they are more forgiving (in regard to aiming the tipper) than smaller drums. You probably could get away with a 16 if you had to.
The debate over watering the skin, applying lanolin, dubbin, Lexol, etc has been raging for years. I have seen more than one bodhran maker who strongly recommends lanolin and using water. Some of it is probably a function of climate - I think it’s hard to give across-the-board advice since skins are so different and will act a lot differently depending on humidity, and will also act differently as they are broken in. A lot of it is just knowing your drum and knowing what kind of sound you want.
If you look at the types of drums (and their respective drum makers) who are suggesting this type of treatment, ie: water, oils etc. you will soon see a connection. If you are buying a cheaper drum (which can still cost over $300 in some cases - so don’t let price be your defining factor of quality) you will have to finish what the maker(s) never did and continually treat the skin to keep it playable.
I’ve had my last drum for over four years now and it has seen temperature extremes from well below zero in the winter to over 160 F in summer (in a car - verified with a digital thermometer!) My point being, I have NEVER treated the skin with anything except the palm of my hand while playing and it is perfectly fine.
I have local friends now however who are on their fourth and fifth Walton’s, or other similar cheap brands, and are always having to ‘christen’ or sprinkle the back of their drums just to keep them playable. There are two others who own simillar made drums as mine and they too have never needed to ‘treat’ theirs with anything.
I honestly feel this is a good point with which to judge the quality of both drum and maker. In my estimation, this is not a point to conceed to - look into it as much as possible…especially in your climate (very similar to mine).
for travel purposes. I’ve also played Coopermans which are pretty fair for a cheaper drum, (again, just get it WITH the tuning system, and WITHOUT the crossbars!)
There are a lot of choices, but it’s pretty easy to go wrong. Unlike a whistle, it can be harder to tell a superb drum from firewood from only a picture. PLAY it if you have a chance.
I have a Cooperman, which is OK and finally improving with age (it is tunable and I took out the crossbars myself), and an Alfonso that I like a lot. Also a newer Kearns which is awful, and a Mid-East which is more awful (though I have to admit I did learn to play on the darn thing).
I have heard good things about the Halpins - as you say they are made not to need a lot of maintainance. It kind of bugs me that Halpin charges US customers so much more than Canadian so I left him out of the running when I was looking at a new bodhran. It is impressive that his drum stands up to the climate variations you’ve mentioned. I agree it’d be nice to play before you buy.
I think many less expensive drums can improve with age due to the skin stretching a bit and adding a bit to their tuneability, but as you’ve also said, a good tuning system take care of this from day one. Fred [Halpin] does indeed make a great drum (mine I got second hand from a friend in Massachusets) but he does charge a lot more here.
If I had it to do all over again, I think I might go for the Alfonso from the get-go. The other item I think I’ve failed to mention is rim depth. The deeper, the more resonant the tone. Now there are preactical limits to how deep you can go and still have the thing be comfortable to play, but if you can find a rim in the 6-8 inch range, you should notive a BIG improvement in tone - especially low end - over say a 3-4" deep drum.
I should also say thay while the drum I own has seen a lot of changes in temperature and humidity, it’s almost always in it’s case which is foam lined when I’m not playing it and I try to loosen the skin a bit when it’s being stored for any period as well. I don’t know how much this has added to it’s durability, but to me it’s no different than needing to clean and dry the bore of a wooden whistle or flute when you’re done playing it.
Take a few seconds care and you’ll gain years of playing.
The Forkner drum is 14" is much more portable and just fit what I wanted more. Kangaroo skin is interesting. Saw a couple of these drums at the Milwaukee Irish Festival in August. I’m pretty sure the bodhran person with Flook (John Joe Kelly?) was playing one of these.
In regards to the price of the Halpins. The price does not reflect that Fred is charging US customers more but that difference reflects the comparative strength of the US vs Canadian dollar. If you go to Canada your $ buys much more dollar for dollar than the Canadian dollar. Fred is a really nice guy and he’s not ripping us off. Forum member Avanutria has a smaller Halpin drum and it’s got a nice sound.
(edit) ok I went to my currency converter and the $325 Canadian that Fred charges in Canada is the equivalent of $245 and some change US dollar vs the $295 he quotes on his site. I still stand by my statement of Fred being a nice guy to work with. Those prices have been posted for quite a while now. If I wanted one of his drums, I would call and talk to him about the exchange rate. He might very well quote you a different price. Wouldn’t hurt to call.
Now if I can just get better on my drum. BTW, I think trying to play the bodhran is helping my whistle playing as far a hearing and paying attention to the beat.
As far as I know, John Joe Kelly exclusively plays bodhrans made by Seamus O’Kane. And by looking at Rob Forkner website I guess it’s from Seamus that he has got the design, especially the black tape around the rim. I would stick with the original !
I can’t argue with others that know more and in this area I’m very much a beginner. And it was the black tape that made me think Forkner regarding the Flook drummer I saw in Milwaukee. In any case I’m happy with my drum and it will likely do everything I’m likely to be able to do.
I have seen the Alfonso drums up close and really liked what I saw.
Based on the info on the Alfonso website and comments made by Kevin Crawford (Lunasa) when he played in Rochester last March, I think Crawford plays an Alfonso. Just thought that was interesting, and if anyone wants a sound clip of him playing it - he did a bit of a solo - let me know.
Edited to add that I have a 16" Halpin, though I play it badly.
very interesting thread, fellows. I like this one in particular:
"As far as I know, John Joe Kelly exclusively plays bodhrans made by Seamus O’Kane. And by looking at Rob Forkner website I guess it’s from Seamus that he has got the design, especially the black tape around the rim. I would stick with the original ! "
As far as I know, Charlie Byrne was the first person to put tape on the drums. In fact, many of us makers use the tape- Charlie sometimes does (although he isn’t making drums anymore, as far as I know), Seamus does, Mance Grady does, I do, etc.
As far as design, I feel that most bodhran makers are following the dame general design concepts. I use kangaroo skins exclusively and weight the skins, so that you can tune down lower, have more attack when desired, etc. As far as I know, I’m the only one doing that. Seamus O’K certinly isn’t, although he does make some spectacular instruments!!!
As far as pure beginner instruments go, I don’t know that it matters a whole lot. I would probably get a small diameter drum with a fiberskin head for a kid just beginning, just so you don’t have to deal with the tuning. Later, as your daughter keeps playing and starts to develop a style of her own, you can explore different makers and find a drum 100% tailored to her.
Hi Rob!
I’m sure many makers have been influenced by Charlie’s work, although I always assumed it was more in the way he prepared his skins than design and woodwork. As for the tape around the rim, I heard it was Peadar Mercier that started that trend in the early seventies.
I don’t know about you Rob, but Seamus was making drums before I could even spell the word “bodhran”.
The wide rim and the tape have been typical marks for an O’Kane drum for quite some time. From the pictures on your website at least I see some similarities. Meaning nothing more than that if I came across a new drum with a double or triple skin and resonance chambers I would assume that the maker had been influenced by Brendan White.
I realise that my last remark came out a bit blunt, which wasn’t intended. My apologies! I never seen any of your drums Rob, less played one, but I’m sure they are very fine instruments. I had no intention to diminish your work, I was merely referring to my own wish list. To me, an O’Kane bodhran is as much an original as an Overton is for Low D whistles.
A frame drum is a frame drum even though both Seamus and some of your drums fall out of that category due to the size of the rim. Regarding skins, I think Clive Quinn made bodhrans with kangaroo skins in the eighties. Never seen one though.
Possum seem to be an interesting alternative as the come prepared and in the right size when scraped of the road
I would like this board to know that John-N is a thoroughly thoughtful person! I received the Walton’s bodhran this morning from UPS (a company that I’m always nervous about using). John packed it in two corrugated boxes with loads of paper to use as a boot buffer as well as some bubble wrap. UPS proofed! I am completely delighted with my purchase – the drum is in absolutley perfect condition and it sounds great too!
If John-N is ever selling anything, you can be assured that he is a great guy to deal with. Thanks John!!
