I’m working on making a drum. It’s going to be a bodhrán snare mix… I’ll explain, lol.
I’m making it out of a gourd (drum makers out there know what I’m talking about), so one side will be a big drum, which i’m hoping to tune it, and create the sound of a bodhrán, and the other side I will obviously cut out, but instead of leaving it open for the sound to resinate, I will cover it with another peice of goatskin, and make it into a snare (using a cajon making method). Once it’s done, I will cut a hole in the side, so that sound will be able to come out better. This also means that you can play in front of a mic, or a clip mic can attatch into/onto it.
This will result in one end bodhran sounding, the other like a snare.
I’m having a lot of trouble imagining how this will work. Maybe I’m missing something but how will you be able to dampen the sound with the hand not holding the tipper?
Maybe you need to cut another hole to put your hand inside so that you can get all the sounds possible out of the thing. It would still be awkward to hold in the proper position.
Have you actually learned to play the bodhran yet? There is much more to it than it looks like there is…
Hand me that wrench, I need a hammer to drive this tack in…
Well that’s the thing, you can’t play it like a bodhrán. You play it more like a african traditional drum, with one hand and one hand holding the instrument. Or I suppose you could play it between your legs with both hands.
no… it’s not a bodhrán… It’s a traditional drum that hopefully will create a similar sound to a bodhrán and a snare. I never stated it to be a bodhrán.
(sorry if that sounds too combative, it’s not meant to, lol)
No worries. I guess I was a little confused by your opening statement. I assumed that a bodhran snare mix meant that it was played (and thusly embellished, by use of tipper and hand on the back of the drum head) like a bodhran…but had the wires of a snare.
hmm… that would be cool… lol. But nope, It’s basically based off of the standard gourd drum, but I thought I would add a snare on the other side, to make use of the open hole at the bottom. I thought since they are tuneable instruments, why not make the top drum real bass-like … and then I though I would just try to re-create a bodhrán sound the best I could.
If anyone has any questions to how to make them, or anything like that, I’d be happy to answer them oibrigand@yahoo.com or throw a PM my way.
Ah, I see (I think.) When you say it sounds like a bodhran you mean an undamped bodhran you thump on—a bit like a large tom tom?
Actually, African and Middle Eastern drums already embody this idea. Both djembes and doumbeks sound like tom toms (sort of) when struck in the middle and like snares when struck close to the edge. That’s why they are so popular for simple percussion accompaniment. For those who want an Irish example, you can hear the effect clearly on Larry Nugent’s Two For Two.
(oh, and thanks for the offer Kelpie, but I can just tighten or loosen it as I please, once the goatskin is being placed on it.) That’s kind of you though!
