Not sure if this is the right forum to post this in but I have a son who is a bodhran player. He’s been in a fairly decent low end bodhran for a couple of years now and is ready for an upgrade. Price range we’re working with is somewhere between $200 - $300. I’ve checked out reviews on various makers etc… The light line Art Bodhran made by Christian Hedwitschak are very appealing. Does anyone have any advice to help in this purchase? I’d like to find someone in the U.S. that stocks these or something comparable. The couple of sites I’ve checked out are out of stock in the specs we’re looking for. Any help would be appreciated.
Hedwischak appears to be VAT registered, and 19% VAT is included in the price. Note that as an non EU resident, you do not have to pay VAT, check with Hedwitschak as to the price for the US.
Mike Quinlan from Chicago offers a $250 intermediate drum:
New Offering! I am now offering an intermediate drum in 14”, 15” diameters in any depth. This drum is made from a maple shell with a birch tuning ring, six tuning blocks and a treated skin. I have also included a comfort edge and a custom case for the price of $250 plus S/H. See the pictures in the gallery. Sound sample coming soon!
Can strongly recommend the lightline - I have the 30cm one and it is a delightful little drum - by comparison, I have a 12" Alfonso and also a deep 12" Eckermann as well as a larger 14" Eckermann and until recently had an O’Kane. The lightline holds its own in that company and I play it regularly with pleasure - lovely sound, very nice skin, many tones out of it, good bass for its size etc. - I’ve not come across anything to match it anywhere near its price - which of course is not to say that there isn’t some drum somewhere to match it at the price, you never know. I’ve a good bit of experience playing, and although there is none of my drumming up, you can check out some of my music and such at the website in my signature if you are worried about an unsolicited recommendation - I should also say that I have no connection to either Heswitshak (which I imagine I’ve spelt wrong) or whistleanddrum.com, though I had a pleasant conversation one time with Blayne its proprietor. Good luck.
I have an 18" tunable Roundstone bodhran with which I am very pleased. It was within your price range before the dollar dropped in value but I haven’t checked his prices lately.
Thanks for all the advice. We’ve decided to go with the 45cm deep light line. It winds up being about 17 inches or so and 5.25 deep. It’s not currently in stock but will be soon. My son is getting excited. We’ll probably back order it this afternoon.
Speaking of goat whackery check this out. This kid is a couple years younger than my son…
That’s a really big drum - are you sure you want one that big? Is he a big lad? A drum that big is very difficult to handle and control especially if you yourself are not so big and (and this is very much my personal opinion) I don’t really think that you gain very much by it except possibly (and not always) volume - something that doesn’t do most bodhran players any favours in the popularity or musicality stakes. Drums have been getting smaller among good players fairly consistently, and I can’t think of one, off hand, that plays a drum that big. Most play 14" 15" or 16", and quite a few now play 12" (I’ve 12" and 14" and even sold my 15" - the O’Kane). To my students and friends, I usually recommend a 14" on the grounds that you get nice volume without overpowering people and a full range of sounds while remaining able to completely control the drum. The depth addition also makes the drums additionally difficult to get your arm around, which can be a decent trade off if it affords greater depth of sound, which it does not always do. Anyway, if you’ve already considered this I apologize for the unsolicited advice, but if not, it might well be worth thinking about before you push the boat out.
Thanks for asking. It is still currently back ordered however the gal at Whistle & Drum said it will be shipping very soon. Apparently they’ve been waiting to get them in as well. We’re getting a little anxious though. It has been a month since we originally placed the order.
Oh, how frustrating. Don’t they even have a slightly smaller one? If I were you I would seriously consider one of the the 14" ones as being just as good if they’ve got one in stock. (that is, within reason, if it is the first really good drum you’ve gotten, the player will become used to whatever it is and learn to play that drum and type of drum to a very high level - a drum in the hand is worth two in the mind?) I wouldn’t worry too much about the depth either. I have their smallest, shallowest drum and it is just lovely and though not loud (mostly an advantage) has really nice sound quality from top to bottom.
I would second bepoq’s comments. Recently I bought my first. I was looking for an 18" because I thought I needed it …bigger is better, right?. Sounds reasonable. But I was cautioned by an experienced player to go smaller because larger is much harder to handle and is much more susceptible tio the effects of humidity.
I settled on a used 16" Brendan White that I found on eBay. I love it. And, since I live in Central Texas (humidity), I am glad I took the advice.
Hello all…the drum finally arrived yesterday and my son is goat-whacking away at it. He simply loves it. It is interesting that when you play a higher quality instrument you just play better. It was like that for me when I first got my Michael Burke session whistle or when my other son got his new and higher quality fiddle, and it appears to be proven once again with Philip (my son) and his new bodhran. Anyway, thanks to all for the info/advice.
Cheers!
