I got a nice Waltons non-tunable Bodhran for Christmas, and I’ve heard you can ease the tension on the skin by spraying water on the back with an atomizer or a damp cloth. Mine is REALLY very tight and produces a high piched sound. I need it loosened a bit. Besides “get a tunable one you cheap (&*%^#(@” can anyone suggest any way to loosen the tension? This would be helpful.
Timmy
Just take a wet cloth, not dripping, but more than damp.Rub it on the inside of the bodhran, and wait about 15 minutes.If the pitch still isn’t low enough, do it again. if you go too far, carefully heat it over a wood stove or hair dryer and the pitch will slowly rise as the skin dries out. Also, you can press on the inside of the drum while playing to raise and lower the pitch, although if the skin is too loose it won’t sound right.
Take care,JohnZ
There isn’t much you can do with a bodhran with a fixed skin (i.e non-tunable) except use an atomizer with water in it. You will have to experiment with how much water it will take to get to the tension you desire.
But you will have to do it all night long as the bodhran will dry out slowly through the time you are playing it.
The opposite is true in the summer if you live in a high humidity area, you might want to carry a hair drier with you, to take moisture out of the skin.
You can also purchase a bodhran wax or lanolin for the skin that will ease the situation somewhat but don’t use it heavily.
You can also go to the Bodhran website for tons of information. Go here:
http://www.ceolas.org/instruments/bodhran/
There is also a bodhran group on Yahoo that operates much as this board.
Hope this helps.
Mark