Yes, it’s true. She wants to accompany my whistle. So I guess I am veering off topic; however, any advise on a nice qualirty bodhran would be appreciated as well as any recordings that have whistle and bodhran where the bodhran is featured on several tracks.
Hi!
I got one of Rob’s drums last year, worth every penny.
http://www.metloef.com
Whistle/Bodhran recordings:
Mary Bergin’s Feadoga stain 1 and 2 is a good choice, some very tastefull drumming by Johnny McDonagh.
/MarcusR
Waltons can be had for a reasonable price ($40-$60 USD) and they make a good quality beginners drum. They’ve also made several design modifications over the last couple years that have improved the drum. Do a quick google and you can find an online retailer. This was the first bodhran I ever used and it served me well for several years. I wouldn’t recommend spending much more money on a drum until she’s sure that she wants to stick with it… they’re also readily available at no wait… if she decides to get a handmade drum from one of the great makers later on then she’ll still have a dependable drum to play in the meantime.
http://www.tambourine.net/Pages/bodh.html
Kevin Krell
I have Mary’s Stain 2, I’ll pick up the other. Thanks for the Metloef site. Great looking drums. Thank you.
Never understood why a beginner should start on something so much inferior and less rewarding. For a drum the skin is everything and I would not say that Waltons are anything even near good quality, even though one can get lucky once in a while.
If you just want to try it out, save the cash and get a pizza box instead of a tourist wall hanger.
/MarcusR
You are welcome.
Rob really makes some nice drums. I tried both the kangaroo and the lambeg skin, went for the lambeg. Very expressive, dynamic and fun to play.
Be sure to check out bodojo
http://www.bodojo.com
/MarcusR
congratulations, how cool 
usually girlfriends/wifes hate it. it is cool to get her accompaning you. i guess she thought if you cant beat him, join him. 
First off … you folk ae really great; thank you. I am of the school that I will get the real thing. Of course, getting the real thing is more expesive. That said, my wife is a amazing little thing. Sings like a bird, did Broadway for some years; and the whistles delights her. Can you imagine having a wife whom not only sings but plays the bodhran? I am truly blessed. Best, Cyril.
oh you lucky dog -i wish my wife gave 2 hoots about music----------buy it now -before she changes her mind and if she does ITS YOURS------------- 
------------brendon whites a good one and easy on the money and paul McCauley
http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/kells
Track 4 is great.
Colm Murphy’s “An Bodhran” is a good album. Some really hot tracks with drum and whistle.
I am very partial to Albert Alfonso’s drums. http://www.celticmusic.com/alfonso_bodhrans/
You will want a tunable drum. You will want to probably stay away from plastic heads. I’ve only played one drum with an artificial head that sounded good. It had been “treated” by the application of about a mile self adhesive weather stripping to the inside surface of the head. It worked – on that drum.
My son has a Christian Hedwitschak bodhran. Great drum. Blaine carries them at Whistle and Drum. NAYY
Are there good tutors / DVDs for learning bodhran?
You might consider divorce proceeding
sooner rather than later!!!
Simple, $$$. A Walton’s is still a great improvement on a pizza box.
But not as good as a plastic tray 
Does your wife wish to sing to drum accompaniment as well as play with you?. If that is the case a soft skin suits voice accompaniment better.
Suitable spec for a drum would be.
14"-16" diameter.
tunable.
6" rim, or deeper with a cut out - deep rim improves the bass response.
soft heavy skin, or a soft weighted skin.
Rob Forkner (Metloef) and Alberto Alphonso as previously mentioned would make you a nice instrument.
David
Nice one Davy 
I just don’t get it why beginner bodhran players so often get recommended to start with a tourist drum for $50.
I doubt that the same people would recommend anyone to buy a $50-75 mid east/asian guitar or fiddle to start with
in order to get the hang of it before they get a real instrument.
If you want to save some $$$, cut down on the wood frame and any fancy stuff and get the best drum skin you can afford.
That is what it all comes down to in the end.
I passed through both Gremlins, Waltons and a tunable Roundstone and they were all a waste of money. In the end I spent more cash than a new top of of the line Seamus O’Kane drum would have cost me.
If you want an instrument instead of a decoration or a toy, you have to be prepared to pay for one.
/MarcusR
BTW: (This might get us locked, as we are in the whistle forum)
In my own empirical studies I have never experienced a setback in sound if a whistle player shifted from a Copeland to a Generation in a set of tunes. Truth is that I would probably not even notice when the whistle player next to me switches between his high and low end whistles.
Still whistle players have no problem to spend $$$ on this instrument.
When it comes to a cheepie bodhran with a dead and dull skin, it can ruin the whole session and thereby lead to significant
and long lasting health problems of the player. 
When was the last time you actually played a Waltons? Which one did you play? As I said, they have made several improvements to the basic design (bevelled edges, thicker and better quality skins, thicker shell). Every semester at least three or four of my students show up with brand new ones and I am NOT talking about the touristy jobs with Guinness logos or some knotwork painted on them.
http://www.eaglemusicshop.com/bodhran/results/details/index.asp?eagleID=4840&ProcessType=1
Some of my students sand the skin to get rid of the scratchiness of a fresh skin, treat them with various kinds of lotions or creams and they come back after a few weeks with a very nice tone that would be expected of a shallow shelled 18" drum. Sure it will never sound like my Brendan White or your Metloef but for a $40 non-tunable drum the Waltons is much better than a pizza box or a toy.
Now when someone says they’re looking to start playing the whistle, I don’t recommend they go and buy a Copeland or an Abell. I assume that most people, like myself, don’t have $300+ just lying around so starting with something perfectly playable at a small fraction of the cost to make sure it’s an instrument you want to stick with is a sensible suggestion. If you are lucky enough to have the cash flow then by all means, buy high end.
I’m not suggesting that the Waltons bodhran is the Generation whistle of bodhrans but some of the comments regarding them are certainly outdated and overstated. I have nothing to gain by promoting Waltons bodhrans nor do I think it’s a competitor in the market but my suggestion was a reasonable one for a beginner. Best of luck to your wife and her new instrument.
I am with you MarcusR. When I used to teach guitar I would suggest to my students that they get as much guitar as they could possibly afford. I am of the school “cry once and laugh later”. Thank heavens she doesn’t want a baby grand piano.
She has listened to enough music to know what a good one sounds like so I will have to belly up; and, as a practical matter, I will be the one who hears her the most.
As to another’s question; yes she will sing while playing Bodhran. Thanks for the observation.
And thanks all for the sites to investigate and study. I plan to make a decision in the next few days. Best, Cyril.