The Bodhrán Drum

Physical description

The bodhran is a circular frame drum which means that by family definition, the depth of the shell is less than half of the width of the head.

There are certainly bodhráns with deeper shells, these would technically fall into the cylindrical drum category.The playing techniques for these longer drums are identical to a regular bodhran however the drum shell may require to be physically modified by a cut out or even a hole to allow the player's left hand to access the rear of the skin.

Many traditionally constructed bodhrans had an arrangement of crossbars on the back, this could have been be a single bar, a 'T' shape or most commonly, a cross that is centralised or offset. These bars can assist with the bracing of the left hand, allowing greater pressure to be applied to the skin or to allow it to be held when playing unmuted and in an 'open' style.

The bars were there traditionally to help to maintain the circular shape of the drum (riddle / sieve), however with the advent of modern laminate construction techniques, the bar on a drum of any reasonable quality is viewed as an optional extra for playing purposes rather than a key structural element. and is rarely seen on professional drums

Generally the head diameter is usually in the range 14" to 20" and shell depth is in the region 3" to 6", there are of course extreme depths and diameters and makers who specialise in these, there are even egg shaped drums (that soiund amazing) but these are relatively rare. The most common drums are circular with diameters 15" to 18". The shell tends to be one of the thicker of the frame drum family, 1/4" - 1/2" (7-15 mm-ish) - thicknesses are relatively common.

Construction materials

The wood used in the construction of a bodhrán shell can come from any type of hardwood or other material, the majority of modern shells are constructed from a number of layers of beech or birch ply, Maple is usually too hard fo the tacks.

Because of the depth of the standard shell, there is no significant shell (or air) resonance to be accounted for so it only needs to be strong enough and capable of accepting the bending processes and bearing the playing tensions. Aesthetics are much more maker-specific and can vary greatly.

The shell can be made of a single steamed & bent piece of wood or more commonly are constructed as a series of laminated plies, glued around or inside a jig or shape called a 'former'. Plies correctly constructed in a 'staggered' manner i.e with joins not placed on top of each other, will usually be mechanically stronger and more stable than a solid piece of wood. In a deeper shelled drum, plies vs solid shell can also have an audible difference as can the choice of material. See the Drumdojo section on Drum shell construction for more detail.

Tuning

Drums commonly are available in tunable and untunable variations, a tunable drum will usually have some form of mechanism that lifts up an inner ring to push the skin upwards and apply tension, a second, rare type, pulls down an external flesh ring with the skin attached for the same effect. The inner ring method (see image) is by far the most common and there are many variations on both types. 'Visit the bodhrán tuning section

Drum head / drum skin

a bodhrán head is generally made of goatskin although any animal hide can potentially be used. It is not uncommon to hear of kangaroo, calfskin, deer and even dog skin being used. It is also becoming common to hear of bodhráns headed with a plastic (mylar) head. Both natural and synthetic materials have a range of advantages and disadvantages. I haven't yet come across a synthetic headed bodhrán in a session Ireland.

With the bodhrán, the skin is the most critical element to the sound of the drum, and the skinis best when 'played in' before the drum achieves its optimum sound. This process of 'playing in happens through the playing of the drum and breaks up the fibres that keep the skin rigid. A thin skin will require less playing in and will deliver a warm accurate tone, rich in overtones, a thicker skin will be more 'thumpy' and more 'rounded'. A thin skin will be more flexible with a greater octave range than a thick skin There will always be exceptions with individual skins & the makers' processing has a huge effect. A soft skin will deliver less noise from contact with the tipper than a hard skin and will be 'warmer'. Often these can sacrifice the sound of the drum's attack to get a softer bass.

There is a trend nowdays away from thick and hard skins toward the use of thinner skins. Many hold the lambeg skin preparation processes as being ideal also for thin bodhrán skins. This is in keeping with contemporary and emergent playing styles. In Lambeg processing the skin is scraped down to very a thin layer, and skins of 0.5mm and less are common. Lambeg skins are only made in N Ireland and there are only maybe a half a dozen Lambeg makers who can produce these. This puts the skins and drums which bear them, at a premium.

To prepare a skin for use on a drum it needs to be cleaned so that all fatty and other tissue deposits are removed from the inside of the skin and the hair is removed from the outside. Most bodhrán makers have particular methods or substances that they employ but that part of the process is generally somewhat shrouded in secrecy.

Some research shows up a range of methods from burying it in the ground to soaking for days in baths of oak bark or lime to depilate and cure the skin. Although we know certain facts about the processes, there are further skin conditioning processes which are applied but it is rare for a bodhrán maker to share his skin 'recipe' in its entirety.

if I can quote second hand from a well known N Irish bodhrán maker "I taught him everything he knows about bodhrán skins, but not everything I know!" There are many myths and countermyths out there be careful what you do with a skin :)

Temperature effect.

A natural skin head will always seek to equalise with humidity levels, the amount of moisture in the air is the #1 cause of flabby or over-tight drums. Hot and/or dry weather will make the skin tighter and higher in pitch as moisture is taken from the skin, conversely damp and moisture-laden air will make the skin looser and lower in pitch. Hot and humid weather will lower the pitch most as moisture in the air has a greater effect combined with heat. As the skin gets played in over time, it becomes more stable in terms of the width of the range of the fluctuations and more forgiving but it will still be susceptible to ambient effects.

On a non-tunable drum, the way to counteract these variations in pitch . is either by warming the skin to raise the pitch or dampening the skin to lower it. See tuning. Water should be applied sparingly to the skin on the inside of the drum, a plant mister is useful.

Please only use water to dampen the skin, there is a romantic notion that using Guinness or beer on the skin is the way to go, don't do it!! using beer will rob the skin of the natural oils that keep it supple and will eventually stink to high heavens.

If heating your drum over, or in front of, a naked flame, keep your hand between the flame and the skin to gauge how close you safely want to be. The heat & friction from the players hand when playing is often sufficient to warm up and dry out a skin and a player may need to continually adjust the tuning.

A plastic/mylar head is not susceptible to these variations in ambient temperature or hand-heat, this is by far its biggest selling / purchasing point particularly in arid areas of the world. Any player with a drum headed with an artificial head will most likely tell you that where they had a choice between the two materials, this was their reason for choosing that particular head type. A plastic head will stretch and lower in pitch over time, they are not user-replacable. A natural skin tunable head is generally the choice for professional players.

The subjective and most important issue of course is the sound of the drum, a mylar head will sound different to a natural one, I'm not saying worse or better, just different, they tend to be thinner and livelier with more overtones. I have heard the term 'plasticky' used as a descriptor but have yet to find a suitable definition for this word or the sound it attempts to describe.

At the end of the day, the choice of skin is entirely yours based on the factors that you have to consider based on your personal tastes and the conditions in which you intend to play the instrument.

The bodhrán is a super instrument capable of almost infinite variation. I describe it as a chatty wee drum but it is capable of tremendous power when used well. It translates to professional performance superbly, mics beautifully and 'rattles yer windys'

---