Big Frankie posted this on the improvements to a cheap drum thread - it's worthy of its own thread

Paul

<Quote From Frankie's original post>

What I would personally take issue with is that you have to play a drum in. I find it irritating that we all put up with this and therefore validate lax workmanship. This is not just in the cheaper end of the market. I have had a few discussions with a bodhran maker who makes adjustable 16" drums and insists on setting them up with the Tuning ring level with the frame allowing for no downtuning. Then stores them in his lovely warm workshop till they sound like hardboard! Of course should you ask as you part with £150ish he will look knowingly over his glasses and tell you that you need to play it in!

Where does that leave you a month later when it still sounds like a biscuit tin? You can’t return it cos it's is now second hand and covered in lanolin which has given you an interesting skin complaint due to an allergy!

You would not expect an anglo concertina or a guitar to have to be "played in" don't fall for it with a bodhran. Like all other instruments you should be able to play it out of the box. And isn’t that the problem? Too many buy a bodhran because they think it’s “easy” and give up in two weeks. As long as they are the main buyers the more mercenary “genuine” Irish bodhran makers will keep supplying sub standard overseas made cack to the ignorant masses!

Rant over, I love you all. XXX

< end quote>

Hey Frankie,

good points indeed.

With all this kind of stuff there's a balance to be struck, the lifecycle of a modern drum is different to that of a 'traditional' instrument. Traditional makers (Charlie Byrne or Paul McAuley for example) did/do very little to the skin except wet it and place it on the drum, modern makers do a lot more work to bring the drum to immediate playability to meet the demands of the contemporary marketplace. I'm not sure I'd claim traditional makers for lax workmen but I think that you are probably referring to W_altons (now all made in China), R-oundstone or any number of eastern manufacturers who just don't get it - in that case I'd say those are a triumph of commercialism over quality

It is my experience that drum once played in will continue to perform for a number of years including its optimum period and then will become 'played out', this is where the skin's fibres have stretched to their maximum extent and there no longer remains anywhere for it to go

The problem that I see with buying a drum that has been chemically 'played in' is that the chemical process affects the internal structure of the skin and if you buy a drum that has been chemically prepped essentially you have a drum with a reduced lifespan. The degree to which the skins have peen prepped is therefore important.

Personally this is the reason why I do not like the dragonskin drums or the part-tanned models occasionally made by Paul McAuley or Rohan Young. These feel like chamois and whilst they give a soft 'boomy' sound they lack 'attack'; in addition I have technical reservations over their potential lifespan. I have heard stories of some of these soft drums 'dying' very quickly.

There's a balance between preparation for 'soft-sound' and preparation for 'reasonable lifespan' and still meeting a buyer's expectations of playable sound from the box. Yes makers can make you a drum as soft-sounding as you like but there's a trade-off.

I think that a drum should arrive at a purchaser with some way yet to go before it reaches its optimum through playing, YMMV :)

Great to have you engaging on the forums Frankie, all good stuff to be discussing

Its a misnomer that guitars dont need playing in. Well guitars dont. But the strings do.

When you fit guitar strings (in fact any fretted instrument) you need to 'stretch' the strings and for a good while they will be pitch unstable. This is with steel strings!!!

I also play violin - and although the synthetic core strings are better than gut core the same applies - they dont get 'stretched' in per se - but do require playing in. For a new gut-core top of the range pirastro oliv string playing at say 1hr-2hrs a day you can expect the string to take about 1-2 weeks to settle properly.

I cant see how a skin can require anything less - its going to change when you start hitting it...

barryspearce wrote:

QUOTE:
Its a misnomer that guitars dont need playing in. Well guitars dont. But the strings do.

When you fit guitar strings (in fact any fretted instrument) you need to 'stretch' the strings and for a good while they will be pitch unstable. This is with steel strings!!!

I cant see how a skin can require anything less - its going to change when you start hitting it...

Hiya Barry,

I know what you mean as I play 5 string banjo. And I fully accept that any bodhran will have better tonal qualities after a bit of playing. But the point I was (poorly!) trying to make is this. A new bodhran should sound like a bodhran, albeit that it will improve with playing. In the same way that a new guitar sounds like a guitar, even if you have just re-strung it with your favourite brand of strings.

When I had my first "goodnight John boy" (ask your parents!)Bodhran 15 or so years ago it took me hours of sanding, playing moisturising the skin till it was like a wet newspaper and unplayable. Only to find it would spring back to life and sound like a tin can again. And I wanted to sound like Christy dammit, not a salsa percussionist! Months later she was as good as she would ever get! Only to be passed on to a friend while I upgraded. Same story really, only this time it was a case of sounding pingy and tingy at a session, and taking all the top end off it when miked up at a gig to get the bodhran sound we all know and love.

Yes, all instruments improve with playing and age. But IMO they should sound as the instruments they purport to be from the get go.

Again IMO it's about two things. Pride in your work if you are a "small producer". And let's face it, most do have that pride. Or caring about your customers with product control if you have your "genuine" Irish "professional" bodhrans made in more exotic climes. I’m gonna sound a bit too passionate here, but I do think its about some of the larger producers strip mining (in some cases) their own culture for a quick buck. And I think it is damaging to traditional music, and lead to the low status of the instrument until some of the modern god like figures we have in recent years turned it around.

But what do I know? I play the banjo for God sakes!

Love and kisses, X

Hey Frankie
I 100% agree. We have to differ between playing in to actually sound like a bodhran (not good) or to improve a sound that was good from the beginning.
I think the last thing is what we want to achieve, while the first thing is something I experienced, just like you and didn't like it.

All the best
Rolf

You are both right. The basic drum should sound great without playing in per se - and the playing in should improve the tone.

With both my RWE (which I love even more every time I play), and my Brendan White the 'playing in' for me improves the subtly of the tone - I see this playing in as nothing different from strings. The two drums have a good basic tones (albeit very different) straight out of the box - just as good quality strings on a quality instrument do.

I do agree that the concept of playing in to make something sound even halfway decent is a travesty.

Sorry for mis-understanding - it looks like we agree!!