Wow. I took the plunge last night and applied three passes of Duck brand 1.5" electrical taape to my "e-bay special" cheap beginner bodhran. Started the first pass even with the skin seam on the side, over the tacks, pulling the tape as tight as I could. Overlapped the next pass with about a half inch showing from the first pass. Then did the third pass with about a half inch of the second pass showing. The secret is keeping the tape tight. It will actually form itself to the face of the drum as you make each pass.

Did it make a difference, HUGE! I'm not gonna say that it's as good as any of the custom made drums out there, but it really doesn't sound like the same drum. Hitting it without the left hand touching the inside of the skin now produces a very "boomy" bass, while using the left and playing with pressure and location no longer had the "twangy" ping that the drum had from the start.

Thanks all for the topic and the initial thought of doing this. I would recommend it to any and all who have a "cheap" drum.

Hey All,

Just another little tip, putting a circular lump of blu-tack on the back can make a definite difference in the sound of your drum..
It could just be me but I think weighted skins sound class :P

And it is amazing what taping does to a cheap bodhran - I did it to my first 18" and it really helped.

Cillian.

Last thursday i bought a role of electrical tape and some fine sandpaper (p400) and gave sanding and taping my old Walton's a try. The tape is 5 centimeters (about two inches) wide, and i found it quite difficult to use the entire width of the tape, so i tried to cut it in half as evenly as possible.

While i didn't succeed completely in the "evenness" of the tape, i have to say: the result was quite good !!

Because of the sanding the skin feels much softer now and it feels much nicer to move your left hand across. And because of both the sanding AND the taping, i feel that the skin has become more responsive and gives a wider range of tones (more high tones). The overall sound has improved quite a bit! Also, the drum looks much nicer with the tape :-).

It doesn't sound like my new bodhran (Hedwitschak RWE), the difference in quality is too big, but for a cheaper bodhran it sounds quite good now, and i'm having more fun at playing it.
Since my RWE arrived, a few weeks ago, the Walton's had remained in its bag and now it's out of the bag again!

Grtz,

Martijn

Martijn

Your drum looks good. I had the same results from sanding and taping my Walton's. It really makes a huge difference.

Cheers

Glenn

Well Glenn, it's actually thanks to you that i taped the Walton's :-)!
I was searching high and low on the internet for information about how to tape a drum, couldn't find anything and then you wrote your story. So, many thanks !!!

Grtz,

Martijn

Hi!
Someone has suggested to me that a cheap drum needed to be "played in" at least a year before taping it. Is that true, or can you tape a new cheap drum?
Thanks and GOD bless you!
CeltinBirks