Howdy all,

I'm tricking around with new ways to accentuate "sweet-spot" harmonics. I had been using just the inside tip of the thumb very lightly on the skin but I've recently discovered a way of doing the same using the heel of the hand at the base of the skin and rolling it gently, similar to how Frank Torpy bends the pitch. You get a similar effect but without the heavy push & roll. Dong this on an upstroke really brings out a nice bending ringing pitch variation.

Any one else got ideas on same?


Mike

Three posts in one day, can you tell I'm supposed to writing an essay!!

Hi Mike,

what you describe is exactly how I play! This is the position that brings the egg to life. Yes I can play clear melodies and bass lines on it AND in tune with the melodites. It does take a thin skin to get the effect of the full tonal range.

My left hand stays near the bottom of the drum and I press & roll either the heel of the hand (thank you Frank Torpey)or the knuckles at the base of the fingers (Thank you Paul Phillips)to raise pitch. I can go up over an octave without shifting my base position. I don't move my hand vertically for individual strokes but I will if I want to change the fundamental tone.

The technique is economical in terms of hand-travel but does take some pressure on the skin to get those notes clear. Coming from a 12" drum I was used to my left arm at 80- 90 degrees to the skin pressing in with the heel of the hand. For me it's small-drum technique transferred to a larger drum :)

I also need to keep some tension on the skin along with the natural hand-muting, this combination generates the most gorgeous 'rich' tone, it works at pitches down to almost the unmuted fundamental. I've tried the technique on round drums and it does sound good but not quite as rich as when one eggs the pudding :).

Using this left hand method can make it sound quite 'pitch-bendy', particularly if I'm not crisp in that low/high pitch change but that's a feature of this style and it can be either accentuated or practised-away.

You probably do it already, but another useful sound for getting clear tones is to press the knuckle[s] of your left thumb into the skin so the drum works essentially like a bell - experiment with 1 knuckle or 2 and with different positions and pressures. It's a very pure tone and you can bend it. Beware sliding your knuckle when it's under pressure, I lost skin that way :)

I'm intending to cover these kinds of left hand techniques in the advanced class in Milwaukee, it's easier to demonstrate than explain :)

Good luck with the essay.

[or have you gone to the pub already? :]

P

Hi Paul,

This is a good topic we appear to have a number of similarities in our approach and technique, keep it coming...In fact the more you talk of the egg drum the more inclined I am to purchase one..I feel the credit card easing out of my wallet as I type!

Saying that, the thing which would prevent me purchasing, apart from the cash, is the the fact that I've a Seamus O'Kane I aint tipped once since I bought it. I could conceivably sell it on I s'pose, I just heard myself sigh reluctantly, perhaps not then.

I'm really getting into the bass tones and pitches on the RWE Bodhrán, in fact I was so mesmerised by some of the tones coming out of it last week I promptly put it down picked up the laptop and fired off an email to Rolf Wagels telling him its perhaps the best drum I've ever played, so far!(egg drum horizon line getting ever closer)

I'll try the technique you mentioned you got from Paul. I use the thumb technique having got the idea from Brian "Dingo" Morrissey and its really nice. I'm trying to work these subtler tones into some Hayes & Cahill tunes for my performance exams and I think they're beginning to come together.
With the addition of a nice Tipper Mr Higgins gave me a couple of weeks ago, normal style tipper but with muffler's on, the warmth this combination elicit is fabulous. I'm having a great time working with Jim its more about the chat than actual playing and he's a great man for nice melodic grooves.

(I've been typing this post over coffee and a intermittent chat with the mott and her cousin. I've made my intentions clear about the purchase of the egg drum and apart from the obvious retort of "how many is that now" she hasn't baulked at the idea)
So yes I think I've just bought meself a new drum or the idea of a new one at least. But I'm really intrigued by the egg drum now that I've reached this level appreciation/dexterity of the tonal centre & variants with the RWE and it seems to be the natural progression. Before buying one I'd like flesh em out a bit more so I might give you a call Paul one evening when you're free i.e. only doing 50 things instead of the usual 150 !-) Do you know what the availability of the egg is like or are they made to order?

Okay that's a novella of a post, what essay!?!

Hey Mike, Paul..

Hmm.. I really have to watch this Torpey dvd :D
Where can i get my hands on one?

The eggs are special custom jobbies but I think Rob (metloef)
might hav one knocking around..
My one should be arriving sometime next month :P
Its a 15" x 13" & 5" deep - I cant wait!

If you ever change your mind mike and decide to sell the O'Kane
give me a shout, I was thinkin of buyin one during the summer..
That, or an RWE, or a Darius.....

Pitch bending is a great thing when done right, Im not the best at
it tho - need a good bit more practise...
That dvd would be a good idea so..

Cillian.

Hi Cillian,
Mad for Trad sell Franks tutorial,link below, s'far as I can remember it was partly his brain-child
It's definatley one of the best around I got a copy but it's the usual with these kind of things you take from it what appeals and then incorporate it into your own style of playing same as teaching it one on one. The good thing is you have there to go back to time and time again.
Sure at one point or another we're all learning, modifying adapting and honing our abilities on the ould goat! Finding the time to practice, now that's a premium.

Let me know how you get on with the Egg I'm really up for getting one.I'll keep you in mind re the O'Kane should I decide to hok it

Mike
http://www.madfortrad.com/

Hey Paul/ Cillian or anyone out there that can spare a moment....
I'm airing my ignorance yet again here, but all this talk of 'the egg' has me more than intrigued. How do I get a look at one please? And, what are the 'special merits' ?
Bear in mind that I am living out on the edge, and don't get out enough.
John