Bodhran and percussion technical advice from Eagle Music Shop

Bodhran & Percussion - Frequently asked questions

Bodhrans, tell me about them?

Eagle's answers

Bodhrans, tell me about them?
Lots of people get into folk music, and especially Irish music, through the bodhran, that well-known Irish hand drum. To be in a pub full of enthusiastic session musicians makes it almost irresistible to join in, and for someone with no previous musical knowledge, but a reasonable sense of rhythm, the bodhran is the ideal starter instrument. But beware - lots of musicians spend years honing their talents. You enjoy listening to them. They’re very welcoming people, or else they wouldn’t be playing folk music in the pub, and they want you to join in. But please remember you have to walk before you run - buying a tutor book or video along with your bodhran will let you get over the initial stages at home, so you’ll get a genuine welcome when you turn up at the session! You can get a reasonable starter bodhran and beater for around £30. Prices then go up through various stages to around £200. As with all instruments, you get what you pay for. Move up slightly from the lowest price and you get into bodhrans with celtic decoration. These will be of similar quality, but nicer-looking.

Then we move up to £50 plus, and you’re into the cheapest of the genuine Irish made goatskin bodhrans. A bit more money gets you a hand-made drum, which has had its skin carefully selected and processed. All the bodhrans up to this point will be of a simple construction, with the skin (usually a goatskin) stretched over a simple hoop. Climatic conditions will affect the tension of the skin, so that on a cold, damp day, you’ll need to warm up the skin to get it to sound right, or, on a hot dry day, you’ll have to damp down the skin with a few drops of water to stop it “pinging”. (Guinness is best used for altering the consciousness of the player.) But move a bit further up the price range, between £100 and £200, and you can get a tuneable bodhran. These have a system, sometimes using a key, sometimes a cam wheel adjuster, which lets you tighten up and slacken off the skin mechanically. “Tuneable” can mean tuning to a note - but the nature of the drum and its reaction to the atmosphere would make it drift off the note fairly quickly. By “tuneable” we really mean “adjustable”, so that you can easily get the skin to the right tension. And by the way, if you go for a tuneable bodhran, a good tip is never to slacken it off fully after you’ve played.

Continually taking the tension up and down puts too much stress on the skin - it’s much better to keep your skin at a reasonable tension at all times. At Eagle Music Shop, any bodhran you buy, even the cheapest, is guaranteed to do its job. As you move up the price range, our Conemara Collection, hand built in the west of Ireland are excellent authentic drums. Also Roddy Turner’s high-quality 'Elite' range ...exclusive to Eagle Music Shop, are beautifully finished drums. Both of these makers are hand-builders who take great pride in their work. A bodhran is an organic instrument which needs a little bit of care and attention. As mentioned above, we can’t stress strongly enough that you should buy a basic bodhran book and/or video to help you get the most out of your instrument. After all, the instrument itself is reasonably priced, even for the best quality, so go on, invest in the tutor materials too.

View our bodhran instrument section here.