The Advantages Of A Tuneable Bodhrán by The Bodhrán Maker
People often buy tuneable bodhrans without knowing the advantages of being able to adjust the tension of the skin. Obviously they learn eventually but, if you're not sure have a look at the video I made below, I have tried to cover everything in it.
Basically the goatskin is suseptable to humidity and as such the tension can vary. If the humidity is too high the skin gets loose. If the humidity is too low the skin becomes too dry and gets tight. The tuning system eliminates these problems. If in a session you find your drum is too loud, you can let off the tension by loosening the screws. Alternatively if the skin is flopy, you can tighten the screws.
You may wish to higher the tension so as to be heard, or lower the tension so as to be humble. So you can change the tension for different tunes.
I usually change the tension by turning the screws a quarter turn each, and then sound the bodhran. If I am happy with the sound I leave it and play on. If I am not happy with the sound I turn the screws again until I have found the sound I wish to achieve. Try highering and lowering the tension to hear the different sounds your bodhran can make. It is favoured among bodhran players to higher the tension if playing with a tipper the higher end of the bodhrán, this is called high end playing. It is using the bottom end of the tipper only and playing the top half of the bodhran. For this type of playing you need the tuning system to tighten the skin.
Comments
james mcguire April 27 2021 at 09:40AM
hi, I have one of your 16" tunable drums and cant seem to get the tuning right. Im new to the bodhran and not sure how it should sound, I have tuned every way possible but when I tuck the drum under my arm (about 1/4) and place my hand inside the drum I get the same dull sound. am I doing something wrong? thanks,
Jim
Taylor Wright December 06 2019 at 11:58AM
I never knew that the humidity can have an effect on if the skin gets too tight. My uncle just bought a brand new bodhran drum and wants to make sure it doesn’t get too tight. I’ll have to show him this article so he can get the most out of his new drum. https://bodhran.ca
Italo April 27 2021 at 09:40AM
Hi, could you explain me the function of the electric tape around the rim of the bodhran, apart from the decorative one. I’ve just bought a tunable bodhran and after having played it for few minutes and tried to tune it the tape was no more smooth and so impossible to hit on it with the stick. What happened? What can I do now? In order to hit the skin with stick till the rim can I remove the tape without causing problems to the bodhran? If you send me your email I send you a photo of my bodhran. Thanks for your reply and sorry for my bad English…