Hi Hanna,

It's called a bodhran and can be bought anywhere they sell trad instruments. Ebay also has a great variety of them although you take your chancwes on quality.

I've bought 3 bodhrans on ebay. Two were wonderful and one sucked. One of the wonderful ones I only paid $18 for. My newest bodhran I ordered from a music store near me and played it before I paid for it. It's more than wonderful and only cost me $65.

There are two schools of thought as to the pronunciation of the word 'bodhran.' The Irish call it a 'bow rahn" (bow as in the front of a ship) and the Newfoundlanders I know pronounce it more like 'bor rahn" (as in boron, the element). Chose your weapon!

Anne

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And when the winds of change begin to blow,
I'll whisper, "You're my lighthouse" in case you didn't know.

Sons of Maxwell

visit my website!:
Anne's Philly Phan Site at http://www.gbsfanatic.com

Okay now I never do this but...

SQUUUUEEEEE!

My bodhran came today!!! *does super happy dance*

I can't believe how fast it got here. I've attempted to play it already but of course I suck. But hopefully I won't suck for too long.

It looks soo cool and I love holding it! I can't wait to really play it now!

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Why don't we all get in the bathtub. ~ Séan on the podcast

i on a barrier island off the central coast of florida...EVERYBODY is welcome to come down anytime....fo rall the folk up north.. january and february are the BEST times to come down...us locals can always tell the tourist during these monts... usually they are the ONLY one in shorts and in the ocean...when the temp dips down below 50 degrees we pull out our "warm woolies"!!!!!!!
so when the cold weather gets to much for you and you want a break "come on down".... we'll have a bonfire,make some s'mores and have a one heck of a drumming circle....who knows we could start our own band... the 'bodhran babes'....
nansea :
cool:

Can't belive I haven't gotten to this yet. But I am learning to play the bodhran, I have a tape, but the lesson Roy O'Brien gave me was way helpful then that video would ever be...
Bonnie, thank you for the link, I remember that page from when I was looking into buying a bodhran.
Jana, I am soo happy that you got your bodhran! Good luck in learning.

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'He was rough, but he was real.'
Steve, you will be missed, Mate.

www.sharkwater.com

hey i got a few pointers from roy and gord as well. those guys are friggin wicked. gord's daughter was also very helpful, quite a talented girl as i remember her. o'briens is definetly the place to be for all things celtic/irish/newfoundland folk music. god bless o'briens!

I HEART O'BRIEN'S! Roy and Gord are awesome! I wanted to buy everything in the store!

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"We are here to unlearn the teachings of the church, state, and our educational system. We are here to drink beer. We are here to kill war. We are here to laugh at the odds and live our lives so well that Death will tremble to take us."
-Charles Bukowski

"Bad as I am, I'm still here."

I have a bodhran I bought in Ireland 6 years ago, it's a small one so it's pretty high-pitched. I play a few instruments (including some percussion) but I still don't understand how to play this thing.

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One important thing is to tune the skin or it gets "pingy" I oil mine with neetsfoot oil. I also spray with water before playing.
Also a good tipper is very essential. There is a link of the site of the man who made my tipper. http://www.huntertippers.com There is a whole instructional thing on how to sellect the right one for you.
If you bought the hard and the easy you can do as I do and watch the DVD and try to keep up with Sean

I almost forgot! Taking lessons really helps. go to the Comhaltas Ceoltoiri Eireann website and find a branch near you. http://www.comhaltas.com/branches/index.htm

quote:

Originally posted by Senrab:
I have a bodhran I bought in Ireland 6 years ago, it's a small one so it's pretty high-pitched. I play a few instruments (including some percussion) but I still don't understand how to play this thing.

GREAT LINK Tara! Thanks for posting the Comhaltas thing!

I got a great tipper at O'Brien's, it's shot-loaded on either end. Great balance and really helps with the control and momentum. Gord mentioned it's like the one Séan McCann uses.

Also I got my bodhran signed by a bunch of great musicians!

Clockwise from the top right: Dermot O'Reilly,Fergus O'Byrne, Mike Hanrahan & Graham Wells of the Irish Descendants, and Larry Foley of The Punters/Eight-Track Favourites.

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"We are here to unlearn the teachings of the church, state, and our educational system. We are here to drink beer. We are here to kill war. We are here to laugh at the odds and live our lives so well that Death will tremble to take us."
-Charles Bukowski

"Bad as I am, I'm still here."

Wait a minute, where's the McCann signature?
Just kidding; impressive collection.

Hey man, I hung out with Darrell. Only so many pubs full of music
a girl can go to in a week!

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"We are here to unlearn the teachings of the church, state, and our educational system. We are here to drink beer. We are here to kill war. We are here to laugh at the odds and live our lives so well that Death will tremble to take us."
-Charles Bukowski

"Bad as I am, I'm still here."

I don't supose I would get into the vancouver show with my drum, would I? I would love to compare tipper stories with Sean He's one of the first people I ever saw play the bodhran.

Hey Tara > take your drum to the Vancouver show! I took mine last time, and I'm doing it again this time too. And I'm bringing it to the Victoria show. I can only hope that I can get the chance to talk bodhran with Séan

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Don't feed the idiots or they'll continue being idiots...

That's something I've been wondering about, Bonnie...I've wanted to bring my bodhran along to shows (GBS or otherwise), just to jam along more than anything, but I'm always afraid my precious drum is going to get wrecked at a concert. It's on the larger side too...18 inches...so I'd be afraid I'd really be pushing my luck in the crowds. What kinda of luck have you had bringing your drum to concerts?

Also a tad self conscious if I end up in the front row...I don't want my gleeful pounding along to be distracting to the band, on the off-chance they can hear it over the crowd din and their monitors. And the audience too...after all, they paid to see a band, not some random redheaded nutcase jumping up and down banging on a bodhran.

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"We are here to unlearn the teachings of the church, state, and our educational system. We are here to drink beer. We are here to kill war. We are here to laugh at the odds and live our lives so well that Death will tremble to take us."
-Charles Bukowski

"Bad as I am, I'm still here."

Maybe I'll get a wee one to take with me to the concert. My 18" will be a bit much. I'm bringing it for my vacation but just to find some seisiuns around Vancouver to play at.
I played at my first slow seisiun last night and after a little stage fright, I was doing alright! I actually had to have them speed up a bit for me.