Selection and Care of Your Drum

All of my drums come with a UV coating that serves to protect the artwork from heavy playing and does not affect the sound of the drum.

All bodhran's come with a tipper. Strikers for the hide drums are optional.

All custom built drums have a significantly longer wait time for delivery.

Before you purchase a drum you need to give some thought to how much maintenance you are willing to perform and how much of a budget you want to work with.

First, I will discuss your options with bodhrans, then hide drums.

My first recommendation is a tunable bodhran because maintance is relatively simple. If the temperature or humidity in your home or drumming environment is too hot, too dry, too cold or too humid you can easily accommodate it with a simple twist of an allen wrench (aka: hex key) which usually comes with your drum. Other than that you may want to spray it occasionally with water and rub in just the smallest amount of mineral oil or neatsfoot oil once a year (or as needed) to keep the hide supple. DON'T ASSUME that your drum will need to be oiled. Some do, some don't. And if it does - PLEASE REMEMBER - to only put only an amount perhaps the size of a dime in your palm, rub your hands together and massage it into the INSIDE of the hide lightly. You definitely do NOT want to overdo it on the oil.

The pricing of your bodhran has a lot to do with where you want to get it from.

You can get bodhran's off of the internet starting around $50.00 for 14" tunables and around $45.00 for 14" non-tunables. Here is a link where you can start shopping around. Until I have more in stock drums available, it would be best for you to find your own drum and send it to me. These drums will likely need to be oiled.

If you'd like a true handmade bodhran you're looking upwards of $300.00 just for the drum. Click here and here for a sampling of what a really good bodhran will run for a serious musician. These drums will probably NEVER need oiled. Just an occasional spritz with a water bottle should be more than sufficient.

Now, if you are aspiring to become a serious musician I highly recommend you check out these sites: http://www.bingbangbong.co.uk/ and http://www.dojozone.com/ and http://www.marshallarts.ie/ where you can research and communicate with Paul Marshall of "Different Drums of Ireland" who is absolutely the finest resource on drums you could ever hope for! Check out their music, too - they're doing amazing things in percussion - not to mention bringing the bodhran and lambeg together for the first time in performance. Their music has been inspiring for me and if you like drumming, you'll love it to!

If you are not a serious musician or will be using the drum primarily for decoration you will probably be just as happy with the cheaper version. They don't sound bad - they just will never sound as good as the quality crafted ones.

Now, for hide drums....

If you have been searching for a natural skin drum that really looks and sounds ancient and that has an enormous amount of spiritual significance put into it through the selection of hides, etc. you will be very happy with what I will make for you. The price for this mirrors the hand crafted prices of a bodhran (artwork is additional). My natural hide drums are rich with resonance and have a deep tone. Generally speaking, the bigger the drum, the deeper the tone. The trick is ... you have to take care of them.

ANY natural hide drum is highly subject to environmental conditions. If you are at an outdoor event where it's been raining all day, a natural hide drum will get "mushy" and "flubber" when you play it. You may be spending more time in front of the fire trying to warm it up than you will be playing. If you're playing outside on a 110 degree afternoon, it's going to tighten up and get "pingy".

You will need to keep an eye on it and learn it's own tolerances. Every drum is unique that way and through this you'll have your own relationship with it. If you live in an area where the winters are very dry and you don't have a good humidifier - you will probably have to soak your drum in the bathtub once a month to keep it from getting so tight that it warps your frame. (If this does happen it is fixable as long as you catch it before it cracks the frame, but it's not easy.)

Hide drums are beautiful and they really help to connect to the ways of the ancients. They do require extra work, but they are genuinely worth it if you are going to be using them for any kind of prayer or spiritual endeavors.

As always, I am very happy to answer any additional questions you may have. Just send me an email with your name and the best method to contact you and I will usually respond within 48 hours.

Blessings to you on your selection!

The Bardic Artisan™