Who is the Best Bodhr

Hi, I’m new here and was just wondering who the BEST bodhr

Er…is this a windup? *grin* Welcome to The Session, and you’ll find as many answers as there are bodhran makers, I suspect.

Love the moniker!

i hear Smith and Wesson make a pretty good bodhran, or is that a bodhran silencer?

Johnathan

Thhis is a very very hard question to answer I would know having asked a similar question not that long ago I got multiple answers although the top brands were Seamus O‘Cane, some Dutch guy I can’t remeber, Metlof Drums, and Mace O’Grady.

P.S. I like your screen name I often make Bodhran moron jokes myself.

There were a few more but I can’t remember them.

that would have been at https://thesession.org/discussions/3288

That would be it I would have asked for it but I couldn’t remember if it was you that was “Queen of the Archives” or someone else but I guees it was you. You might find something good on here morononthebodhran.

Hiya, new guy (do i call you “moron”? or “bodhran”? or what?) Welcome to the session. Once you’ve been here a while you’ll realize we are for the most part die-hard pure drop traditionalists. In answer to your question, my friend David Settles (http://members.shaw.ca/dsettles/drums/daveydrum04.html) *makes* bodhrans and is therefore in an excellent position to know the nuts and bolts of traditional bodhran making. According to Dave, a bodhran of exceptional traditionality can be acquired thusly:

1) Purchase a goat.

2) When your goat grows big enough to eat, bon appetit! Now you’re on your way to becoming the proud owner of an authentic traditional Irish bodhran!

3) Skin your ex-goat carefully, scrape off *most* of the hair (not all of it!)

4) Place the goat hide in a secret mixture of extremely noxious chemicals for an unendurable length of time. (Email Dave for the recipe!)

5) Find a fairly strong object of a roughly circular nature (ie. a wagon wheel, barrel ring, or, in a pinch, a few steam-bent, thin planks of wood all glued together.)

6) Nail a circular hunk of cured goat skin to your wagon wheel. Make sure you leave a little hunk of goat hair on it somewhere. A *bald* bodhran is not a *traditional* bodhran! Now, if you have had too many pints and the bodhrans all start looking the same in the dim light of your local pub, you can identify yours by recognizing the unique coloration of the hair of your ex-goat!

7) Find an object with which to whap your new bodhran, and voila! You are now a *traditional* Irish bodhran player, and you will soon be warmly welcomed at top level sessions in Boston, New York, Ireland and beyond!

Best of luck!

But it’s probably easier to buy one. *grin* *Are* we die-hard pure drop traditionalists? I hadn’t realized. Well. No bodhrans at all for us, then, I guess… ;)

Hi MOTB, I’m new here too-although I’ve been lurking for a few weeks, and if your post was a wind-up, I’m taking the bait. Not to answer your question, but to ask one myself. Your unique name asks the question: Could you be the graphic artist/cartoonist guy, playing Irish music and living in Boise? If so, I sat in with your band once, long ago, and would have you know there’s a session most Sundays at the Ha’Penny at around 7. Consider yourself invited Mike, although I DO remember you playing a bit more than the drum. If you’re not the same individual, consider yourself or anyone else reading this deflected thread invited as well, drum or not.

-Jerry Larsen

Remember, the goat *must* be from Gaeltacht, otherwise the sound will not be pure enough. : if you submerge the skin in Guinness for a period of time, it might develop nice Celtic patterns on the surface.

Thanks a lot for all your replies guys.

So from the thread that zina lee pointed me to: https://thesession.org/discussions/3288, it would seem to be between Seamus O’Kane, Metloef, Belgarth, Mance Grady and Brendan White…

Greenman seems to imply that Seamus O’Kane’s bodhr

My mate, Paul Phillips from Downpatrick Co Down, swears by the O’Kane bodhran and he won the All Ireland last year [accompanied by my good self on the Flute of course!! 🙂].

I have to say that as a musician [no slight intended to true bodhranists *hee hee*] I really like the sound of the O’Kane. It is mellow and bassy and really fills out the session when played well.

I would encourage you very strongly to get some tuition on the drum before bringing it into the session. It may appear that it is really easy to play IT IS NOT!! Like any instrument it takes time dedication and not a little thick skin to be accepted into a session and you will see from umpteen previous discussions here that while a good player is more than welcome a poor player is the bane of many a session.

The very best of luck!!

Oh, by the way, I think it a gas that Seamus lives in a townland in South Derry called Lower Drum!!

http://www.tradcentre.com/seamus/contact.shtml

Take it from me, S

Seamus O’Kane

Welcome, Moron.
i have a beautiful bodhr

Hi there,
my friend has just taken delivery of a new Seamus O’Kane bodhran with the new tuning system. He had one of his older models. He is delighted with the new bodhran. It has a lovely soft tone and will not drown anyone out which is the idea. Seamus himself is a wonderful bodhran player and a great addition to any session. Check out his website.
just do a google for Seamus O’Kane
best of luck
d

The best Bodhran Maker I have found is Albert Alfonso. Believe it or not, he is a Cuban living in Dallas, Texas; but I his are the best I’ve ever played. Alfonso’s are distinctive because he leaves some of the goathair around the rim, so don’tt get it wet. Paddy League, the drummer, got one wet while on a farm in Ireland a few years ago and the goats followed the smell for a week.
His web site is:

http://www.celticmusic.com/alfonso_bodhrans/


He’s sometimes tough to run down and his drums cost a bit more, but they are the best I’ve ever played. They have a nice “variation” in tone along the skin so you can change sound easily as you play.

Also, if you go to a lot of concerts you’ll see about half the professionals play his drums!

I’ve sampled Brendan Whites which are good, but a little heavy. Buck’s are pretty reputable but I think a little pricey.

Hope it helps.

Onairagh An Gabhar (“Honour The Goat”)
Thomas

Now hold on a minute I never recommended Seamus O‘Kane’s I have not bought my new one yet but I was planing on getting an O’Kane that was top on my list.

http://www.belgarth.com

Ok, from what the good people of this forum have been saying, it would seem by an overwhelming majority that Seamus O’Kane’s bodhr

Albert Alfonso makes by the best Bodhrans I have ever played. You get massive amounts of variation in the skin. A bit pricey, but well worth it. Tell him the sound you want for your drum, and he’ll make it for you.

Brendan White’s are nice too if you can find a good one, they are a bit clunky though, and I’m not fond of his tuning mechanism.

if you want a drum that is professionally built and has a low mellow sound in addition to being able to attain very high notes …and you dont want to have it reskinned / restretched every year or so ! …and it can be heard ‘WITHOUT A MICROPHONE’ …and a lot of professional players are using nowadays because of the build quality ..and a maker recommended by John Joe Kelly of FLook ..check out http//www.belgarth.com you will be pleasently surprised

sorry bout smelling pistakes ..too early still

Junior Davey, arguably best bodhran player in Ireland after Seamus O‘Kane himself, subtle, not loud and lovely rhythm plays an O’Kane. Have seen a lot of O‘Kane’s around at sessions and Fleadh’s here in Ireland and Seamus himself plays with most of the best players in the country so that in itself is a good recommendation. As I personally play with someone who plays an o’Kane I couldn’t recommend it more highly.
good luck with your search
deirdre

I reckon that Seamas O Kane from Derry has the edge on all others.
On the other hand, You could always find a good dog and make a bowwowr

Hey, by the way, remember to consider that the climate of wherever you live will have a huge impact on the tone of your drum. If you get something from an Irish drum maker but you live in, say, Arizona, you may find the difference in humidity will cause your drum skin to become too taut, which can warp the frame or tear the skin. Make sure your drum is tuneable, and discuss climatic issues with the builder before you place an order. Also, when you get a new drum, you may need to treat the face with lanolin from time to time to keep it supple.

Leitrim Lady, thats very interesting, the last time i played with junior davey in the Roisin Dubh in Gurteen he was playing a malachi kearns drum, i’ve never ever seen him with one of Seamus’s

Ha ha, just came across this post. Don’t want to say to much in it, as it might be looked upon as “father indulgent”, but very flattered for him for some of the kind words that people have said. As far as I know DeffGoat, Junior Davey plays my Da’s drums, but I’m pretty sure he has a Malachy Kearns drum too. Moron, the reason why i haven’t put any listings of “professional players” as you called it on my Da’s site, is number one, I never though of it (ha ha), and number two, my Da would probably batter me if I did (ha ha). There’s honestly too many to mention, and I’m sure lots of players have a couple of different drums knocking around, experimenting with new ones etc. I think it would be kind of boastful to put them on (just my opinion), plus I’d be there all day adding names to it. I really don’t have a clue how many professional players play my Da’s drums and I’m not gonna go torturing him, asking who. Mad post if you ask me, but nice one on all the nice comments. Feeling very humbled for my Da.

Murrough O’Kane

Nice post, Murrough. Any chance of details about your Da’s new tuning system going on the website? I might order one if I knew a bit more about it.

\())

My opinion (of course everyone has one) Albert Alfonzo for quick response and Brendan White for low dark work. .
As an answer to all of the bodhran jokes.
What is the difference between a bodhran player and a proctologist? A proctologist only has to put up with one a** hole at a time!

Nice one McB.

Wonder if it was a medic drummer who came up with that? We have a surprising number of doctors in our local session (is that a collective word - “a Surprise of Doctors”? - probably a nasty surprise!).

\())

The whole argument can be settled if you decide what sort of skin you want. O’Kane certainly does make incredible drums- that is something that is difficult to deny- but I’ve found that lots of American players (NOT including myself) prefer thicker skins with more attack, hence the other big trend towards Alfonso. See, Seamus uses really thin “Lambeg skins” on his drums, which are great for people who want a very responsive instrument that can play easily through 3 octaves. However, Seam us only offers a 15“ diameter drum, which, for some, isn’t optimal. My preference, for instance, is a smaller (12” diameter) drum, just for efficiency’s sake. Albert goes down that direction (smaller OR larger diameters), but again, most of his skins are 2-3 times thicker than those that Seamus uses, so the resulting drums are very very different in terms of playability, tone, and response.

I was talking to Paul Marshall about this recently and we were thinknig that those two fellows (Albert and Seamus) really have had a major impact on defining bodhran styles on both sides of the pond. For instance, if you are around the US, most (but not all) of the serious bodhran players you’ll run into play a comparatively triplet-heavy style that relies more on the “thud” than the “pop”. I think that’s ebcause Albert’s drums are simply conducive to that kind of play, and since they are more easily available here, people with his drums tend to play more in that direction. The opposite is true for a lot of what’s coming out of Ireland these days. The styles I am hearing are less reliant on rhythmic ornamentation and more reliant on tonal oranmentation. Its easier to do that kind of thing on a thinner-skinned drum. However, it might be that the fact that Seamus’ drums are so popular has had the affect of influencing the style in general (its becoming very chicken-and-egg, I know) towards tonality!

So the point is, you can’t go wrong with either of these makers, but it depends on what you want. Other people I would consider are Steve Forman in California (Alfonso-ish), Dave Settles in Calgary (his egg-shaped drum is too cool), and, if you’re really out for a ride try Metloef in Austin (I don’t know what I’d call these drums except experimental- using kangaroo/lambeg skins and weighting systems, very small but deep drums, etc…) . The idea that one of these drums is really better than the other is purely subjective and has more to do with individual playing style and preference than it does with the instrument itself, in my humble opinion.

Hope some of that made sense…!

Cheers!
Rob
www.metloef.com

I won a shop called World Folk Music Company in Chicago and sell Brendan White’s and bodhrans made by a chicagoan named Mike Quinlan. Both are excellent instruments at a very reasonable price. Mike Quinlan will be in these discussions in years to come. I’m sure of it. As long as we are on the subject, if anyone is in the Chicago area we now have Jackie Moran, a great bodhran player, teaching at our store. Jackie plays a Mike Quinlan drum.
All the best.
John Devens