Ditch Doc

In my experience, whenever people see a stretched goat skin, they want to know how to strike it beautifully. With that in mind, here are a few tips for the beginner. I reserve the right to mess around with what I’ve written, so the content of this page could change slowly with time.

Maintenance

Both bodhrans I’ve bought still had hair on them at time of purchase. Whether yours does or not, you need to soften up the skin with a bottle of neats’ foot oil. That’s oil from the feet of neats. You can find it in shoe stores. Soak a rag in oil and rub it around the striking surface for a few minutes. Leave a thin film of oil on the surface and put the drum somewhere out of the way for a few hours. Repeat until all the hair is gone and the skin feels soft and sounds warlike. I think I put some on the inside surface, too. I hear it’s a good idea to re-oil every once in a while.

If you have a tunable drum, make sure the skin is very loose any time you will be subjecting it to hot or dry conditions.

If you live in a very dry area, keep the drum in the bathroom, especially after a hot shower. This does wonders for keeping the skin moist.

Tuning (READ THIS PART!)

Whether or not you have a tunable drum, never start a night of playing without checking the tuning. A simple rhythm on a deeply resounding skin will move people way more than a technically brilliant one on a slightly dry, ringing skin. The skin will probably need to be watered. Just sprinkle a little on the inside face and rub it around. Keep sprinkling until you’re happy. For long nights in the Santa Anas, bring a big bottle of water. The drum will drink it faster than you’ll drink Sauza. Use a fire to tighten and more water to loosen. If there seems to be some inexplicable lack of virility to the sound, try a bit more water. Another beer might not hurt either. If fires are banned and you have a tunable drum, go ahead and tighten the lugs, but remember to loosen them off again at the end of the night.

Tippers

After languishing for two years with the crummy tipper that came with the drum, I finally caved in and got one like Sean Fitz’s, and so far as I’m concerned, the question of commercially available tippers is settled. It’s the long, thin one with half-inch balls on the ends and a little ring around the middle. I also have a heavy hand-carved one that I use for deeper, slightly slower songs. It has finger shaped dips in the middle, so it doesn’t slide like most heavy tippers.

Tips for the left hand

Hold the drum on your left knee, stuck under your elbow, with your left hand between the cross bar and the skin, and the thumb edge of the palm resting against the top edge of the skin. This little bit of contact damps the ringing sound and makes the drum sound deeper. I’ll try and come up with some graphics later. The left hand is fifty percent of the soul of whatever you play, mystifies the uninitiated, and looks really cool when back-lit. One of the joys of getting a knack for the bodhran is coming up with your own left handed effects, but here are some basics:
1. Lay your hand flat against the skin for a dead whacking sound.
2. Using the cross-bar as a brace, push out with the heel of your hand to raise the tone of the skin. You should see a dent in the skin.
3. Push out with the tips of your fingers. This cuts the drum into several zones, each with its own wierd, not particularly Irish sound.
4. Hold your hand just barely in contact with the middle of the skin, and aim at your palm with the tipper. You should be able to get a loud crack like the skin’s about to break. Great for angry songs.

Vary things. Play mostly dead strokes and then take your hand right off for the strokes you want to emphasize. Or fade from high to low. Mess around til you come up with something. Left handed prowess isn’t really taught, just figured out. Always remember that you should be playing something complementary to the rest of the band, not something exhibiting your own skill. Definitely go crazy sometimes, but only if it’s a crazy song.

Right hand tips

OK, so the right hand is the source of rhythm, which I can’t figure out how to illustrate verbally. Just a couple of things:

Your grip on the tipper is rather tricky. The best approximation is to hold it like a pen, with your hand perpendicular to your forearm and the skin. This should result in the tipper pointing back at your stomach. Now rotate your forearm on its axis, hitting the skin with the end of the tipper nearest you. Your fingers and elbow should be tight, but your wrist should be loose. It’s a lot like shaking water off your fingers when the paper towel dispenser has run out and you’d rather avoid drying off with toilet paper. Your elbow should stay at your side, and your forearm should only move up or down on points of emphasis. DO NOT try to use the second end of the tipper. This will only confuse you. Once you get good at the basic motion, the other end will sneak in on its own.

As to rhythm, it’s not all that hard. There are really only two: the one emphasizing every third stroke, and the one emphasizing every fourth. The former is tougher, because you have to figure out how to emphasize an upward stroke with the tipper. (Use your elbow.) Listen to lots of Chieftains, and play along with them. I’m sure there are other bands you can learn from, but I don’t know who they are. I think it helps to drum compulsively with your hands on whatever surface presents itself. Do the following two exercises until you’re good at them, or have driven all your loved ones insane:
R-l-r-l-R-l-r-l-R-l-r-l-R-l-r-l…
And
R-l-r-L-r-l-R-l-r-L-r-l… (Notice that on this one, the emphasis alternates between L and R. On the bodhran, this translates to an alternation between Up and Down.)
Most importantly, take every opportunity to hike into the woods and play with your nearest and dearest. Why the hell else did you want to learn this instrument?