PD-120 as Bodhran?

[johner Registered Member Find all posts View Profile Close johner]

Hello,

I recently started playing a little bodhran (Irish frame drum), and was wondering if anyone has used their PD-120 as a MIDI bodhran? Basically that means standing it on its side on your leg and hitting it with a "tipper", which is the two-sided stick you use for the bodhran.

From my short experiments it seems to work reasonably well, but I'm wondering if I'm doing any damage to the PD-120. The only things I could think might hurt are that it is on it's side, and that the tipper hits sort of a "glancing blow", so there's wood sliding across the drum head more than usual.

Any ideas, recommendations, warnings?

Thanks,
John

[MustangMick Registered Member Find all posts View Profile Close MustangMick]

You might be onto something there as Bodhrans are notoriously fussy when micing and also humidity and temperature affects them.
Should work OK though.

Mick

[cpgrossman Registered Member Find all posts View Profile Close cpgrossman]

good idea sounds like fun.

[johner Registered Member Find all posts View Profile Close johner]

To reply to my own post....

After a little more experimentation: one neat trick is to use the hi-hat pedal to raise the pitch, which you do with the left hand on a real bodhran. Not exactly the same of course, since the left hand also dampens the sound, but it's better than nothing. I do wish my TD-6 had a better built-in sound to use for bodhran though. I'm currently using the "muted Surdo" sound and it's only OK. I have a bodhran soundfont on my computer and it actually sounds pretty good triggering that.

I think to get it to really work I'd have to adjust the tension of my PD-120 down a good bit, which I don't think I'll do anytime soon. It's still a snare first . And maybe a tipper with rubber ends rather than wood to "grab" the mesh head a bit better.

So, anyone think I'm going to damage my PD-120? I'm not that devoted a bodhran player if so.

Thanks,
John

[mcconaghy Registered Member Find all posts View Profile Close mcconaghy]

I don't really see any damage being done. Correct me if I'm wrong (I don't know much about bodhran playing), but I'd imagine the pad being subjected to greater impact force from hitting them with sticks horizontally than the glancing vertical strokes of the tipper. Just my theory there.
The only soure of damage I can imagine would be from holding the trigger plate, so I'd think a makeshift crossbeam, or handle of some kind, would be called for, maybe something which could fit to the tom mount?

Stu

[Stoovey Registered Member Find all posts View Profile Close Stoovey]

Putting rubber tips on the tipper might improve the triggering a bit, like you suggested. I can't forsee any problems with what you're doing. That's probably the first truly original use of a PD-120 I've heard of besides the normal tom/snare pad set-up. Cool!!

[ToBiMaN Registered Member Find all posts View Profile Close ToBiMaN]

Yes, the bodhran thing is cool, I did it a year ago with my ddrum snare, but it was not comfortable to play beacuse it is too heavy and there's no way to hold it. I think that a PD 120 would be much easier to hold beacuse it has that thing across the shell. ddrum pads are closed back.

Originally posted by MustangMick:
You might be onto something there as Bodhrans are notoriously fussy when micing and also humidity and temperature affects them.
Should work OK though.

Mick

Yes, you're right. That's why I use a REMO bodhran with a Fyberskin 3 head and I don't care abput temperature or humidity. It sounds very good and it is much louder than a traditional bodhran.

[Stoovey Registered Member Find all posts View Profile Close Stoovey]

Originally posted by ToBiMaN:
I use a REMO bodhran with a Fyberskin 3 head and I don't care abput temperature or humidity. It sounds very good and it is much louder than a traditional bodhran.

The same can be said about my Remo 14" djembe. Louder and more crisp than a traditional djembe. However, the skin-headed djembes seem to have more low-end.

[clymore Registered Member Find all posts View Profile Close clymore]

Who is putting rubber tips on Al Gore's wife?

[Boingo Registered Member Find all posts View Profile Close Boingo]

Originally posted by clymore:
Who is putting rubber tips on Al Gore's wife?

Hmmmm... I thought she was louder, more crisp and had an improved bottom end!

[K-Chuck Registered Member Find all posts View Profile Close K-Chuck]

LOL! A crisper Tipper!

[Alexander Registered Member Find all posts View Profile Close Alexander]

Originally posted by Boingo:
Hmmmm... I thought she was louder, more crisp and had an improved bottom end!

My buddy Boingy! What an ingenious Rocket Scientest/Inventer, Funny guy you!