Tuesday, January 16, 2007

Unique Musical Instruments - The Bodhran Or Hand Drum

Try before you buy is a great policy for any unique musical instruments, but if the Bodhran is your instrument of choice, it becomes that much more important.

Choosing unique musical instruments such as the bodhran or hand drum can be a difficult decision. Your personal playing style has a large impact on the sound of these particular instruments. You need to actually try these instruments before you buy them to make sure you sound good playing them.

Choosing a solo musical instrument can be a frightening and exhilarating experience for you. If you are seriously considering a solo career in drumming, then perhaps you should look into the bodhran or hand drum. These instruments are much easier to transport than musical instruments that require electronic amplification, depending on how many you have that is.

We should pause here because many of you might not know exactly what a bodhran is. So let's start with a little background.

The bodhran is an Irish drum that is played with a double-headed stick called a cipin. These musical instruments come in several different sizes though anything smaller than 12 inches isn't really suitable for playing. The 12 and 14 sizes are suitable for playing but have a higher pitch and smaller surface area. The smaller drums are often recommended for beginners as they produce a quieter sound and are more easily transported than their larger counterparts. These musical instruments offer a good degree of versatility to players.

The larger bodhrans (15", 16", and 18") are tunable which technically makes them no longer a fixed framed musical instrument, however, most professional players own a tunable bodhran. I personally do not recommend these for beginners simply because tuning is a new element to introduce and can cause serious frustration to a player that is just starting out. In fact tuning can cause serious frustration to players who have been doing this a while too. Many musical instruments require tuning, but it's much more difficult to tune drums.

The way to go about choosing the right bodhran for you is to try several different bodhrans that match your skill level and choose the one that appears to be well made and that you like the sound of. With any solo musical instrument, the sound you make is going to be the most important factor in whether or not this is the best selection for you.

Hand drums are another musical instrument that are good for solo acts. As their name implies they are played by hand. The things you want to consider when selecting a set of hand drums to play solo are the craftsmanship of the drums and the sound they make. With hand drums, you want to check the pitch of the drum and make sure it is what you are looking for. As with most musical instruments, it is best to try several hand drums before you buy and choose the one that you like most. You want to not only enjoy playing, but also the sound you make.

What you want from your instrument has a great impact on which instrument you should choose. For a solo musical instrument such as the bodhran or hand drums, you will want to be sure that the instruments you choose are well made and have produce great tones.

Because let's face it, if your hand drum is not producing the sound you are looking for, you're probably not going to have that much fun playing it. Practice will become a chore. And if you want to get really good you're going to need lots of practice, so why not enjoy it.


http://www.musicalinstrumentsonline.net/Unique_Musical_Instruments.html