Conditioning my bodhran

[Ghiúis]

I am looking for a good natural conditioner for my bodhran. I am allergic to petroleum products, so I want something that is petroleum-free.

I do have high-grade evening primrose oil, also olive oil and sunflower oil.

I live in Germany where it can go from cold and damp to cold and dry in the winter.

Thanks!

[Corwen]

Clear dubbin, neatsfoot oil or saddle oil are the things people usually use here. I've also heard of people using hand cream- vaseline intensive care, but this is a petrochemical product. Always try a corner first because some things may change the skin an odd colour...

[Serenity]

I've used neatsfoot oil on my heavier skinned bodhrans. I have a Lambeg skin bodhran and was advised by the maker not to condition at all because there's a risk you will lose the top tones.

[Alan C]

I am lucky enough to have an O'Kane Bodhran and when I received it I was given the instructions that you should never add anything to the skin. It has already been naturally treated and should be left as is. That said there does come a time when the skin will require replacement but this is given in decades.

[Serenity]

Hi Alan
I have an O'Kane as well. He makes beautiful bodhrans.

[Alan C]

Yes I know how you feel it’s only wood and goat but the sound is top.
I actually have a bright blue metallic drum made by Diarmaid who is the middle O’Kane son and its great. That said I am still at the learning state but fully enjoying the process, I as yet have not been out the house with it but I now feel that I have the confidence to attend a local Folk Meeting in Bedale North Yorkshire my nearest town, a little nerve racking but to improve I need to get out there.

[Serenity]

Hi Alan
I'm very lucky to be part of a group of very welcoming musicians who were very tolerant of a rank beginner when I started a few years ago. I now play regularly in sessions and play in a band as well. I play whistle too. I hope you find the folk club as friendly and welcoming as my local session. Happy drumming! PS. You are always welcome to drop in on ours if you ever visit Australia!

[Womble]

Just out of interest, when I've been to a couple of camps, I've seen people 'toasting' their bodhrans and djembes over the fire before playing them, and it really makes me cringe. I've never played either of those instruments, but it just seems wrong to me. Surely the heat will damage them? Does anyone know?

[Corwen]

Natural skin drums absorb moisture from the air and go slack if its humid or cold, often to the point of becoming completely unplayable. Warming the drum up by the fire drives off the moisture and tightens the skin. Drying them too much or too fast might damage them, as if the skin shrinks too tight it might stretch and be unplayable at room temperature, but mostly they are quite robust, and stretching is only a real problem with drums that can't be adjusted such as bodhrans where the skins are nailed on.

[Serenity]

A drum skin can respond very quicly to a change in humidity and temperature. Frequently at night around a campsite when I've been playing, the drum will quite suddenly slacken off and nudge me into an awareness of the shift that has occurred in the natural world. I love it when this happens. It sometimes means a mist has rolled in quietly and gently while we've been singing and playing, or a heavy dew has come down if we are playing in the early hours of the morning. Sometimes I will notice that the fire has gone down and needs refuelling. I was playing at a campfire at a festival in the bush a month or so ago and this happened. I looked up at the night sky to see Orion rising magnificently over the horizon (he is upside down in Australia) and realised it was getting pretty late. Time has no meaning around a campfire! I don't toast my bodhran (or my djembe) if I can help it. I once saw an instrument left too close to a fire that it started to melt. I have never seen a bunch of musos move so fast....

[Womble]

Thanks, Corwen & Serenity.

One thing is for sure, there's no way I'd let my fiddle too near the fire! It's already very temperature sensitive - I have to leave it out of the case for 10 mins before tuning up; it's pointless doing it straight away because it goes out so quickly.

[Serenity]

I toast my whistles. They simply refuse to play nicely if they are cold.

[mwyalchen]

One thing is for sure, there's no way I'd let my fiddle too near the fire!

Nor should you; the glue used softens with heat. A bad idea even to leave it in bright sunlight in summer.

[Ghiúis]

Thanks for all the replies!

After we moved from Virginia, which is very humid, to a much drier climate in Germany, I noticed that the skin on my drum was getting dried out. I ended up using a very very light coat of saddle soap to condition the skin and give me back the bottom notes. The drum was sounding very thin and sharp.

It worked! I have a lovely, resonant, deep tone on my drum again and it takes the stick nicely rather than bouncing it sharply back up.

Time to practice.