The bodhrán is a handheld frame drum used in Irish music. Typically, it is 1-2 feet in diameter, and played with a small stick or open hand.
A goatskin head is tacked to one side. The other side is open-ended for one hand to be placed against the inside of the drum head to control the pitch and timbre. One or two crossbars, sometimes removable, may be inside the frame. Some modern bodhráns have mechanical tuning systems similar to those used on drums found in drum kits, adjustable with a hex key.
There are records of bodhráin in Ireland going back hundreds of years. The bodhrán has been declared as the native drum of the ancient Celts. Some sources suggest it was used for winnowing or wool dying, and some that it was used to transport peat. There are records of the word "bodhran" being used in English as early as the 17th century.
The bodhrán is one of the most basic of drums and as such it is similar to the frame drums distributed widely across northern Africa from the Middle East, and has cognates in instruments used for Arabic music and the musical traditions of the Mediterranean region. Given this, it is possible that its use in more modern times may originate from the 16th century Spanish Armada, which has been linked to other musical similarities between the music of Ireland and North Africa.
The second wave roots revival of Irish traditional music in the 1960s and 1970s brought virtuoso bodhrán playing to the forefront, when it was further popularized by Ceoltóirí Chualann and The Chieftains.
A goatskin head is tacked to one side. The other side is open-ended for one hand to be placed against the inside of the drum head to control the pitch and timbre. One or two crossbars, sometimes removable, may be inside the frame. Some modern bodhráns have mechanical tuning systems similar to those used on drums found in drum kits, adjustable with a hex key.
There are records of bodhráin in Ireland going back hundreds of years. The bodhrán has been declared as the native drum of the ancient Celts. Some sources suggest it was used for winnowing or wool dying, and some that it was used to transport peat. There are records of the word "bodhran" being used in English as early as the 17th century.
The bodhrán is one of the most basic of drums and as such it is similar to the frame drums distributed widely across northern Africa from the Middle East, and has cognates in instruments used for Arabic music and the musical traditions of the Mediterranean region. Given this, it is possible that its use in more modern times may originate from the 16th century Spanish Armada, which has been linked to other musical similarities between the music of Ireland and North Africa.
The second wave roots revival of Irish traditional music in the 1960s and 1970s brought virtuoso bodhrán playing to the forefront, when it was further popularized by Ceoltóirí Chualann and The Chieftains.