Giffer sticking...
Sunday 26 January 2014
Thursday 23 January 2014
Bodhran songs... One hand clapping, one stick drumming.
"Just another bum with a drum.", "The band couldn't make it."
It can be a lonely business playing solo in the street. The drum reborn needs to be heard. I do my best hearing with my eyes closed,fat chance the passing crowd would ever dare to indulge itself in that small luxury. The bodhran has songs of its own,not merely there to keep time for the scrapers and the blowers. Certainly not there to cover up and take the blame for the slack timing of drunken squeezebox players. Glad I am for discovering the wonders of playing alone.It has been a long journey of learning and practice so far. It's time my bodhran songs came in from the cold. Home for the drum is in the occasion separating the living from the dead. In the presence of the Muse. Within the space,between the beats. I guess you would just have to be there. If I can't find compatible ensemble, I won't be deterred from whacking out more shape shifting music. The drum speaks for itself, you'd have to be at ease enough to bear to listen, chance to hear it.
I don't class what I practice with my bodhran,"Irish music", nor my tootling flutin'. There are enough genuine Irish musicians,as well as thousands of wannabe's world wide. I just play the music of my heart "sans drapeaux". I have read and heard a lot of stories about the origin of the drum. I may not wholly agree with all or any. The drum and the flute have been around longer than homo sapiens, examples of frame drums exist in indigenous cultures throughout the world.Easy enough to get a good sound with the hand in hot counties, for me the "Irish" innovation was the sticking combined with the vamping with the other hand. The humidity in Eire encourages the slack softer drumming styles, I have had to leave little session rooms because they said my bodhran was too tight and too loud. That caused me to wonder about crossroads gatherings, common until Cromwell scared the folk into hiding. There's many a pub session where I have left through being "too big " for the back room. I can play as big as I like outside, discovered that there's a mass of sober folk outside who like it too.
My recordings of bodhran are just experimental praxis. Out of context to all occasion,just an exploration of possible sounds.I am highly critical of the results, with a view to improve. Live performance is what the drumming is intended for. Here's hoping I am able to deliver a worthy product once the practice is done.
It can be a lonely business playing solo in the street. The drum reborn needs to be heard. I do my best hearing with my eyes closed,fat chance the passing crowd would ever dare to indulge itself in that small luxury. The bodhran has songs of its own,not merely there to keep time for the scrapers and the blowers. Certainly not there to cover up and take the blame for the slack timing of drunken squeezebox players. Glad I am for discovering the wonders of playing alone.It has been a long journey of learning and practice so far. It's time my bodhran songs came in from the cold. Home for the drum is in the occasion separating the living from the dead. In the presence of the Muse. Within the space,between the beats. I guess you would just have to be there. If I can't find compatible ensemble, I won't be deterred from whacking out more shape shifting music. The drum speaks for itself, you'd have to be at ease enough to bear to listen, chance to hear it.
I don't class what I practice with my bodhran,"Irish music", nor my tootling flutin'. There are enough genuine Irish musicians,as well as thousands of wannabe's world wide. I just play the music of my heart "sans drapeaux". I have read and heard a lot of stories about the origin of the drum. I may not wholly agree with all or any. The drum and the flute have been around longer than homo sapiens, examples of frame drums exist in indigenous cultures throughout the world.Easy enough to get a good sound with the hand in hot counties, for me the "Irish" innovation was the sticking combined with the vamping with the other hand. The humidity in Eire encourages the slack softer drumming styles, I have had to leave little session rooms because they said my bodhran was too tight and too loud. That caused me to wonder about crossroads gatherings, common until Cromwell scared the folk into hiding. There's many a pub session where I have left through being "too big " for the back room. I can play as big as I like outside, discovered that there's a mass of sober folk outside who like it too.
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