The Tuning (Tensionable) Systems

*Updated on the 19th May, 2011.

USING THE 1 SCREW TUNING SYSTEM

In the past 4 years the system has proved to be strong and reliable. Because of the newness of the idea a small number have been broken. This is my fault because I have supplied the drums without supplying proper instructions on how to use it. I have made about 20 small design improvements/modifications to counter unforeseen faults.

First of all might I say that every musical instrument is breakable if stressed beyond normal settings so common sense is needed. The T bar Allen screw is capable of exerting massively more torque than is needed to tighten the bodhran skin , so could I caution new users not to use it too forcefully, particularly when they are experimenting to see how high they can raise the pitch/tension.

Since the system is so new I still use the T bar, just to ensure this part is as reliable as the mechanism it drives. Later on I will replace it with a thumb screw system , as some of the customers already have done ( see photographs). Anyone who has already bought the system will be able to do the conversion themselves as it is simply a knob driven onto the socket screw end ( where the T bar Allen key engages.) As a seller , however , I have to establish how reliable the system is for customer confidence and continue to use the T bar. I hope to change over very soon.

Instructions

When you receive the drum do the following:

• Using the blue T bar tool loosen off completely the screw . Turn the T bar anti-clockwise. Be gentle. You will feel a definite stop when the screw is fully loosened. Do not try to force it beyond this point. This is the weakest part of the system... but you will feel a definite stop.
• THIS IS THE 0 SETTING...COMPLETELY LOOSE. The skin should be loose.

This should take:

• 24 half turns in Ireland and Britain
• 36 half turns in Europe, USA, Baltics and Russian states
• 50 half turns in Denmark, Norway, and Sweden and Pyranneean regions
  By doing this you will find out where the 0 setting is and be in complete control of the setting that suits your playing.
  
• Now turn the screw clockwise to tension it. Once you have the skin tensioned to a nice bass setting, turn clockwise four half turns. This will raise the tuning 1 pitch. Each 4 half turns will raise the tuning to the next higher pitch. The skin tension will move comfortably through 5 pitch settings.

In a session situation you can tension/loosen the skin with 1 or 2 turns now. Its so fast that getting perfect pitch is much simplified. I normally would adjust my settings about 10 times in a long session. It is impossible to knock the system out of its tuning as the skin tightens/slackens perfectly evenly around the whole circumference giving the optimum sound.

If I have guessed properly when setting the skin tension at the making stage the skin will begin to give a bass sound at 24 half turns from 0, and move comfortably through 5 pitches. This takes the setting to 24 +( 5 x 4 ) = 44 half turns. IT IS CAPABLE OF ABOUT 32 MORE HALF TURNS BUT PLEASE DONT TRY IT TO THESE EXTREMES... but it is good to know that the drum had this in reserve for the future.

If I have not guessed correctly and the system does not operate at 20-40 half turns, simply email me and I will advise you so that you can reset it for yourself.

Breakages

As no one else makes this system I have had to rely on customer feedback for improvements. There have been some breakages.

3 breakages caused by overloosening... forcing the system beyond 0 setting.

8 breakages caused by overtightening the system. Most of these were done by someone who was not the drum owner and caused by brutality... just to see how stong it was.

In 3 drums there was shell failure. I tried to push the limits of the groove lip too far by making it the minimum size. The glue failed and and the lip collapsed. So I have learned that lesson.

As problems arise I modify the design of the system. So far about 20 modifications.
Because of customer feedback on incorrect tension settings I have advised about 40 customers on how to reset the tension setting.

With this system you can safely slacken off the tension without any danger of knocking it out of tune... about 4 half turns is enough.

Store away from direct heat sources.

Rubbing the skin with oils or waxes will ruin the sound.

After about 1 years hard playing soak the skin and dry slowly will refresh the skin response.
When I change over to a knob tightening system I will get in a supply of knobs, sufficient to provide to customers who already have the 1 screw type so that no one is disadvantaged.

NEW PRODUCTS USEFUL FOR BODHRAN PLAYERS

Two new products have appeared on the market which will be very useful to bodhran players:

PICK STUFF and GORILLA SNOT

Both products are designed to solve the problem of plectrum slippage for guitar/ mandolin players.

Bodhran stick makers have tried a lot of things to prevent slippage. These products solve the problem, and allow the player to relax the grip with confidence.

A friend gave me a couple of boxes of Pick Stuff to test. It is absolutely perfect. No slippage happens. Gorilla Snot is equally good. I recommend both. You will be able to find a supplier on Google. Please try them.

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Phyllida's story of a new stick type... another inventive step.

Here is Phyllida Howlett's story of how she came up with the idea of her new stick type. She has given me full permission to copy her great idea.

"I arrived at my local session one night only to find out I had been robbed... somebody broke into my bodhrán case and stole my stick... I sat fuming at the session and the barman noticed I wasn't playing. He asked why and I went to the bar and told him my sad tale of woe.

He gave me a free drink and a nice hug, we chatted more and one thing led to another, as they do. He invited me into the new lounge that he was refurbishing, to have a look. It was not yet finished, and he said he wanted my opinion on the decor.

He closed the door softly behind us so that we had total privacy, and walked cooly up to me to give me another embrace. His eyes were watering dangerously and I didn't like the cut of him. Just before the grapple, I saw his small ¾" paintbrush sticking up on the shelf. I grabbed it and gave him a poke in the guts, thinking the soft bristles would do him little harm. He let out a squalk and his eyes really watered now. His strong manly arms now closed round his own belly and he fell to his knees groaning and roaring like a stuck pig.
'What a big sheila' I thought.

Then I examined the offensive weapon. The bristles had dried hard from being unwashed after applying glue. It was sharp and rock hard so it's no wonder it really hurt him. Served him right for being so lazy in not washing it after use... and for grabbing at me. I slid past him and escaped intact back to the session, pointing and waving the brush at him to keep the beast at bay. It did the trick. Talk about getting the brush off!!

Sitting back in the session, as I cooled down, and had a closer look at the weapon. Then I realised this might also do as a bodhrán stick and I tried it. What a Eureka moment!!!
It was fabulous... a new discovery... it sounded great and when I got used to the deep soft sound the session really started to rock. The musicians were delighted with my big soft bass.

Every night that I go back to the session, I keep an eye on Romeo as I unzip my bag and pull out my new invention with a flourish. He always blinks and his face twists at the sight of it. He'll wash his brush in future.

I want to call it the barmanner. I think I will allow Police Forces to use it, now that ASBO's are on the way out... good for making the eyes water!! It will soon teach the hoodies to avoid brushes with the law."

Instead of paint Phyllida now uses PVA glue to stiffen the bristles and chews back 5mm from the tip to achieve soft sound. I have tested the one in the photograph and it is excellent.

Photo to Follow...

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*Added to the website on the 28th April, 2010.

TOOLESS KNOB FOR SINGLE SCREW TENSIONER / BAND TENSIONER SYSTEM, BY JIM YULE

"Hi Seamus,

I eventually got the knob you sent me after some issues with the postage.

I had to do some 'engineering' to make it fit and also glued in a cut down allan Key.
Although it does not look too attractive (pics. attached) it works very well and re-tuning is very quick.

I'm sure you could adapt your tensioner drums with a much more aesthetically pleasing knob.

It is so much better than having to use the allan Key, and would be a very strong marketing point for the drum.

Best Regards

Jim Yule"

Bodhrán Knob 01

Bodhrán Knob 02

Bodhrán Knob 03

*Added to the website on the 21st April, 2008.

NEW CONSTRICTOR TYPE TENSIONING SYSTEM

The system that I had patented for a single tuner for bodhráns 5 years ago caused me very bad headaches when I came back from illness. It was very mentally stressing to make. The system is good, well tested now and successful. The only drawback is the mental difficulty in making them.

As I had taken out a patent on the idea, other makers felt this was to prevent them from using the idea. This stopped the normal design development that happens when other designers refine and improve a new idea. It was not my intention that people should not try the idea. Hopefully many other young designers will copy and improve it. This happened to the pushed tone ring type, when different makers brought their ideas to the raw design.

David Gormlie introduced the brass adjuster screw brackets and Allen head machine screws. His drums were an unbelievable upgrade in neat making and neat finish. His sensitive skins with their lovely mellow sounds could go deeper and rise higher than the normal drums of the day and the sounds of his good drums have never been bettered (never bettered by me anyhow). Mark Moggy with his introduction of a new synthetic screw block and beautiful shell decorations added to the design progress. Brendan White with his innovative tensioners added yet another dimension.

I had the bad experience previously however, of many other people claiming that they had come up with the idea. Like everyone else, I have an ego and this was, and still is extremely hurtful to me. The patent was my way of preventing a repeat of this. I hope never again to block anything to do with improving the function and musicality of the bodhrán, as it is more important than me.

I saw an idea that Tony HedgeWolf © 2005, posted on the internet about making a drum from a drainage pipe and Jubilee clips. He uses 3 interconnected clips. I decided to develop this idea. I had used it as a boy, making my own drum kits from thick plastic stretched over Snowcem tins. My tensioner in those days was a rope tourniquet. Jubilee clips had not reached Dungiven in those days, but rope and bailer wire were as good a substitute anyway.

My first attempt is as in the photograph below:

Photo 1 of drum.

First prototype of my new constrictor system.

The big danger with the system was the possible damage caused by local pressure on one part of the skin, that would burst it. I overcame this difficulty through a lot of failed experiments and long sleepless nights. Every solution that looked good on paper proved to be either too cumbersome, too weak, too dangerous to the skin or shell, until after about 20 failures I got it working and simplified into a rugged system that tensioned the skin equally, all the way around the shell equally.

I have tested it now for 2 years so that I would not end up looking stupid or let down customers by selling an unreliable system. Finally to retain the image or look of my other drums I added some cosmetics and sin é (that's it) or rather seo é (this is it).

Band Tensioner System Bodhrán.

Single Screw Tensioner / Band Tensioner System Bodhrán

This is my new drum model and is now available. I call it the Band Tensioner System because the old bicycle makers used a similar system for brakes on their tricycles in the 1880's. They called them band brakes.

The big advantage of the system is that the drum cannot be knocked out of tune by uneven tension that can be caused by loosening / tightening one screw more than another, in the first tone ring system. The single screw on the outside is easy to operate with a T-Bar Allen Key.

The Patent Application Number is 0803435.7.

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*Added to the website on the 1st December, 2008.

ASSESSMENT OF THE SINGLE SCREW TENSIONER SYSTEM

I have been making bodhrans since 1969 and have tried to establish a reputation for making high quality drums at a fair price. Customers can buy sight unseen and be sure of getting a very playable instrument. I also feel that it is important to improve on the design of older instruments for both the benefit of the player and traditional music as well. Hence the new system design.

I was very afraid that I would make a new design that would later prove faulty. Consequently I tested the system rigorously for 2 years before showing it to anyone. I gave the prototypes severe abuse to test the durability of the system. Like any other design, small faults emerged that needed to be resolved, materials needed to be changed, new ones resourced, making procedures changed and every part tested for ruggedness and practicality. Many friends from other parts of the world tested the new drums and reported back. When I got to the selling stage I was happy that the system was very very reliable. The ultimate test however is the customer feedback.

• One customer had a problem with the drum mechanism not loosening the skin.

• A second customer after buying one just simply preferred the 8 screw system and I exchanged it.

All the other customers who reported back are very positive. What pleased them most was its tensioning range, sensitivity and speed of the tuner, ease of use and the very definite improvement in sound. Some who have used many, many of my drums (and those of mostly all of the other makers) say that it is the best drum I have ever supplied to them.

General improvements that the new system brings.

The new system cannot be knocked out of tune. With the 8 screw type the maker must stretch the skin perfectly evenly. When the tone ring is fitted a good maker takes great care once again to keep the tension over the skin’s full surface perfectly even. The player must maintain this even tension for the remainder of the drum’s life by ensuring that each screw is tightened/loosened exactly the same as each of the other 7 screws. As experienced players well know this is virtually impossible.

As an added problem some teachers have in the past been teaching their pupils to sectionally tighten the skin ...tighten 2 or 3 screws more than the rest to achieve some effect. The effect that this achieves is to knock the drum out of tune and ruin the sound. The bodhran’s uniqueness surely comes from the use of the hand on the back of the skin to sectionally tune the skin momentarily to produce tonal changes whilst retaining the capacity to immediately revert to perfect tuning again by lifting off the hand.

With the new system perfect tuning cannot be ruined by misuse. For inexperienced players, this is a big improvement.

The bodhran can now be slackened off gently after play, as there is no danger loss of tuning. This will prolong the playing life of the drum ...unfortunately for me!!

As all the major drum makers know shell design is very important. Makers go to great lengths to achieve shell activity, so that when the skin is struck it transfers the shock onto the shell to vibrate the shell also... the more the shell vibrates the better the drum.

To maximize shell vibration three things are needed:

1. A lively skin
2. Maximum vibration transfer from skin to shell, so the less the air gap, the better the transfer
3. Maximum shell tension... a tight string on a fiddle vibrates... a loose one does not.

In the new system the vibration of the shell is so complete that the split tipper vibrates when it strikes the drum, and a very strong clean sound is produced. There are no air gaps to dissipate transfer and so the pre tensioned shells shiver.

Shells are often bought in tube form, where a veneer is wrapped around and around in layers to produce perfectly round stable tubes of wood in varying diameters, densities and wall thicknesses. The drum maker need only slice off a bit, finish the edges and he has a very neat drum shell.

The problem for me, is that there is stability and exactness but no tension... like the loose string. This I must, in fairness to other makers, qualify by saying that this is only my personal opinion. It’s a hunch, unproven by any scientific measurement that I have carried out. So I make my own to try to achieve tension, sacrificing neatness and stability for sound vibration... like a tight string. The tensioning system increases this tension, in that it squeezes it around its full circumference.

The tensioning screw acts so quickly that sometimes it takes about 20 seconds for the skin to slacken after adjusting so that sometimes the player has to wait for it to come down. Sometimes I speed this up by butting it with my elbow.

My overall feeling is that the system is now well proven to be rugged and reliable and I feel more confident to recommend it to customers. It is quick and simple to use and produces a slightly better sound that will improve with use.

Seamus,

1st December, 2008

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STICKS

I now sell 2 types of stick:

Stick A
This is simply the fiddle bow type made from rosewood, with a slightly weighted end for balance. The rosewood has the right density and springiness - not too light and not too heavy. The fiddle bow makers have agreed after 300 years of testing that 8.5 mm is the best grip diameter. It has no balls on the ends, no ridges in the middle and no rubber grip aids to change the optimum diameter size. This stick is light and fast to use and good players agree that the balance is very good. It is just about the right weight for use on medium to light skins and 240mm (9.5 inches) long. Many good teachers recommend this stick.

Stick B
This is a new design to many but I have been making and improving this type for these past 30 years. The design evolved from efforts to soften the sound of the stick on the skin. Later on, it was an attempt to revive the rim playing from the old Kerry styles where players alternated from playing on the skin, to playing on the rim. Ordinary solid ended sticks give an unacceptably hard rattle, grating to the ear. These sticks give a nice light clicky sound and bounce back extremely quickly. Crucially the grip size is 8.5mm and again the length is 240mm (9.5 inches) and from rosewood. It is much livelier than the skewer type sticks, yet gives the same soft sound.

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BODHRÁN BAGS
I have bodhrán bags for sale to fit my drums. They are 16” diameter and have an extra heavy zip that opens three quarter way round, rather than the half way round opening, as in other bodhrán bags. This makes them less prone to damage when putting in the drum. Black in colour, they are without any advertising written or drawn on them. They have the minimum of padding, so that when travelling, the bag folds flat. The bag can be put into a suitcase and the drum sat on top of it and thus, the drum can be carrried without taking up space. When you arrive at your destination, the drum can be put into the bag. Thus, you don't have the hassle of taking it on a plane as hand luggage or carting it around airports when you need 2 free hands. They are ideal for snare drums as well.

Front of bag - Pocket for sticks etc to front and handle on top.

Back of bag - Back strap for carrying bag on back.

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Emails and Photos from Brent Cuyler:

Mr. O'Kane,

Hope you don't mind. I really liked the idea of a quick tuning knob on the drum. This is my adaptation. I stayed away from a circular knob, as I wanted to still be able to make precise half turns as instructed on the website. Let me know your thoughts.

Your friend,
Brent Cuyler

Mr. O'Kane,

I purchased the knob at a local hardware store. They are readily available online. I'll attach one of the websites I found. Just a quick note on how I did this. I didn't want to completely remove the tuning bolt on your recommendation. So I purchased a 1/4-20 thumb knob, 5mm allen key, and "JB Weld". I used a die to turn a 1/4-20 thread about one half inch deep on the end of the allen key. This allowed me to thread the allen key into the thumb knob. I cut off the allen key, leaving approximately on half inch extending from the knob. I simply then "glued" the allen key into the 5mm tuning bolt on the drum with the JB Weld. It's a heavy duty metal glue. I don't know if you have it there? This was my method. Ideally, you can purchase the thumb knobs with a bolt already installed in the same size as the bolt in the block on the drum. I was leary of removing that bolt for fear of damaging the mechanism. Do you know what size the bolt is that you currently use?

I'd be honored if you would use any of my images on your web site. I'd also be honored to receive a credit for the modification!

I'm attaching some additional images. Feel free to use any that you like. I'm also including a hardware site that offers many types of knobs. I paid $2.50 US dollars for one knob, but I'm sure they're much less when purchased in a larger quantity. Let me know if I can be of any help procuring knobs, if you can't aquire them there.

Your friend,

Brent Cuyler

Knobs: http://www.jwwinco.com

This would be my ideal knob: http://www.jwwinco.com/products/section8/gn431/index.html

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HISTORY

Bodhrán design development since the sixties

In 1969, I heard a strange percussion on an old record and loved the unique sounds and rhythm patterns. A friend, who had lived as a student in Dublin, told me it was a bodhrán and that he had seen them being played in Slattery’s in Dublin.

In this part of Ireland there was no tradition of bodhrán playing. So I didn't know what one looked like, I had absolutely nobody to teach me, and nowhere to buy or see one. An hour later I was making my first from his description. My old schoolteacher always used to say "the man that never made a mistake never made anything". Mine was a disaster, but I was started on a lifelong passion.

Soon I learned of James Davey in Sligo, David Gunn in Fermanagh, Sonny Canavan in Kerry and Ted Furey in Dublin. I met Ted Furey at a fleadh in Malin Head and saw his bodhrán and his tensioning system and was greatly impressed. It was the first of this type that I had seen. Recently I learned that Sonny Canavan had also made a skin tightening system.

4 pictures of Ted Furey's system (Above bodhrán made by Ted Furey)

Each year I spend my Summer holidays in Gaoth Dobhair in Donegal and joined the sessions in Hiudái Beag's in Bunbeg. Because of the humidity level in that part of Donegal the skin became very damp and most nights was too slack to play. When I got home I decided to design some system to solve this.

Ted Furey's system got in the way of playing on the rim so I decided to try and keep the working parts to the inside of the drum, using the tone ring system of the banjo as my guide. Instead of pulling the skin from the outside over the tone ring, I decided to try pushing the tone ring from the inside.

My friend Joe Diamond had built his own banjo when we were students at teacher training college and it was whilst examining his banjo, that the design idea came to me. Our design lecturer Mr Nolan always told us to think backwards, meaning that if you see an idea; "think out what is the opposite". The banjo system pulls the skin from the outside, the bodhrán pushes the tone ring from the inside.

First Bodhrán to use the Screw Driven, Pushed Tone Ring

The first bodhrán to use this system is shown below. I designed and made this drum and later sold it to Paddy McGrory (the famous barrister) from Belfast. It now belongs to his son Barra McGrory QC. It is the first bodhrán of it's type to use the inner-tone ring. Other people have claimed to have invented this system... More power to them!!!

The screws are spouting bolts and the tone ring is very thin but it did its job beautifully. Thus a new design was born and like most new ideas was heavily criticised by the traditionalists. I suffered many embarrassing moments in sessions because of their comments, but thankfully progress prevailed and the instrument took its biggest step to become a musical rather than a percussive instrument.

Photos of the first ever bodhrán to use the screw-driven, pushed tone ring. It now belongs to Barra McGrory QC. (Close up of adjusters) *Crude, but effective!

Many makers added lovely refinements of their own that ensured the design took a strong hold. Notable amongst these were Mark Moggy, David Gormlie and Brendan White. Their adoption of the system was crucial to its taking a very firm foothold on the design path. Not only did they improve the tensioning system, they introduced new materials and a new standard of quality in the making and finished appearance of the drum, without being too gaudy. Most serious players now use drums that have some means of tensioning the skin. It got named the tuneable drum but I prefer to call it tensionable, as tuning it is quite a different problem.

There are a number of different screw tensioners to be found on the drums now, so in the interest of design progression, it may help others if I outline my thinking in this respect. Let me say from the outset that the plastic blocks I use are not the best that I can think up. Obviously they will wear out much quicker than the sturdier types but they have some hidden advantages.

These adjusters must:

- be strongly secured to the rim for maximum vibration transfer from skin to rim
- use easily found parts and tools
- be as cheap as possible
- use 2 different materials on the bearing surfaces
- eliminate vibration rattle that happens when metal bears on metal

I needed to either make something everlasting, or find something so cheap and commonplace throughout the world, that anyone can get a new one in their own town and replace it, should it break. I chose the latter. For the same reason, I also use star-head screws, just incase the screwdriver gets lost, as a new one can be got in any garage or DIY store. Should some young maker want to improve what we older makers use, remember to use 2 different materials and add some rubber or plastic to cut out vibration rattle. The old jazz drum makers did this. Good banjos have 26 tensioners... I use 8 for practicality... a few more would be an improvement... less is worse.

Ring development

In the sixties, the usual method of making a drum was to get a sand sieve (we called it a riddle), remove the wire and stretch a cured goatskin over it. To make a different size involved steaming the wood after scarving the end and bending and clamping it around something round. Oak, Ash or Beech were best for this and since planks were around 3 to 4 inches thick, this limited the rim depth. The new PVA and casein glues had just been introduced and this opened up new possibilities. The skins were fixed using cut tacks, stapled or the more expensive upholstery tacks.

The Tensioning System

The tuning (tensioning) system employed by the current range of Seamus O'Kane bodhráns consists of a rim or 'tone ring' system which is controlled by tensioning pegs. Eight tensioning pegs are considered to be optimal for a good tuning of the instrument.

According to Seamus, it was Ted Furey who constructed the first tunable bodhrán, and his was a system for tuning the bódhran from the outside. (as stated above)

Seamus O'Kane himself devised the internal tone ring system for bodhráns, which has been widely immitated and adapted. In the early days, Seamus concoted two distinct systems, namely; the 'turnable tensioning pegs' and a 'cam tensioning system'.

Turnable Tensioning Peg		Cam Tensioning System - (older system)

The pictures below show the OLD "Cam Tensioning System" (no longer available)

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The pictures below show the Turnable Tensioning Peg System

For the 'recommended system for tighening and loosening' the "Turnable Tensioning Peg System", see "Q2" in the "FAQ's" section of the website: click here

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2003 Single Adjuster Tensioning System - *NO LONGER AVAILABLE*

By 2003, Seamus O'Kane had developed and tested a new tensioning system using only one adjuster. Unlike other systems, it cannot be knocked out of the original tuning by unequal tightening or loosening. This should lead to the tone getting better with age.

*Note that the following systems are no longer in production:-

- the 'cam turning system'

- the '2003 Single Adjuster Tensioning System' - this is the 2003 'Rack and Pinion' system.

Pictures of the 2003 Rack & Pinion System that drives folding wedges, to tension the skin *Note, this system is no longer in production.

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