| The Tuning (Tensionable) Systems
*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:
- A lively skin
- Maximum vibration transfer from skin to shell, so
the less the air gap, the better the transfer
- 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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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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