Inside the Drum – Smooth & Quiet
Moving your hand inside the drum to produce tones may generate some unwanted noise and rough feeling. There are simple fixes for these problems.
Dusting Powder
Buy some organic dusting powder. Sprinkle a little on the interior of the head and spread it around the head with your fingers. There is much controversy these days about the health risks of using talcum powder. Caution suggests avoiding using any product that contains talc. Go for dusting powder that is 100% cornstarch. Or just use cornstarch.
Buy some organic dusting powder. Sprinkle a little on the interior of the head and spread it around the head with your fingers. There is much controversy these days about the health risks of using talcum powder. Caution suggests avoiding using any product that contains talc. Go for dusting powder that is 100% cornstarch. Or just use cornstarch.
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Leather Conditioner
Applying a leather conditioner to the interior of the head may be helpful. Opinions vary widely on what product to use. Some builders use and recommend Lexol leather conditioner. Others recommend Pappy's Dubbin. Some players use lanolin. Some use baby oil. Best to ask the bodhran builder about a product. Barring that, ask other bodhran players. I have had good experience with using pharmaceutical grade lanolin (small amount) and McNeela Drum Diddly. The McNeela Drum Diddly is a mix of beeswax and lanolin. Very easy to use. It's become the standard care product for my drums.
Applying a leather conditioner to the interior of the head may be helpful. Opinions vary widely on what product to use. Some builders use and recommend Lexol leather conditioner. Others recommend Pappy's Dubbin. Some players use lanolin. Some use baby oil. Best to ask the bodhran builder about a product. Barring that, ask other bodhran players. I have had good experience with using pharmaceutical grade lanolin (small amount) and McNeela Drum Diddly. The McNeela Drum Diddly is a mix of beeswax and lanolin. Very easy to use. It's become the standard care product for my drums.
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Sandpaper
This is an extreme step! If you have purchased a custom made drum do not use sandpaper on the drum head. The builder will have created a drum with a smooth interior surface. However, an inexpensive, mass-produced drum may come with interior head surface that is REALLY irregular and scratchy. You MAY need to sand it lightly. - very lightly. Use the least gritty sandpaper available. Certainly no lower than 220 grit. The goal is to smooth out the surface. Sand very lightly. Once the big bumps are gone, apply some sort of skin conditioner and then use dusting powder or cornstarch to complete the process of making the interior of the drum head smooth.
This is an extreme step! If you have purchased a custom made drum do not use sandpaper on the drum head. The builder will have created a drum with a smooth interior surface. However, an inexpensive, mass-produced drum may come with interior head surface that is REALLY irregular and scratchy. You MAY need to sand it lightly. - very lightly. Use the least gritty sandpaper available. Certainly no lower than 220 grit. The goal is to smooth out the surface. Sand very lightly. Once the big bumps are gone, apply some sort of skin conditioner and then use dusting powder or cornstarch to complete the process of making the interior of the drum head smooth.