Synthetwitschak

The basic idea was to offer a bodhrán for people who do not wish to get their hand on a skin of a dead animal. In this framework I called the first prototypes "vegetarian solution". After testing this drum for a while I found that this drum is also a real alternative for outdoor use and for stage use where the "typical bodhrán sound" is not the most important thing. This means I would recommend this drum to bands where a harder, more present sound is wished.

I have spent a lot of time with playing around with different types of synthetic drumheads. It was not so easy because most of the available synthetic skins are too "sticky" or "rough" on the inside for bodhrán-style use. Also the attack of most skins is just too hard or clanking for what I personally call bodhrán sound.

So finally I ended up with one type of skin. I also do some modification with this skin as well. The black tape around the skin is not the only thing I do to get the sound I want to get.

I still think it´s not full compareable to the wonderful qualities of a natural skin, but in my own opinion the sound comes very close to my taste of bodhrán sound and in complicated climatic situations, for people who are looking for a non-animal-drum and for people who are looking for different sound this is really an interesting instrument.

Compared to my usual drums this one is completely different constructed. It is especially made for the use of this kind of skins. The material, dimensions and tuning parts are selected for this special kind of drum.

The design had to be completely different to all of my other drums and to all drums with synthetic skins which are available on the market. It was important for me to create a distinctive but plain design. I think this kind of drum has very little to do with the "traditonal" aspect of the bodhrán. So I wanted to express this difference in the design.

The holow drum shell is made of beech. The tuning system is a pull-down system which is operated without any tools, just with the use of two fingers.

Of course also a synthetic drum skin has a limited lifetime, so the skin can be replaced by a new one after a long periode of being played.

The dimensions are 40cm x 13,5cm (16"x5,4")

If you are used to deeper frames you will see that the feeling is nearly the same because of the thicker frame. The dimensions are also fixed because of the qualities of the skin. A deeper frame would make this drum too much roaring, so the resonance frame is just 10cm (4") deep.

The price is 395 EUR (inkl. 19% MWST)

If you have further questions about this drum please feel free to ask !Thank you for your interest in this drum which took me quite a long time of development !

Christian