Philosophy

I’ve been actively involved in the bodhrán scene since 1999, starting out as a bodhrán player and listener, and as a full-time bodhrán maker since 2002.

It’s fair to say that I was able to see and contribute to an exciting and eventful part of bodhrán history.  At the time I started making bodhráns, tunable and taped bodhráns were anything but common, whereas cross bars were quite popular. The first few years of my bodhrán making can certainly be described as years of “storm and stress”:) I just had to test and try out everything. Triangular, heart-shaped or oval drums, I built them all, and neither the veneer nor the varnish could be unusual enough. Extra small or extra deep drums - I joined every trend. I developed tuning systems, adopted them, modified, ditched, improved, reworked them, and changed them again. I advertised in magazines, on websites, and even on the radio.

Not every hype made sense, not all ideas were great, not all campaigns were welcome, and not all attempts were successful. However, all these were valuable experiences, not just for me.

The most important realization after the stormy first years was that you shouldn’t necessarily do everything just because you can ;)

However, there are things that have proven to be reasonable, precious, stable and promising. All of these, I’ve refined, examined in detail, questioned and redesigned, or left them just as they were.In cooperation with top musicians, I developed finely tuned instruments, SignatureLines, series-production models and special editions.I made countless custom-made drums and developed my own skin holding system.In 2014, I carried out extensive frequency analyses using the ChangeHED and widely varied tuning frames at a university.  More than 5000 Hedwitschak drums have found their way to all parts of the world. I assume those were the years of reflection, specialization and realization ;)

And what is the philosophy behind my products today?

Many aspects have run like a thread through my work, and so values like

 still are and will remain a top priority.

I make instruments with the greatest conceivable passion and enthusiasm.

Why? It’s simple: Working time = life time.  And life is finite, which makes the time we have infinitely valuable.

That’s why I want to make the best use of this time, and create precious and beautiful things.
Things that other people will enjoy just as much as I did making them.  
That’s how real, permanent values are created.
Whether it’s CoreLine, SignatureLines, special editions or a complete custom-made drum – my philosophy and my passion can be found in each detail and in every minute I spent working on a product.

I’ll be happy to share these values with you! :)

Christian Hedwitschak
 

SERVICE

No matter if entry level drum or full customisation - I am your contact person. A detailed advice by email or if requested by phone is for sure.

If you are a beginner to the bodhrán world your enquiry might be forwarded to Guido Plüschke or Rolf Wagels who are both experienced bodhrán teachers and retailers of my drums. Both of them will give you detailed advice and may have the right drum in stock. For sure I would love to talk to each of my customers personally but my time is limited and the focus of my work time lies of course on the production.

In the case of planning a custom made drum or if you need more advice concerning a bodhrán of the HighEnd line I will be available for you personally, of course.

On the basis of example drum pictures, videos and sound files your personal drum will be customized to your needs and requirements.

In general I am well-known for my quickly email reply. Please be indulgent if it should take a bit longer someday - I am just a one-man-company. But then I´ll be there for you fully :-)