Beating Time

The bodhr n
is a phenomenally popular instrument in Irish traditional music, within which
it and its playing techniques developed hugely in the latter half of the
twentieth century. Now with many virtuosic players, and a fundamental role in
bands, it is almost as representative of Ireland as the official national
emblem, the harp--though it first became visible only in 1960. Yet it is
typically assumed that it is the ancient, Irish percussion, despite the
fact that there is no evidence of an historic drum on the island at all: the
music is in fact melodic and vocal.

However,
there once was a well-documented device called 'bodhran'- made from a skin
stretched on a wooden hoop, a subsistence-era, household container and
winnowing tool used all over Ireland. In the early 1800s this was occasionally improvised
as a drum, mimicking the European tambourine that had been introduced to
Ireland by commercial, popular music a century earlier. Actual tambourines were
subsequently copied by rural Irish artisans, and those drums took over as a
seasonal percussion on the rural Wren ritual each winter.

Dramatist
John B Keane brought this Irish tambourine to national attention in 1959 with
his play Sive at The Abbey Theatre, Dublin, following which, from 1960
on--described now as 'bodhr n', and with the characteristic jingles removed--it
was promoted by the composer Se n Riada in his radio ensemble Ceolt ir Chualann. Inside just a few years it became almost a
standard instrument in the music.

Beating
Time explores this
fascinating story, suggesting that the bodhr n should not be regarded as the
oldest Irish-music instrument--but the newest. And this has come about in such
recent time that--remarkably--most of those who created the instrument's modern
styles and forms are still actively part of today's Irish Traditional-music
scene.

In 380 large-format pages with several hundred
illustrations and photographs, this book is the first publication to address
the bodhr n thoroughly. It is fascinating reading not only for all who are
interested in the promotion, teaching and playing of Irish music, but for musicians,
folklorists, music historians and academics, and teachers and tutors in the
field of Irish Studies.