DRUMMER CAFE

I don't think this is something that you are just going to pick-up by any suggestions we could provide. I play Bodhran ... and it does take some time to develop the triplet stroke AND control it.

Here's what I can suggest ... perhaps it will help.

The hand holding the stick, called a tipper, needs to be very relaxed. The easiest way I personally think to get the triplet is to do so by accident at first. Once you do that you can begin to develop the technique to control the back sticking. The motion of the hand and tipper is back and forth, like shaping an old thermometer to get the mercury back down. If you can't connect with that analogy, think of having something stuck to your finger/hand and you are trying to shake it off.

You will probably need to angle the drum towards the tipper. As far as muffling the drum, it's up to you and the sound that you want. The Bodhran is a type of def, which means "dull" or "muted".

If the song's tempo is slow enough, play the Bodhran part with single strokes. This is a valid technique and there's no shame in doing this. I've done many recordings playing the Bodhran this way simply because the tune was slow, and the part sounded cleaner when I played it this way.

It takes a lot of control to play the triplet figures, using the back side of the tipper, at slow tempos. I do it, but it's not going to happen over night.

Hope this helps.

It is, but like the bones, you have to develop some control once you've achieved the "just let it happen" phase. If you didn't do this ... the entire technique for the instrument would just be happenstance and/or chance.

Playing a roll on a drum could be thought of as "just letting it happen" ... at first ... getting out of the way to the point that you let the drumsticks bounce freely. But once you learn to allow what the apparatus wants to do naturally, you've got to begin developing control and harnessing the natural rebound, etc. Learn to work with it ... then develop it further to the point that you have complete control of what you are doing/playing.

You might check this guy out, he gives a quick explanation... <a href="http://www.youtube.com/v/SuWs3n-pNu4" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/v/SuWs3n-pNu4</a>