{"product_id":"beating-time-the-story-of-the-irish-bodhrn-9781782050469","title":"Beating Time: The Story of the Irish Bodhr?n","description":"The bodhr?n\u003cbr\u003eis a phenomenally popular instrument in Irish traditional music, within which\u003cbr\u003eit and its playing techniques developed hugely in the latter half of the\u003cbr\u003etwentieth century. Now with many virtuosic players, and a fundamental role in\u003cbr\u003ebands, it is almost as representative of Ireland as the official national\u003cbr\u003eemblem, the harp--though it first became visible only in 1960. Yet it is\u003cbr\u003etypically assumed that it is \u003ci\u003ethe\u003c\/i\u003e ancient, Irish percussion, despite the\u003cbr\u003efact that there is no evidence of an historic drum on the island at all: the\u003cbr\u003emusic is in fact melodic and vocal. \u003cbr\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eHowever, \u003cbr\u003ethere once was a well-documented device called 'bodhran'- made from a skin\u003cbr\u003estretched on a wooden hoop, a subsistence-era, household container and\u003cbr\u003ewinnowing tool used all over Ireland. In the early 1800s this was occasionally \u003ci\u003eimprovised\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003eas a drum, mimicking the European tambourine that had been introduced to\u003cbr\u003eIreland by commercial, popular music a century earlier. Actual tambourines were\u003cbr\u003esubsequently copied by rural Irish artisans, and those drums took over as a\u003cbr\u003eseasonal percussion on the rural Wren ritual each winter. \u003cbr\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eDramatist\u003cbr\u003eJohn B Keane brought this Irish tambourine to national attention in 1959 with\u003cbr\u003ehis play \u003ci\u003eSive\u003c\/i\u003e at The Abbey Theatre, Dublin, following which, from 1960\u003cbr\u003eon--described now as 'bodhr?n', and with the characteristic jingles removed--it\u003cbr\u003ewas promoted by the composer Se?n ? Riada in his radio ensemble Ceolt?ir? Chualann. Inside just a few years it became almost a\u003cbr\u003estandard instrument in the music. \u003cbr\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ci\u003eBeating\u003cbr\u003eTime\u003c\/i\u003e explores this\u003cbr\u003efascinating story, suggesting that the bodhr?n should not be regarded as the\u003cbr\u003eoldest Irish-music instrument--but the newest. And this has come about in such\u003cbr\u003erecent time that--remarkably--most of those who created the instrument's modern\u003cbr\u003estyles and forms are still actively part of today's Irish Traditional-music\u003cbr\u003escene. \u003cbr\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eIn 380 large-format pages with several hundred\u003cbr\u003eillustrations and photographs, this book is the first publication to address\u003cbr\u003ethe bodhr?n thoroughly. It is fascinating reading not only for all who are\u003cbr\u003einterested in the promotion, teaching and playing of Irish music, but for musicians, \u003cbr\u003efolklorists, music historians and academics, and teachers and tutors in the\u003cbr\u003efield of Irish Studies.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eBinding Type:\u003c\/b\u003e Hardcover\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e Cork University Press\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 03\/06\/2025\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN:\u003c\/b\u003e 9781782050469\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 380","brand":"Fintan Vallely","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":45000466399413,"sku":"9781782050469","price":55.25,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0473\/0804\/6492\/files\/img_2012967d-5c9e-44b8-89a9-fbeeb1392d11.jpg?v=1736264898","url":"https:\/\/pastforward.org\/products\/beating-time-the-story-of-the-irish-bodhrn-9781782050469","provider":"Past Forward","version":"1.0","type":"link"}