The RWE comes in two sizes: 40 cm and 37 cm diameter. The curly maple veneer on the outside and inside, the velvet ribbon and the decorative nailing provide a classic design.
In addition, a smooth-running, tool-free tuning system with star handles and a noble, black compressor tuning rim with a black holding frame for the tuning system complete the picture of an absolute high-end bodhrán.
The Lambeg skins are produced using methods refined over centuries in the North of Ireland. For the RWE we choose homogeneous, not too thick skins, mostly without spine. The skin reacts quickly and has a great range of tones. The attack is very present, esp. compared to a softer skin like a DragonSkin. This means the RWE-Lambeg skin works great for traditional playing but also gives the full range for a more modern, tonal style. It's a lively drum, easy to change tones, and gives a lovely feedback to the stick and to the player. Great attack and enough overtones for harmonic playing, but not too many overtones that wouldn't allow the occasional open bass playing.
For us, the Lambeg skin has to come from a good maker in the North of ireland, one who makes Lambeg drums and cures the skins with his traditional methods and ingredients. this is what we call a genuine Lambeg skin.
In the years 2010/2011 we developed the so-called compressor tuning system in close cooperation with Christian Hedwitschak. This is a relatively high, funnel shaped tuning ring which influences the overtones and the overall frequencies of the bodhrán in a positive way.
The drums fitted with the compressor rim give a defined and dry sound which on the one hand makes recording and mixing easier and on the other hand allows the drum to cut through very well acoustically without being loud.
With the isolatHED technology all contact points of the tuning screws are decoupled acoustically. This means the outer frame, which is in contact with the player’s body, holds the drum skin, and supports all components of the tuning system and the tuning rim, which takes the sound off the drum skin like a pickup or a bridge, are totally separeted.
As a result, the brilliance of sound is significantly improved, and the frequency spectrum becomes much more homogeneous.
The RWEchange offers the CHangeHED skin holding system. which allows to easily change the head and the tuning rim of the drum. This opens a lot of new possibilities: Quickly try out other heads and tuning frames with different sound characteristics? A synthetic head for the outdoor gig? Christian Hedwitschak offers a great variety of tuning rims and skin types on his website, which all fit on the ChangeHED system. These offer a lot more future possibilities for all customers.
I was able to talk about about the history and development of the RWE during an interview with the Irish Music Magazine.
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