Anyone familiar with these pipes?

[Kiltedfirepiper]

as a mostly self-taught piper I need to chime in.

it IS possible to teach yourself pipes, however I don't recommend it. mind you I was/am SUPER critical of my playing and will practice the same movement over ad nausem(sp) till it sounds perfect. I've played with alot of pipers who tell me I sound great. and I have friends who play that teach me something new all the time. I have good tone, and play in tune tyvm
I'll tell you what....I'm gonna make a video of my playing and put it up here.
and you can tell me if my playing is so bad BECAUSE I'm self taught

I've been playing for about 8 years, and I would probably be a grade one piper now if I started out w/ a teacher. of course I've never wanted to compete so that doesnt matter to me anyways.

i started out with a pakistani set that I got for 400. the drones were ok, the bag was workable, the chanter was shyte. add 100 bones for a new chanter, add having to buy a big roll of "hemp" to rehemp all the joints, new reeds all around ( another 150-200).
I also retied the bag and that made it better.
eventually I spent about 750-800 george washingtons to get an "ok" set of pipes. but I did get compliments on the sound " for a pakistan set"

now if I would have just held on to my $ a little while longer I would have found bobdunsire.com and found out what you're finding out now. cheap pipes (mostly) are just that......cheap

sometimes you can find a gonga deal if you look . I recently saw a 70's set of robertsons on craigs list for 300... real Ivory/silver ( I wish I had the $ to get them at the time )
for a good starter set that would eventually be a good "pub/beataround/outdoor/backup" set I would say Dunbar Polypenco pipes. you can get them just as fancy as blackwood w/o the price OF blackwood. the set I got (dunbarP2's, banatyne bag, omega drone reeds,and adjustable blowpipe) was 1400 from Thompson's and son in Flagstaff. I went up to his shop when I bought them, and he set me up great! my next set will be dunbars as well... just the sticks as my banatyne is still in great shape.

no offense to the other pipers, but for a while i stopped going to BDF's because when someone tried to get an answer to a question on anything having to do with learning the knee jerk answer was " get/ask an/your instructor" with no actual help given to the person asking the question.
sometimes you dont have the option on an instructor. be it distance
( and yea Ive heard the " I know a guy who drove (enter time greater than an hour)one way " stories) or money (the excuse of well if you cant afford lessons then you cant afford the instument and you shouldn't play....believe me I've heard it) if everyone helped everyone else then the collective "ability" of the pipers out there would be elevated. instead of looking down the nose of self taught pipers ( and Ive heard the bad ones too)
help them or at the very least let them know you play too( the real bad ones will refrain from playing while you're around) and sometimes you have to hit them over the head with a stick and tell them that 1 you play as well 2 they sound like processed hay fed to a cow 3 give them a card to an instructor.
anytime I met another piper and I maybe fell out of tune a little they would give me the universal sign for " want me to tune you?" ( which loks like you're mimeing turning a pepper mill btw) I always said yes and took any advice/help that was offered. that happened alot in the beginning when I would find a park to practice in....now it never happens

anytime I see a question asked (if it hasn't been answered already) I try to answer it to the best of my ability, or at the very least send them to somewhere where the answer may be found.


ok ...story/rant over I guess

FKP

[Kiltedfirepiper]

Nighthawk,

.

I'm please you're paying attention to the opinions provided. More than once, contrary to the advice of experienced pipers, I've read of non-pipers offering advice regarding self-teaching. And too often the novice listens to them over those who're accomplished experts.

Slainte,
steve


[/FONT]

I just reread the thread and saw this ......does that mean I'm a "non-piper" because started on my own? and mostly still learn on my own?
when the Seven pipers society asked me to join I told them that my schedule didn't allow it right now ( which is true) I guess I should tell them
" sorry ....I'm a non-piper"
and I'm supprised that City of Denver pipeband allowed a non-piper to play with them for over a year (till I moved back to Tucson)

KFP

[JS Sanders]

Good grief friend... take in a deep breath.

A non-piper is simply that. An anthropoid who doesn't play the pipes, nor has even the slightest idea how so to do.

No one's your enemy here, least of all me.

I lost count years ago how many aspiring pipers I either assisted directly or referred to someone who could. Nonetheless, I take great exception to jugheads with substandard, insufficient, or no training forcing themselves upon the public. Nothing does more to foster the belief that GHB's are nothing but inflatable noisemakers. I see/hear all too often here in my hometown and it's embarassing.

If you're playing with knowledgeable colleagues on a regular basis, I'd venture to say indeed you are receiving at least a modicum of instruction, if not more. Over the many years and many occasions I've piped with others, you'd hafta be an eejit not to learn things as you go.

And I agree, BDF is overflowing numpties & know-it-alls. That place is now a shadow of its self.

Slainte,
steve

[Bugbear]

Nighthawk, make sure your instructor brutally flogs you after each lesson for all the mistakes you make. I don't play the pipes, but I did have music training.

You know there has to be bleeding involved with musical training. You know you're getting good when you have a scar that looks like a tree on your back.

[george7]

Might I recommend dunbar polypenco pipes? If you're on a budget, it's a cheaper route than African Blackwood.

[Kiltedfirepiper]

ok maybe I overreacted a little....sorry...... guess the way i read it I did a knee jerk reaction myself....too many years reading BDF I guess

kfp

[Nighthawk]

Nighthawk, make sure your instructor brutally flogs you after each lesson for all the mistakes you make. I don't play the pipes, but I did have music training.

You know there has to be bleeding involved with musical training. You know you're getting good when you have a scar that looks like a tree on your back.

Actually, I started The Lion Sleeps Tonight. He listened patiently and then told me "Never do that again." We both got quite the laugh out of that.

Might I recommend dunbar polypenco pipes? If you're on a budget, it's a cheaper route than African Blackwood.

My instructor actually recomended those to me. I told him I bought a polypenco chanter because I brake stuff, and he told me about poly Dunbars.

[Kiltedfirepiper]

Actually, I started The Lion Sleeps Tonight. He listened patiently and then told me "Never do that again." We both got quite the laugh out of that.
.

yeah ....the lion sleeps tonight sounds kinda boring unless you have two pipers...one playing the " in the jungle the mighty jungle the lion sleeps tooniiiiight"
and the other playin aweemaway aweemaway aweemaway aweemaway aweemaway aweemaway aweemaway aweemaway

try playing Violent femmes blister in the sun, or watch this Vid of myself and Vinnie (pipe Sgt. for 7 pipers) play it

lets see if I remember how to do this



I know there's alot of people who dont want to hear "modern tunes" or how ever you want to put it, but I could play a Pbroch and no one (except purists) would listen for more than a few minutes.
I play Pink floyd, starwars, the flinstones theme, etc...and they stay....and want more

it all depends on how you look at it

KFP

[Nighthawk]

That was awesome!! I loved it!

[Mr. Woolery]

KFP- Wow, you've got a chip on your shoulder there!

I've gotten advice from folks who played one instrument (guitar) about how I should play another (bagpipes) and I tend to just ignore it. I have a good friend who seems to just have that natural touch with guitar. He learned it by sitting around and messing with it. Didn't learn it from formal instruction at all. Some folks like that seem to have the idea that anyone can learn any instrument by just picking it up and noodling around until it sounds good. I can't do that with a guitar (I've tried), but my buddy can.

I think what is meant by "non-players" is the loudmouths who seem to think just because they learned to play 4 chords on a guitar with just a book, they are automatically experts on self-teaching music. I notice YOU, KFP, don't tell people to skip the teachers and stick to self-teaching. That's because you have put in the time and effort to learn it without direct instruction and know how much work it is that way. At the same time, there are a heck of a lot of really bad self-taught pipers out there. And you've probably met a few.

And isn't this about the pakistani pipes in the first place?

Here goes: When learning to play any instrument, a good quality instrument is easier to learn on than a bargain basement junker made in or near Asia by anonymous workers who get paid pennies. While it may not be obvious to the untrained eye, minor differences in construction make a major difference in playability. Self taught or not, bagpipes are a lot of work to learn and a good set will mean a better chance of success.

-Patrick