New Pipes

[hylander]

A friend has gifted these pipes to me. I don't play, but I am wanting to try. My 1st question is where do the reeds fit? The red threaded reed I think fits into the chanter, but I am not sure. The other reeds I believe fit the drones, but I have no idea where or how. The tag says they were made in Pakistan, so I am not even sure how playable they are, I think they are. I have the sense these have sat around for a while, I thought somwhere I had read that the bag needs some type of regular lubrication. Any hints to any of these questions and more appreciated!

Cheers!

[auld argonian]

I'll leave it to the pro's to give a final pronouncement but they do look very much like a set of "Far Eastern Pipes"...I only think that because I have looked at the possibility of buying a set and nixed the idea after seeing the negative comments that any suggestion of plunking down good money for a set of them generated.

Since you got them for free, there's obviously nothing wrong with fiddling around with them to see if you can get some sound out of them...there is bag treatment available that would maybe revitalize the bag...but be forewarned that the general sentiment is that it's not worth the time or money to try to get them up and running and they'll never sound or perform like a properly made set of pipes.

Maybe do a forum search to see what previous threads have said.

Best

AA

[imrichmond]

Auld argonian is quite right. That is a set of cheap Pakistani bagpipes. You can buy similar ones in the "tartan tat" shops on Edinburgh's Royal Mile for 59 pounds and they are overpriced at that. The drone reeds are probably useless; I have yet to see any that are usable. The two plastic reeds with the red binding are practice chanter reeds, not bagpipe chanter reeds. They won't work in the pipe chanter. It is possible to get bagpipes like this in a playable condition, but you would need to spend at least $85 for a decent set of drone reeds and another $14-16 for a pipe chanter reed. Even then, they might be playable, but will likely never sound very good.

At least someone appears to have replaced the original bag with a good quality one that probably cost more than the whole set originally did. The bag appears to be good quality cowhide. If it has not been played for sometime, you will need to season it. The best seasoning for this is called "Airtight" and cost around $18-20 a bottle. Just follow the directions on the bottle. You can buy it at the same place you buy the reeds.

[cessna152towser]

Sorry to disappoint you with my reply.
I owned a good set of Scottish made bagpipes back in the nineteen nineties. I felt that I was not doing justice to them as I could only play a few simple tunes and sold them to a local band. I spent a fraction of the money on buying a cheap set of Pakistani made pipes similar to the ones you have illustrated, which I thought would be sufficient for my own needs. I never did get a tune out of them. My next door neighbour who pipes with the band said there was no reason why they couldn't be made playable but would need a new bag and new reeds. I sold them on eBay and got a fair price from a bagpipe dealer in the west of Scotland. I suspect he would probably keep the rosewood chanter and drones for making up new pipes, and would scrap the bag and the reeds.

[crew2447]

Free -- oh free is good, but perhaps not the best place to get started with bagpiping.

If you want to try bagpiping, plan to set aside the free set of bagpipes for a year. Find an instructor in your area and get started with him or her. Pipe instructors frequently have practice chanters they will loan out and it is a practice chanter you need to start piping.

If you don't feel you can afford lessons, then buy a practice chanter and an instructional DVD and get yourself started. Buy from a reputable bagpipe dealer. A practice chanter is the first instrument you'll need to learn to play and you'll use it forever after in your piping career.

A great on-line resource is www.bobdunsire.com, which has links to dealers, pipers, instructors, pipe bands, and a great forum.

OK -- you want to see if these pipes will make some noise. The red colored reed goes into the chanter, the stick with the holes. Grasping the chanter up near where it plugs into its stock, twist it gently out of the stock. (The stock is the wood tube attached to the bag.) Press the reed into the hole in the bag end of the chanter. Cover up all the finger holes, 7 on the top, 1 on the back. Put your lips around the thread where the chanter plugs into the stock. Don't touch the reed with your tongue or lips. Now blow. Noise? Blow harder.

This should have been very hard, even next to impossible. If you made some noise it should have been incredibly loud. The bagpipes aren't easy to play or to learn. Hence the practice chanter and the instructor. The practice chanter lets you learn the fingering, the embellishments, and the tunes, which you will eventually memorize. The practice chanter is much easier to blow and quiet enough that you can play in a room without disturbing your neighbors.

There are very few self taught pipers. I got started on a cheap (Pakistan made) practice chanter and a learn the bagpipes book. But when it came time to learn the first complex embellishment, I was stuck. Fortunately there was an instructor just a couple of miles away. And by then I owned a decent practice chanter, a gift from a friend.

Your instructor can take a look at your pipes and help set them up. Keep in mind that with musical instruments the value is all about "who made 'em, and who played 'em". Pipes made in Pakistan have an abysmal record for quality and the number of pipers who play Pakistan made pipes is vanishingly small. Quality pipe makers can be found in Scotland, Canada, and the U.S.

Good luck with this. It can be very rewarding.

Clyde

[KD Burke]

I"ll ditto the previous comments and add one of my own.

Check around and see if there is a pipe band in your local area. Many bands offer free lessons to beginning pipers!

[piperdbh]

Since you got these for free, and since they probably aren't going to amount to much in the playing department, I'd like to offer a trade. I'll make you a felted bonnet in exchange for them. I've been wanting a stand of 'pipes to hang on the wall, and these would do nicely. In the meantime, get yourself a prcatice chanter, find a teacher not far away, and start lessons. It's the most fun you can have.

[EagleJCS]

You really need to get a piper to check these out with you.

Some hide bags do require seasoning, but some newer bags are actually hybrid bags (hide on the outside and man-made materials on the inside) that would be ruined if you use traditional seasoning (e.g. Airtite) on them. Seasoning is also a process that I feel should be taught by an experienced person and not experimented with (unless you have the disposable income for multiple replacement bags). I wouldn't do it on my own the first time, and I've been playing for 10+ years (I play a synthetic bag).

I agree with imrichmond that the red-wrapped reeds appear to be practice chanter reeds. These will not play in the full set, as the pressure requirements are very different. The cane reeds go into the drones (the long sticks). The two shorter reeds go into the shorter sticks (a.k.a. the tenor drones) and the longer reed goes into the long stick (a.k.a. the bass drone).

As crew2447 described for the chanter, you will need to pull each drone out of its stock (the stock is the part tied into the bag). At the bottom of each drone you will find a hole which we call the reed seat. Insert the end of the reed that has the thread wraps into the reed seat and reinsert the drone into the stock.

If it seems complicated, that's why I suggest finding a piper near you to help evaluate what you have and get them to work.

Best of luck!

[hylander]

All great advice! I had the chanter reed in the chanter and it made a sound like a sick sheep. Since they are from Pakistan I was ready to write them off, but as imrichmond mentioned the bag looked nicer than I expected, so I was perplexed, but I think I will follow expert opinion here. I will try again this evening to get a sound out of the drones, but my inclination at this point is take piperdbh up on his offer and then find a good piping instructor.

thanks for the help!

hylander

[tulloch]

You don't have a practice chanter there. You have to have one to learn to play. Get one. What one? There are lots of choices but McCallum, Gibson, Naill, Hardie are a few. Get a wooden one if you can or a plastic one. Find a local band or instructor. The benefit of a band is you get peers to work with and instruction - at least to some degree - for free. I have a local band and the pipe major teaches me.

Get some corks. Pull out the wooden bits where they plug in. Do not untie the base parts. Put corks in the holes and blow it up with the blow stick. Put some pressure on it and see if it is leaking. Yes? See a person who can work on them. No? Great. You have the first part and it is in fine condition. Then find where the drone reeds plug in to the base of the drone stocks. plug them in and blow from that end. The tapered end with the thread is what plugs in. If they make a low, bleating sound then they might be good. If no sound then see a person who can work on them.

There are instructional videos on Youtube that can be helpful. There are books with the fingering. If you can learn the scale on the practice chanter and can get the drones to sound then there is hope.

If the bag is good and the drones are good then you might find a real chanter and reed for relatively cheap. Again - consult with that person who can work on them. If it is a leather bag and not a hybrid and if it is in good condition and the reeds work then you might have a pretty good setup for a workable set of pipes. Don't lose heart. Enjoy.