Help (with "setting up" pipes)

[Altenberg Bagpiper]

No matter what you do you'll have to get a teacher to learn properly. The instrument is just too complicated. I've met many people who learned on their own without an instructor, usually because they were 'musical' and could learn to play instruments easily. I'm sure that in their own minds they thought they sounded good (you can find numerous examples of this on Youtube). Also, once you learn it wrong it can be very difficult to re-learn it the correct way. Jim

[flyrod6057]

We pipers are starting to sound like economists: ask five for an answer and get eight answers. *** to OC Richard's answers.

JMB

[Eric D Scott]

For what it worth coming from a drummer, I will give pipers the credit they deserve. The great highland bagpipe is definitely a creature that if tamed is an awesome instrument, but if left to its owners own devices, it can be one wickedly evil instrument.

Any piper telling you they know everything is a liar (sorry). The band I am with have members that have been piping for over 60 years, former champions, instructors, etc., teaching and learning is an on going lifecycle.

You mentioned you have a Dunbar chanter ... I feel lucky to have met Mr. Jack Dunbar before he past. He's obviously he was well known in the piping world, but it was nice to know and consider him a friend. Jack travelled with the City of Thorold Pipe Band in 2000 to the Netherlands to celebrate the 55th anniversary of their Liberation. It was a pleasure for the band and Jack.

Sorry for taking this topic off the rails, I just wanted to share.

[OC Richard]

Any piper telling you they know everything is a liar... teaching and learning is an on going lifecycle.

So true!! Next year will be 40 years piping for me, and I'm learning things about reed manipulation all the time, hearing things in other pipers' playing I hadn't noticed before, and so forth.

What I tell beginners is that there are three separate spheres of knowledge which must be acquired to become a decent piper:

1) the manipulation of the fingers on the chanter, which includes the scales, ornamentation, timing, phrasing, musical style (idiom), repertoire, etc, all of which is a lifelong learning process.

2) learning to get a steady tone on the pipes, that is, learning to blow the pipes or bag control, including how to "strike in" and "cut off" which usually takes beginners a few weeks (but which some people never master).

3) the knowledge, skills, and lore concerning the selection, setup, and maintenance of the instrument itself, which includes knowledge of various pipemakers and styles of pipemaking, being able to discern what makes a good bagpipe good, the selection and tying in and seasoning of bags, the skill of hemping joints, knowledge of various styles of valves, knowledge of various Moisture Control Systems and how to install and operate them, knowing how to select and manipulate various types of drone and chanter reeds (including knowing which sorts of reeds suit which instruments), knowing how to tune chanters and drones (which includes knowing about various pitches and approaches to tuning such as Just Intonation and Equal Temperament, that is, the different tuning approaches required for different situations such as playing in a pipe band or playing with a symphony orchestra), etc, all of which is a lifelong learning process.

A fourth category perhaps would be a knowledge of the history of the instrument, famous composers, players, and teachers, a knowledge of the various costumes worn by pipers over the centuries, etc but not included above because these things are not a part of playing the instrument per se.

It's a lot of stuff to know about!