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Notes
From Pipey's Corner Basic Bagpipe Maintenance Now that you're playing pipes, you will need to take care of them. Proper maintenance includes: The following are suggestions for some of the problems you may encounter in the first year or so of playing: I. If you are a `wet blower,' which means that you put a lot of moisture in the pipe bag and, thus, into the bores of your pipes, you may have potential problem with cracking. This occurs from rapid changes in humidity in the bag and bores. There are several ways to deal with the two problems that arise from excess humidity (cracking and chronic drone stoppage):
Seasoning Your Bag
To season your pipes:
If you leave your pipes alone for several days, there is no need to add more seasoning to the bag - this can just gum it up. Many pipers prefer to play a `slick' pipe bag, which is responsive to arm pressure, easy to fill, and good to play for long periods. You don't have to keep dumping seasoning into the bag
to achieve this. If your bag is a little dry at first,
pour a little (and I mean a little) amount of plain water
into the bag or, more practically, take a small sip of
water and spit it down the blowstick. Blow up your pipes
for a few minutes, then set them down for ten or fifteen
minutes. You will find that your bag will now have
that`slick' feel that you're looking for. III. Oiling your pipes means
disassembling each section and running an oiled swab
through them. This can be done with a pistol cleaning
rod, some clean rags, and a bottle of bore oil, available
at music stores (Buy a big bottle - the more you buy, the
cheaper it gets. You'll use it all eventually; just keep
it in a dark place). Place a strip of cloth, like a gun
cleaning patch, in the jag on the cleaning rod; dip it in
the oil, squeeze out the excess, and run it carefully
inside the drone section several times to lightly coat
the bore. IV. In the past, better sets of pipes came with the tuning slides covered with cork, rather than hemp. Plain hemp is messy, can cause cracking, and, in some climates, stinks. Plumber's tape is good for a `quick fix' of a loose joint, but the best seals are cork (which has been used on wind instuments for orchestras for centuries), modern black beeswaxed hemp, and heavy waxed dental floss. These are inert, unresponsive to weather and climate conditions, don't rot or smell, and provide positive seals. Dental floss can simply be wound on like hemp - it does take a lot, which is more expensive than hemp, but it doen't require the constant attention that hemp needs. It doesn't gum up or dry out, and the wax improves the seal on stock joints. If you must use hemp, get the black variety, impregnated with beeswax. This will lessen expansion and provide a better seal. Like the dental floss, the wax provides a lubricant, preventing embarassing chanter breakage.... The Rolls-Royce of joints is cork. This requires careful preparation and gluing the cork on each tenon, and should be done by someone with considerable experience or sent to professional repair facilities. This is the most expensive, but cork will last several years if cared for and makes life very easy on the player. I've found that a combination of cork on the tuning slides and black waxed hemp on the pressure fittings works best. You get the best possible airtight joints at the stocks, with the minimum risk of cracking, and an easily tuned set of drones. |
| All images on this site used with permission from Tamarsha B.V. / Twice Blown Music and Sharp and Co Bagpipe Makers LTD |
Notes
From Pipey's Corner Plastic Drone Reeds
Before I get into the meat of this month's column, I'd like to mention the visit of the Duke of Hamilton to San Francisco last month. Angus, 15th Duke of Hamilton, the premier peer of Scotland, attended the installation of officers of the St. Andrew's Society on the 26th of January, at which I had occasion to meet him and his companion Kay. They are delightful people, both very interested in piping, and propose to establish a piping centre at their family seat of Lennoxlove. I had occasion to lunch with them and discuss some of their plans on the 30th. While not at liberty to reveal the details at this early stage, I can say that their approach to this concept will be unique. I presented his Grace with a copy of The Highland Emigrant's Piping Tutor, and he is sending me his biography of Mary Queen of Scots. I also introduced him to shuttle pipes, and had a great couple of hours with them. I hope to see them again later this year. Now to the main course. There has been a lot of talk in the last several years about plastic drone reeds, and there have been over half a dozen plastic or partially plastic reeds on the market in the last ten years. Let's take a look at the major players in this market: The first of these was a plastic body cane tongue reed from Australia made by Ross, which produced somewhat uneven tone and used quite a lot of air. These reeds took a fair amount of fiddling to work well, and required resetting on a regular basis. They are still available from one or two sources in this country, but the amount of effort required to get them to play negates any potential playing value. The `Ross' reed was followed shortly by the `Champion' Drone reed, made in Canada, which was a major improvement over the Australian effort. These reeds were also plastic bodied, cane tongued, but were easy to maintain and provided good tone. Unfortunately they are no longer available, having been superseded in the market by others - like many good products, they were flooded from the market by competition. Next came the much-heralded all-plastic `Shepherd' reed from the bagpipe maker of the same name. Uses too much air, uneven tone, and has an overall tinny sound. A good idea but poorly executed. If they were heavier they could be used as paperweights. These reeds are definitely not recommended for the serious player or anyone not tone-deaf. In the early nineties there appeared the Wygent `Synthe-Drone,' a carefully designed reed with a machined resin body and a plastic tongue. These reeds produce excellent results immediately and get better with use. The resin used for the body has the same acoustic properties as cane, and the double-toning and harmonics are extremely close to all-cane traditional reeds. Mark Wygent has engineered a truly modern drone reed that sacrifices nothing for the sake of convenience. They are long lasting and well worth the expense for the serious player who also has a real life outside piping. They also provide the `big drone' sound sought after by top-grade competing pipe bands, especially for the bass drone. The only drawback to this reed is its availability, which has resulted in two major knock-offs - one from England and one from Scotland. The `Henderson' reed, made by David, Naill, & Co. in York, and sold under the auspices of Murray Henderson, is a blatant copy of the Wygent reed, although it uses a cast plastic body rather than a machined resin one. The design characteristics are extremely similar, but this reed, like the Shepherd reed, uses a lot of air. According to one user, they wear out in about a year. The plastic body does not have the resonating quality of the Wygent reed, and the `mass-produced' quality of the reed has created a market glut with this less than superiour product. Shortly before its appearance on the market, the proprietor of David, Naill, & Co. called Mark Wygent in Pennsylvania and asked, `Do you have a patent on this reed?" Mr. Wygent, a trusting soul, told him, `No,' and the rest is history. There are two drone reeds on the market we haven't yet seen ourselves - `MacMurchie' and `Tuff' - but from reports we've heard they're just more variants of the Wygent original. The most recent effort we've seen has been the `Eezeedrone' from Ronnie MacShannon of the Power of Scotland Pipe Band in Glasgow. This reed is an even more blatant copy of the Wygent reed, using a machined body. The examples we saw were somewhat crude and, like many plastic reeds, used a lot of air and required much fiddling with to produce good tone. Since then (about a year ago) they have improved the product to be close to the Wygent reed, but nowhere near its equal. According to one source the maker is still having problems with quality control on the reed, and we can't recommend it on several levels. Clearly the best of these available today is the Wygent `Synthe-Drone,' which produces good tone immediately, improves with playing, and is an original design. This is a carefully designed, well-made product with a proven track record, including numerous competitions of very high calibre indeed. We personally endorse this reed as the best synthetic reed on the market today. In addition, the reed is being continually redeveloped and the maker has hinted that as improvements are made to the reed, they will be copyrighted to prevent further incursions. Many people complain that they can't get the Wygent reeds, because no one has them. The Wygent `Synthe-Drone' is not a mass-produced reed. They don't come flying out of a machine at 10,000 an hour. Each reed is hand made, carefully examined, and tested in a drone before packing. They will work immediately without adjusting, swearing, or incantations to the Piping Gods. They are well worth the wait. Cuillinn Craft usually have them in stock. If we don't have them in stock, we'll put you on the list for when they come in. Our list is never more than two months long. So why use plastic drone reeds in the first place? Aren't they just another gimmick, like Gore-tex(TM) pipe bags? Well, maybe, for the ultimate purist. But any improvement on what is still basically a primitive instrument is not necessarily all bad - or good. There are situations in which plastic reeds may be a quick-fix in an emergency. Even the dreaded Gore-tex(TM) bag has good applications - John Walsh uses them for shuttle pipes, for which they work just fine [this is the only application for which we fully endorse this product - ed.], and some people swear by them. Or at them. Suffice it to say that there's room for improvement in just about any new product in the piping line... For those who have the time and expertise the old cane reed works well, has the best tone, and is the time-tested original article. For those who can't play every day, have real lives including that status symbol of the nineties (a job!), synthetic reeds are a godsend. For the novice piper without knowledge of setting reeds they are a must. As technology makes its incursions into piping there will always be those who balk at the new - and sometimes justifiably so. Let's not be closed-minded about new developments, though - after all, they are the future of piping. |
Notes
From Pipey's Corner Piping with an Attitude This column probably isn't going to win me any friends, so you might want to skip it this month. This month I'm focussing on attitude. Yep. You betcha. The look you sometimes get when you ask an expert what you think is a perfectly logical question. The look that's usually followed by a comment like 'Whaur the hell've you been?' or some other caustic wheeze. This sort of thing usually happens in outlying areas, those away from 'hubs' of piping activity, where usually some little tin Hitler in a kilt has sway. You've got to be thick skinned if you want to be a piper. Remember the three most disparaging words in piping - 'Who's your teacher?' - especially from a judge. Delivered with a sneer this one question can do more to destroy a student's confidence than all the bad fingering in the world. 'So what?' you say. So, if we're to continue to foster piping instruction and pipe music in general, we should take a more positive attitude regarding the judging of students. There's no excuser for the disparaging tone set by certain judges, teachers, and 'piping authorities,' usually stimulated by several pints or drams (or both). 'He's no piper. He can't blow a note.' A comment which may occasionally be true, but hardly to the extent that it's bandied about in piping circles. Let's face it, there are some pretty puffed-up egos out there in the 'world o' bagpipes.' To cite one example, at a meeting of a Scottish Society recently I asked a well-known member of the piping community about a new piping product we carry. This person first disparaged the product, then told me, 'Ach, I introduced him to piping years ago.' A statement which is a blatant lie. Upon examination of the product in question, I discovered that he hadn't even tested the product, so his criticism was entirely unwarranted. Admittedly this sort of thing is more common in this country than anywhere else, but this sort of barefaced putdown is a typical example of the poor attitudes of many prominent figures in the piping community. There also exist some serious dislikes, even hatreds, in the community, which promotes further disunity. Some of these are based on personal conflicts. Some come from major disagreements regarding musical styles. I've heard tripe regarding the 'Cameron style,' the 'MacDonald style,' the 'direct link to the MacCrimmons,' and other such self-serving bullshit to the point that I'm bloody sick of it. I have to restrain myself from strangling people at times. It can be enough to make you want to chuck it all away. As a case in point, at the Pleasanton Games two years ago a rather unpleasant little individual came up to my booth and started leafing through my tutor book. When I asked if I could help him, his reply was, "I'm just checking to see how much you've stolen from my exercise book." If the little twit had bothered to look he would have seen that my tutor was published a year before his exercise book, which he then tried to sell me. To get rid of him without bloodshed I bought two of the damned things, but his attitude was hardly conducive to further sales. I realize that this is sounding like a 'let's all work together and everything will be all right' pep talk. That's not my intention. Every time some dope starts ragging about this style or that style, or this piper, or that judge, in public, it demeans the art, it demeans the culture, and it demeans the speaker. This sort of childish behaviour is typical of a group like the leadership of the Scottish Nationalist Party, who can barely agree on who's to make the tea at meetings. The disparagement will probably always exist, as being a basic part of the Celtic nature. But every time some cocky bastard starts spouting off about how great he is and how worthless everyone else is I want to gag. The music of the Great Highland Bagpipe is of a subjective nature. It is not finite. There is no one single way to play the music. Part of this comes from the Celtic oral tradition, which can't help but cause mutation over time. Part of this comes from the naturally antagonistic character of Scottish people - after all, the Scots are the only nation on earth that ever voluntarily relinquished their national sovereignty - in 1707. Even though they regretted it immediately, it's taken almost three hundred years to agree on how to get back some small measure of that sovereignty in their own parliament. If piping is to continue to grow, and if Scottish and Celtic culture is to thrive, it would be better if those most in the public eye cleaned up their act a little and were a bit more circumspect in their public utterances. The benefit of this would be a more receptive public, a less apprehensive group of students, and the demise, hopefully, of all kilted Tin Hitlers. |
Notes
From Pipey's Corner Pipe Bags So here it's May and I haven't received any letter bombs yet from the last column. Tick...tick...tick.... This month I'll talk about a relatively benign topic, pipe bags. In the dim dark reaches of the past (about thirty-five years ago) there were only three options for pipe bags - the traditional sheepskin, the `overseas hide' bag of dubious provenance (cow? horse? who knew?), and, extremely rarely, kangaroo, which was universally held to be the best. Rumours ran rife about `ancestral' kangaroo bags. Back then they cost about $50.00, when you could buy a regulation-mounted set of pipes for slightly over twice that. The old sheepskin bags were not very good for the North American climate and would last only a few years in the US. In addition, the sheepskin bags that were available to the American market were not of the best quality. The `overseas hide' bags were better, but even they wore out quickly. The kangaroo bag was the nirvana of piping - firm, steady, fine seal, and long lasting. Unfortunately they were very rare, and expensive, and they disappeared from the market in the late sixties. At about that time rumours filtered down from Canada of a new pipe bag, wondrous in aspect, and orignally marketed as the KaMac bag. I put one of these on my old Graingers and played it for nearly twenty years. This was one of the early L&M bags which are the universal pipe bag today. This same set of pipes received an L&M bag in 1989, which is still being played nine years later. Since the advent of the L&M bag there have been numerous `innovations' in pipe bag technology. The most heralded of these was the Campro bag made of Gore-texTM fabric. A nice idea, but one which hasn't quite worked out. The fabric retains air but transmits moisture, so the drone bores dry out. This can cause cracking. The acidity of human breath causes the adhesive to break down. The collars holding the stocks don't always fit. They cost about $150. Personally I don't like the shape, and they have not been adaquately developed to my satisfaction. I don't reccommend them for anything but John Walsh's shuttle pipes, for which they are well suited. There are some pipers who live in very dry climates who like them, and I'm sure that they work well in Colorado, New Mexico, Wyoming, and other areas of Continental climate. They can also work for extremely wet blowers in any climate, but it takes a lot of water going down to make it worthwhile. There was another fabric bag from Australia about ten years ago, one which had a dessicant packet inside. It was known disparagingly as the `kitty litter' pipe bag, and it never achieved popularity. In the last few years sheepskin has been making a comeback, but it is not the same as the sheepskin bag of years ago. The new sheepskin bags are of heavy hide, bleached white, and extremely stiff when new. They require a great deal of seasoning, and at least one maker has quality control problems in that two out of three bags are faulty, and will leak seasoning after a few months. They also cost around $150, so the investment may prove uneconomical. Most of these makers are one-man operations, so the time involved for replacement on this side of the pond makes the advantages of the sheepskin bag less and less attractive. There is another aspect to all this which is a problem to the consumer. In many cases new products are not adequately tested before they are thrown onto the market. Manufacturers promote them to distributors who do the same to retailers who flog them to the piping public, who consume them whether they are well-developed or not. New products in piping are seldom well thought-out. Often they are made by one-person shops. So, for once, you get a message about `tried and true' being the best for virtually every application. Let's hope that future innovations are more carefully tested before marketing. |
Notes
From Pipey's Corner Grips and Throws So the Games Season is upon us and the Dan Reid is come and gone and I was supposed to go to Scotland last month but didn't due to that old economic illness faute d'argent. By the way, avoid imbeciles as landlords they ruin your digestion. This month we'll look at some of the technical aspects of piping that bother many players concerning Grips and Throws. The Grip (Canntairreachd: dro,tro,bare, pronounced: dro,tro, barry or bre) is the first of three embellishments that culminate in the Crunluath. Consisting of low G, D, low G, it is a relatively simple embellishment that is played from a lower note to a same or higher note on the bottom hand, and played from any note to any note on the top hand. Lok at the first bar in the picture below. It cannot be successfully negotiated from a higher to a lower note on the bottom hand unless the `B Grip' (low G, B, low G) is played from D or C to A. Care must be taken to not lift the little finger too early in playing the Grip, as this produces a muddy, halfbaked embellishment. In other words, leave the chanter closed until you hear the second low G.
Add an E gracenote on the back end of the Grip and you have the Taorluath (Cann. darid, pron. `drit'), the second major embellishment, obviously played low G D low G E, shown in the second bar above. Played from any note to low A in Piobaireachd, and from A to A, B to B, and C to C in piobaireachd and common tunes, it has a distinctive sound and adds major emphasis in march phrasing. Again, it is VERY IMPORTANT to keep the little finger down until after the D is sounded, to make sure that two G gracenotes are clearly heard. In some circles of Piobaireachd playing the `redundant low G' is an important factor, played After the E gracenote, producing a G D G E G combination.(This version is not normally played in light music, and not very many players use it in Piobaireached. Next comes the most misunderstood and illplayed embellishment — the D Throw (Cann. tra, pron trah), or Double D as Seumas MacNeill called it, shown in two forms in the tird bar above. In manuscript books it is written G D C. This is erroneous. It is not, and should never be, played that way. It is Written that way because in the early days of printed bagpipe music, typesetters couldn't tell the difference between a Taorluath and a D Throw, so they cut the second low G from the type. Supposedly this is another `contribution' to piping by the infamous James Logan of Logan's Tutor, The Costumes of the Clans, and Highland Dance. The typesetter's convention stuck, and a hundred and fifty years later we have to listen to that abomination known as the `California Throw,' `Light Throw,' or the `Light Double D' as a result of printers' ignorance. The embellishment played as written sounds worse than light beer tastes. The true D Throw is similar to a Taorluath, only played to D, and with a C gracenote at the end instead of an E. There are Four notes to the D throw, and if they are not all sounded, the whole sounds like something's missing. There Is...It's a Low G gracenote! Play the throw with four elements: low G, D, low G, C. This produces the full rolling sound that is true piping. Properly executed by actually `throwing' the fingers from the chanter, it sounds right. Anything else sounds wrong. The last of the grip embellishments is the Crunluath (Cann. bandre, pron. bidderee), which adds low A, F, low A, to the Taorluath, making a full collection of low G, D, low G, E, low A, F, low A. It's shown in the last bar above.The Crunluath can be broken into two elements the grip at the beginning, and the throw at the end, also known as `edre'or `dre' one of the high throws used in Piobaireachd. Although very few composers use the Crunluath outside of Piobaireachd, it is still good to know the elements, even if you don't play this music. The movement must ripple from the low G through to the final E (the tonic note that follows the crunlath movement) and progress quickly to the next melody note. There are many new tunes out there that contain piobaireachd elements it's important to learn these embellishments, both to play and to listen to you'd be surprised to know how many pipers out there have no interest in this music, not realising that Piobaireachd Is piping. That's it for this month. Please email us for questions, comments, offers of money, or whatever. |
Notes
From Pipey's Corner Chanter Reeds I don't know how many pipers there are who've thrown their hands up over the subject of chanter reeds, especially in the last several years. If they aren't grousing about cost, they're bitching about availability, quality, `how do you get these damn things to play, anyway?' ad nauseum. The simple truth is, most pipers don't know diddly about chanter reeds, and those that do aren't telling. Well, no more. Many years ago, long before you were born, boghopper, there lived in England (!) a man named Thompson, who made the Silvertone reed. With a sterling silver staple it was the most expensive reed on the market $2.50, when regular reeds from suppliers sold for fifty cents. Yes, this was in the Dark Ages of Piping, before plastic drone reeds, before even elkhide bags, long before the Age of Delrin. The Silvertone reed was the cream of the crop and every one of the little buggers played. Most suppliers sold reeds by the dozen, from which you would get three or four playable reeds and eight cat toys. At $6 a dozen it was almost affordable. Those who were in the know would save all the poor reeds, take them apart, match blades up, and rewrap them into new reeds. Ye canna say that Scots are no a canny people. Alas, MacGillicuddy, nae muir. The reeds we get today are mostly made for particular chanters. MacAllister, Shepherd, and so on are made for specific chanter types. If you play an old chanter, it's very hard to get playing reeds (so they say). Blah, blah, blah. If you play a WarMac, you've got to play MacAllister reeds. But MacAllister reeds are now made in Canada by Troy, and the relationship with Warnock is no longer valid. So what do you do? Punt? Give up in disgust? Go for the dreaded Clanrye plastic pipe chanter reed? Yecch! No, boghopper, listen to the wisdom of the ages... First, don't ever buy a single reed in a plastic bag on a display carrel, next to third hands in plastic bags, and drone reeds in plastic bags. How are you going to try it? There used to be a shop in San Francisco where the sales person would ceremoniously bring you a chanter reed, pristine and untouched, and lay it on the counter, untried, unplayed by anyone, take it or leave it, that will be eight ninety five plus tax... I Don't Think So. Right, so I sell reeds. Fine, so I'll say, "buy a bunch of reeds and go through them." This is really the best way. Yes it's not cheap. Yes you will end up with a lot of cat toys. But if you use these following guidelines, I think you'll be pleased with the results:
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Notes
From Pipey's Corner
Lately I've been seeing some rather creative attempts at bagpipe casing, most of which were offal (that's awful with an O), and I couldn't resist this opportunity to once again blow off some ill-smelling steam. A Bagpipe Case should be strong, firm, trustworthy, loyal, and all that Boy Scout bull. It really should. If it isn't, it's not going to protect your very valuable instrument (Did I tell you about the old days when pipes cost a hundred bucks?). Remember, if you break it, I have to fix it, and you have to pay. It's not cheap, either. The two functions of a bagpipe case are: 1. protect the instrument from physical damage in transport and storage — in other words, breakage. 2. protect the instrument from damage due to rapid atmospheric and climatic changes, or checking from rapid temperature/humidity fluctuations. Old fashioned coffin-shaped small-box cases didn't do too badly on the physical damage side — their compactness kept the pipes from moving around, and they were fairly sturdy, but they wouldn't stand up very well to extreme damage, like USPS shipping or airline baggage handlers. These cases were typically made from thin wood, fibreboard coated with paper, or even leather. Many of them were small and allowed for no room for extras - practice chanter, music, reeds, etc. They also didn't protect from climate changes at all, as they had no moisture seal. Leave your pipes in a locked car on a hot day? Ooops...kindling. In the late sixties the first flat-style `flight case' appeared. It was sturdy, fit under airplane seats, and pretty tight. It also had a cloth lining, and `pipe major's' versions had a separate compartment for reeds. A fair improvement over the old `coffin box.' Very popular through the seventies and eighties, the best ones had numerous cheap knockoffs, including some rather spiffy-looking but otherwise useless leather-covered versions (still available today). They were strong enough to withstand a car driving over them (really - I did it, with only minor damage to the box), and fairly tight, but the vinyl covering scarred easily (adds character) and the edge stitching frayed after a few years. These cases are still available and cost between $75-$100 retail. They're fine for beginners or someone who can't afford the better cases. About twelve years ago the first heavy-duty `suitcase' style cases appeared. Made of aluminum-clad Easycurve plywood, with aluminum edging, lined with foam, they were heavy, but did a number to protect the pipes. The positive v-groove seal on the valence made for a good tight case that retained moisture and kept the instument from drying out too rapidly, but allowed for enough seepage through the boards to prevent mold on the reeds. They definately withstand the car test, and are fairly universal today. These cases also come in various colours of vinyl covered Easycurve, a little lighter and more distinctive. Many dealers, myself included, sell cases that match the colour on the bag cover. They run about $150-170. More recently from Canada appeared a lightweight version of this case, made from ABS plastic instead of plywood. These are also strong, but the light weight to some is indicative of weakness, and many who've become used to the heft of the plywood boxes have rejected the new ones as `tinny.' Several people are marketing custom-made wooden cases,which, I'm sure, are very handsome but do little to protect the instrument from a practical point of view. There are also foam-lined cloth tube cases out there, and I see a lot of them, but they're really worthless. They provide minimal shock protection, any anybody who accidentally sits on one will smash the contents (kindling, again!). They provide no moisture protection, and about the only positive thing about them is good insulation against extreme heat. They're not that much cheaper than a hard case, but they look flashy, come in bright colours, and sling over the shoulder. I can't reccommend them for anything except hauling lunch and beer. So what's next? There is some interest in finely made cases with built-in humidity controls, leather-covered, with canvas zip outer covers, but the cost on one of these babies would set you back more than a basic set of pipes. If you've ever seen a good violin case you know what I mean. They look like a small casket and cost about as much. I've looked around for local case sources, and I know what's available. Unless you build it yourself, the cost is prohibitive, and the end result might be pretty but not provide the necessary protection, which is the whole idea behind a case anyway. We are currently in the development stage of a moulded plastic pipe case which may be available next year. This will be heavy-duty grey plastic like the shipping cases for electronic components you see at trade shows. They won't be cheap, but if we sell them, you can be damn sure they'll be worth it. We're estimating a $250.00-300.00 price tag, but don't hold me to it.... We're also looking at the possibility of getting a moulded aluminium case, similar to attaché and camera cases, which you can be sure will be pricey — in the $400-$500 range, but this will be a Zero-Halliburton type case, with all the bells and whistles. More in the future.... |
| Notes From Pipey's
Corner September 1998 Volume II Number 2 It's Labor day time and Pleasanton is this weekend. I hope you'll join us at the booth. Mark Wygent will be with us on Saturday ONLY so please come by and see us. This is going to be fairly short. I want to take time to remember two of the more important people in the piping world who are no longer with us. First, Donald Shaw Ramsay, probably the most influential person in pipe bands of this century, the man who invented the pipe band medley, died this summer at home in Scotland at the age of 79. His abilities as composer, organiser of bands, and arranger of music place him up with the greats. His Invergordon Distillery band, composed of gold-medallists, was the finest band ever fielded, winning every event but the world championship in its too-short existence. Their album, Pipes in Concert, is still the seminal pipe band album, with its innovative combinations and arrangement for piobaireachd by a full band. There is no way to adequately describe his loss to the piping world. Jack Ironside, who died August 2nd at the age of 83, is another important figure whose influence on the piping business was nationwide for many years. No matter what you thought of him, Jack was always fair with me, and I'd been dealing with him for over thirty years. Jack and his wife Daisy started The Scottish Shopper in the mid sixties and, for many years, were the biggest Highland outlet on the west coast, and one of the biggest in the US. They had a wide range of merchandise and one of the best catalogues published — for their time. Until 1970 they carried Henderson pipes, and were one of the few shops that had goods on hand — most items were in stock. They were one of the first outlets for metal-shell, then carbon-fibre shell drums, and were, for many years, on top of all new developments in piping and drumming, and carried new products before most other outlets heard of them. Although things changed, and Daisy died many years ago, Jack kept at the business until the end. He sold up to Hector Russell a few years ago, after his sons brodied on him, but kept on as 'boss' until shortly before his death. I talked to him just a few months ago, and he was still making plans, looking at new stuff, keeping his hand in. Not a bad way to go out. No matter what you thought of him, he was unique, and one of the biggest suppliers in the world. Although he carried Hardie as his pipe line, and many other dubious items, he was always a pleasant, businesslike person who served his customers. I, for one, will miss him. |
| Notes From Pipey's
Corner October - November 1998 Volume II Number 3 Okay, so there was no column last month. So sue me. I was busy developing my other website, Gordon Murray Fine Art Services, which you can see at www.cuillinn.com/gordonmurray. Check it out, art lovers. We've got some really beautiful contemporary Russian paintings. WARNING: this site is not for the financially squeamish. These works of art start around $5000 and go up. And now, the main event: Tune It Or Die A number of years ago there was a popular t-shirt with the above slogan on it. Too bad everyone didn't get one. Tuning is probably one of the most crucial and hardest aspects of piping. For those who don't have perfect pitch or just a good ear or two, it can be one of the most frustrating aspects of the art. For those who are in bands it can cause major rifts between pipers, numerous dressings-down from pipe majors and pipe sergeants, and general discord on many levels. That wasn't meant as a pun. For the soloist, tuning can be much simpler. You are tuning your pipe to what pleases you, and, hopefully, whomever you're playing to. Judge, audience, friends, whatever, it's up to you. There's no pipey handy with his tuner, either an electronic one or the Mark I Ear, just you; and don't rely on last week's band setting to judge when your instrument's in tune. Start with the chanter. Most modern tuning is way too high, especially in bands. The fashion for extremely sharp tuning will hopefully die out soon, because it produces a painfully shrill overall sound to the music which is unpleasant to hear and difficult to maintain. If you're going to tune to Bflat, then do it, or slightly above Bflat. The highest anyone should tune is about 472, not 480 or over. There you're way out of real tone range, and heading dangerously beyond reasonable tuning. I've heard many bands, live and in recordings, whose tuning was so shrill that the top hand above E was totally lost in the drones. Why do they do this? It doesn't sound good, produces an overall tinny sound, and a thin tone that neither carries nor is it pleasant to the ear. I agree with Lerwick's assertion in his Pipe Major's Handbook that tuning is critical to band performance. I disagree with his methods, however, because he's too 'result-oriented' without really getting to the bottom of the matter — the balance between pipes and drums. As the pipe band snare developed, first with the metal-shell drum of the sixties, to the carbon-fibre drums played today, the pitch of the drum got higher and the tone thinner. Compare the size of drum sections today to bands from thirty years ago and you'll see they've almost doubled. Tuning a band includes tuning the drums to the pipes- bass to bass drone, tenor to tenor drones, and snares to chanter. As the snares got sharper and sharper, the chanter had to be pitched up to match; otherwise a band isn't really in tune. Snares are tuned to the high A of the chanter; perhaps it would be better if they were tuned to the E; since I'm not a drummer, I can't really answer that one. To me the old rope-tension drums sounded best; you got a big, booming sound out of them that really complemented the pipes. Unfortunately, with the low tension of rope drums you can't get the tight rolls that are so characteristic of modern pipe band drumming. You lose what you gain no matter what happens. So, where do we go from here? Modern drum technology is creating higher pitch and greater head tension than was ever thought of twenty or thirty years ago. Soon pipes will be tuned to C, and we'll all be playing Breton music! Who knows? There has to be a logical end to all this sharpening, because one of the intrinsic attributes of the bagpipe is its unnerving pitch and mixolydian mode — with sharpened C and F — that carries long distances and can scare the bejesus out of an unsuspecting Hun. Let's have some feedback on this one, people. I've been writing this column for nine months now, and I've only had a couple of comments (all good, thank you very much!). Let me know what you think about tuning and the way pipes are sounding these days. |
Notes
From Pipey's Corner I've had a request, no less, for a column about beginner pipes. First, somebody tell me what is a beginner bagpipe? Is it a cheap crappy Pakistani number bought for little Edgar just to see if he can blow the thing up? Is it a 'second grade' instrument made of Delrin or Ebony that only costs about $600.00? Or is it a good quality set of pipes with plain mounts? For the first option, anyone who buys Paki pipes deserves what they get. A couple of years ago a guy called me up and told me he was having trouble with his pipes. He brought them over and said he'd bought them in Edinburgh 'from a bagpipe dealer.' Oops. They were Pakis. Furry bores and all. The chanter looked like a mould for a corkscrew. I told him to return them to the dealer, as he'd spent NINE HUNDRED BUCKS on them. A most expensive wall hanger. Typically Paki sets are advertised for between $250-$500, depending on mounts, wood, etc. They usually are 'sheesham' or cheap rosewood, which is medium brown in colour, sometimes stained, or occasionally very cheap grade blackwood (these sets are higher priced). Avoid them like the plague on piping they are. As to Delrin or Ebony pipes, the tonal difference is considerable, as are the prices. Ebony 'student sets' have delrin stocks, blowpipe, and chanter, and the drones have a very strong tendancy to check. If someone tells you about the 'superiority of ebony drones' they're blowing smoke through your chanter. Blackwood has long (and I mean over 200 years) been the standard of quality for Bagpipes, Oboes, English Horns, Clarinets, so discount anyone who claims that ebony is better. Besides, it checks. Badly. For those who don't know what that means, it splits along the grain due to atmospheric changes, particularly major temperature/humidity fluctuations. I wouldn't own a set of ebony pipes because there's too much chance of damage. Ebony is denser and therefore heavier than blackwood, and I fail to see any advantage of a material that has a built-in morbidity factor. Delrin, while fine for chanters, does not lend itself particularly for drones. Unless you're in a High School pipe band that issues unbreakable instruments and packs them away at the end of the year, don't bother. I realise that the manufacturers and sellers of Delrin pipes will scream, but the quality is in aged African Blackwood. Period. If you're going to play a serious instrument, get serious. Delrin sets go for $600-800, and should be considered only when the recipient has a history of destroying small buildings through oversight...Did I mention Little Edgar? He seems to have just demolished a Safeway up the street.... The best option for a beginner is, of course, a good set of Blackwood pipes with plain mounts. Remember that the best bagpipe makers use the same care in turning out a #1 set (wood button mounts, nickel or brass ferrules, and imitation ringcaps and bushes) as they do a #10 or #12 set (half silver and ivory or full silver, chased or engraved). They quality of the bagpipe is in the bore and the wood, not the cosmetics on the edges. The instrument has to have good, steady tone, be easy to reed, and maintain its integrity through major atmospheric changes. Blackwood is it. Period. 'Nuff Said. So you're going to spend over a thousand bucks for little Edgar to frighten the locals. Get over it. If he (or she) is any good, your neighbourhood piping instructor will tell you if he's ready for a set of pipes and make a recommendation (Kintails or Glens from me, of course!). If he's not ready, then flog him with his practice chanter... As far as makers go, there are really only three or four really top-quality makers in the business today. The rest are only one or two-man operations that don't really do any volume. If you buy from one of these makers, you'll (1) wait up to a year to get your pipes and (2) if you have any problem with them, you'll never get any service for repairs or replacement parts, or you'll wait a year to get them. The old days of Ye Olde Baggpipe Shoppe are long gone. The worldwide interest in piping has done away with many of the oldtime single-man makers, because they couldn't do the overseas trade. The large makers process orders from all over the world. Some are of higher quality than others. Some have real ego problems. Especially English bagpipe makers who shall remain nameless. I sell pipes made by Sharp & Co. because I believe them to be the best buy, the best quality, and with the best service of any maker in business today. Our new pipe chanters are winning solo and band competitions consistently. Our drones have received rave reviews by everyone who plays them. I stand behind the product. |