What's ironic is that it goes contrary to the usual situation of newer players obsessing about their instrument and various accessories, while seasoned players make what they have work for them. But in truth the instruments that experienced players play are nearly always very high-functioning and require less fiddling. It's true, I think, with most instruments, for example high-end flutes make it easier to play sweet high notes and full low notes, while students are struggling with flutes that just don't work as well.
Update on the make of the pipes I'm playing: I've now come across two identical sets in the hands of pipers, all three of us having never seen a bagpipe like it before, until now. So only three known sets all clearly made by the same hand, identical in every respect including sapwood showing here and there. My pipes are defo NOT Lawries with changed ferrules, the ferrules are nickel and are original to the set.
Hi there, great video! Just starting out with a set of half decent pipes. For some reason I cannot get the chanter to activate, and the strike in never sustains the drones. I’m finding that I have to blow like mad just to keep them going. I am a veteran semi-pro saxophone player so air support isn’t an issue, neither is embouchure/muscle strength in the cheeks. I’ve plugged the drones and Left the chanter on and air definitely comes out, but the minute the drones are in it doesn’t make it to the chanter. Any tips?
The starting point with any set of pipes is an absolutely airtight bag, part of which is absolutely airtight attachment of all five stocks to the bag. Next is an airtight valve. I use a Moose valve which goes into the blowpipe stock, then there's the RG Hardie "maxistick" that has a valve built into the bottom of the blowpipe. (And many other makes and styles!) You should be able to put corks in the four stocks for chanter and drones, then blow up the bag till taught, and leave it sitting for several minutes with no visible loss of air. Trying to play pipes without a completely airtight bag, stocks, blowpipe, and valve is like trying to play Sax with a hole in your lung.
The next step after that is getting a quality reed in your chanter. Reeds often come far too hard for humans to play. To get your chanter well-reeded means getting together with an experienced piper, there is no other way.
Now when you say "half decent pipes" be aware that there's no such animal. There are musical instruments and there are ISO's (Instrument Shaped Objects).The musical instruments are the pipes made by legitimate makers such as Naill (England) McCallum, RG Hardie, Sinclair, and several others in Scotland, Dunbar (Canada) and MacLellan, Kron, and Colin Kyo (USA). All the legit makers offer a range of pipes all of identical sound quality, varying only in the level of decoration. Are your pipes one of these? If so, please continue on your path to learning to play the pipes. On the other hand, if your pipes are an ISO made in Pakistan (which resemble pipes on the outside but not on the inside) please stop trying to play them (an utter waste of your time) and purchase a musical instrument.
@@RichardDCook Amazing! Thank you so much for all this information Richard. I'll update in a bit when I have tinkered with the current brand (need to check which brand they are) and/or purchased a better set of pipes to play. I bought some new reeds for the chanter by ezeedrone (?) and managed to get a better sound. I purchased the softest ones they had and it seemed to make a difference.
@@RyanCharlesBaxendine-y6p Pakistani pipes are almost never stamped with a maker's name. The exception is Hakam Din who I believe stamp their instruments. BTW you want to look for the maker's stamp on the drones, not the chanter. Pipers switch chanters all the time (I have seven chanters and two sets of pipes) and if a set of pipes is pre-owned it's most likely going to have a chanter by a different maker than the rest of the pipes. Determining the maker of a set of pipes by looking at the stamp on the chanter is like determining the maker of an automobile by looking at the logo on the tyres.
They are said to have been made by RG Lawrie Glasgow in the 1940s. They don't have the distinctive Lawrie fountains, however the appearance of Lawries seems to vary quite a bit. They do behave like the other Lawrie drones I've owned, in that for 480-484 the tenors are up high on the pins, the bass top high up, the bass bottom very low, only a finger's breadth.
Nice to know that it is not always technique, but experimenting with equipment.
What's ironic is that it goes contrary to the usual situation of newer players obsessing about their instrument and various accessories, while seasoned players make what they have work for them. But in truth the instruments that experienced players play are nearly always very high-functioning and require less fiddling. It's true, I think, with most instruments, for example high-end flutes make it easier to play sweet high notes and full low notes, while students are struggling with flutes that just don't work as well.
Update on the make of the pipes I'm playing: I've now come across two identical sets in the hands of pipers, all three of us having never seen a bagpipe like it before, until now. So only three known sets all clearly made by the same hand, identical in every respect including sapwood showing here and there. My pipes are defo NOT Lawries with changed ferrules, the ferrules are nickel and are original to the set.
Hi there, great video! Just starting out with a set of half decent pipes. For some reason I cannot get the chanter to activate, and the strike in never sustains the drones. I’m finding that I have to blow like mad just to keep them going. I am a veteran semi-pro saxophone player so air support isn’t an issue, neither is embouchure/muscle strength in the cheeks. I’ve plugged the drones and Left the chanter on and air definitely comes out, but the minute the drones are in it doesn’t make it to the chanter. Any tips?
The starting point with any set of pipes is an absolutely airtight bag, part of which is absolutely airtight attachment of all five stocks to the bag. Next is an airtight valve. I use a Moose valve which goes into the blowpipe stock, then there's the RG Hardie "maxistick" that has a valve built into the bottom of the blowpipe. (And many other makes and styles!) You should be able to put corks in the four stocks for chanter and drones, then blow up the bag till taught, and leave it sitting for several minutes with no visible loss of air. Trying to play pipes without a completely airtight bag, stocks, blowpipe, and valve is like trying to play Sax with a hole in your lung.
The next step after that is getting a quality reed in your chanter. Reeds often come far too hard for humans to play. To get your chanter well-reeded means getting together with an experienced piper, there is no other way.
Now when you say "half decent pipes" be aware that there's no such animal. There are musical instruments and there are ISO's (Instrument Shaped Objects).The musical instruments are the pipes made by legitimate makers such as Naill (England) McCallum, RG Hardie, Sinclair, and several others in Scotland, Dunbar (Canada) and MacLellan, Kron, and Colin Kyo (USA). All the legit makers offer a range of pipes all of identical sound quality, varying only in the level of decoration. Are your pipes one of these? If so, please continue on your path to learning to play the pipes. On the other hand, if your pipes are an ISO made in Pakistan (which resemble pipes on the outside but not on the inside) please stop trying to play them (an utter waste of your time) and purchase a musical instrument.
@@RichardDCook Amazing! Thank you so much for all this information Richard. I'll update in a bit when I have tinkered with the current brand (need to check which brand they are) and/or purchased a better set of pipes to play. I bought some new reeds for the chanter by ezeedrone (?) and managed to get a better sound. I purchased the softest ones they had and it seemed to make a difference.
@@RyanCharlesBaxendine-y6p Pakistani pipes are almost never stamped with a maker's name. The exception is Hakam Din who I believe stamp their instruments. BTW you want to look for the maker's stamp on the drones, not the chanter. Pipers switch chanters all the time (I have seven chanters and two sets of pipes) and if a set of pipes is pre-owned it's most likely going to have a chanter by a different maker than the rest of the pipes. Determining the maker of a set of pipes by looking at the stamp on the chanter is like determining the maker of an automobile by looking at the logo on the tyres.
What drones do you have?
They are said to have been made by RG Lawrie Glasgow in the 1940s. They don't have the distinctive Lawrie fountains, however the appearance of Lawries seems to vary quite a bit. They do behave like the other Lawrie drones I've owned, in that for 480-484 the tenors are up high on the pins, the bass top high up, the bass bottom very low, only a finger's breadth.