Hi Matt, a superb video. I can so identify with your comments around the tenor E harmonic. There is nothing sweeter than hearing the drones locked into low A, then when you hit the E in a tune the tenors just simply sparkle!
This! So much this! I love listening to the drones. When I started playing, I’d just love playing a constant lowA and just sinking into the resonance. Just love the vibes. As a drummer, cellist and electric bass player, I just love those low frequencies! Just put all the hairs on your arms up. Just lovely. Helped me blow better too! Great video Matt!
I like your heart, soul, & brain analogy. Very good observation about being able to focus on the presence of the drone sound vs. the absence of the discord coming from the chanter.
I remember reading Pipe Major R T Shepherd’s article on the harmonic sequence of the bagpipe in the International Piper magazine in the 1970’s. I still have that copy 😁.
Tenor drones are one octave lower than Low A, meaning every time the tenor reed beats once, the chanter reed beats twice. Every time the bass beats once the chanter reed beats 4 times, this mean you can get the tenor drones locked to Low A more easily. Great video!
Love this video, Matt. The drones are my favorite part of the sound, too. Nice to have validation that just hanging out and listening to them isn't too weird.
Great video/concept! I start every session playing just my drones (chanter stock is corked). It’s an amazing sound… and to be able to listen for the “locking agreement” of the 3 is always a wonder. 😊
Hi Matt Absolutly agree with you, when the tenors are right in tune, this the instant when the harmonics bloom, and the magic of the pipes comes, the pipes are a musical ensemble like an organ, too many people separate the chanter and the drones, while they are the real thing I've been playing for52 ears AND ... Luckily, I'm gifted of an innate ear that’s awfully right, and never have used a tuner, thus I always followed my feeling of the sound and still do this way and my tuning is done very quikly and I got THE global sound of my pipes Tuning is an affair of feeling, a tuner can't lead you to the harmonics, because it can't analyse them Cheers Matt
Very insightful... Many years ago I played in an Irish rock band, the fighting jamesons.. I switched from my acoustic set of bagpipes to the electronic red pipes.. being on stage in large venues, it was easier to control and the band could play and sing in whatever key they wanted because I could switch and transpose my pipes.. I have just recently returned to the world of acoustic bagpipes.. what a world of difference, your videos helped transitioning back.👍🏼🏴🙂
Great video, I’ve just mastered drone tuning on my pipes and it really does make you smile the first time you play a tune with the drones singing. Never been able to get my Korg CA-30 working to tune my chanter for some reason, always brings up the wrong notes :(
I wouldn't even say I've mastered drone tuning! The Korg CA-30 really would only work for the drones. The chanter is in its own temperament different than the standard equal temperament modern concert instruments use.
Interesting! I'll keep it in mind next practice! I've always thought that the drones were noticeable to the average person only when they're grossly out of tune, or double toning, or any other general malfunction. Listening to some of the masters, they have things so in tune, so well set up, they have such a command over their pipes, that you don't hear drones and chanter, you hear "The Pipes". The drones blend right into the chanter and vice versa, and that bad boy just sings.
2:17 Sorry, I missed that. Could you say it again? Leaning into the drones is exactly what I'm doing right now as I take my first steps on the practice pipes. I'll spend some of my practice time on the practice chanter, but an equal amount of time on the pipes doing the simplest of long tones to try and establish consistency. And wouldn't you know it: the first thing that starts falling flat when the bag pressure goes down is ye olde tenor drone. I can hear the feedback; now the challenge is actually responding to it 😅
Hi Matt, sorry to bother you. Do you think you might be able to post soon a dedicated video on how to tune the drones? The process of tuning the drones and adjusting their reeds is literally killing me… neither soul nor heart right there… just immeasurable frustration! That being said, terrific content as usual. Keep the great work coming. Thanks!
There will at some point be a drone tuning series, but it's quite the endeavor. First, you have to be able to blow extremely steady or you won't be able to get them in tune.. Then you have to know how to get your chanter in tune, or the drones will only be in tune on certain notes and not others... Then you have to make sure the drone reeds are all set up properly and taking the exact same amount of air or the slightest change in pressure will cause the drones to fall out of tune with one another... And only then can you tune your drones successfully. So a multi-part series for certain!
I love numbers , the 12th root of 2 giving us 1.05946309436 will tell every note hertz based from one chosen note (440 concert A or whatever your low A is reading), just remember the chanter has 9 out of 12 notes until you go into “hidden” notes A lot of people are talking about manometers lately , I built one and curious about your opinion , it doesn’t really help me with bridals but I might be doing something wrong
@@MattWillisBagpiper you got me intrigued lol , the low A and high A with equal temperament and Braw tuner are both of course half or double( almost lol )... but the rest are different by as little as one cent and as much as 15 before matching in the next octave (470 and 940.0000000075032 to be exact ) ,, while HG was 822.5 braw and 837 temp??? Interesting With c and d being back to back and f and g in the tempered scale I got 1.05 and 1.06 as braws ratio , ironically close to the 1.059 lol ,... but the intonation off a set frequency dose sound more “perfect” lol ... interesting stuff
Interesting, I'm more about the bass. I've read somewhere from Ron Bowen that the most important sound off your pipes is your bass. And I've honestly never looked back. Just like I'm tired of how almost every opera singer has a wrongly slow vibrato, too often I hear pipes that don't have enough bass in their overall sound. I can see why the tenors are so important, but just my opinion, I have an insatiably bass dominant apetite. it's why I like 6-palmi Italian zampogne pipes better than 3-palmi, because 6-palmi pipes are much rarer.
There's a phrase I hear a lot (and really can't stand): "blowing tone".... Not really sure what it means, I admit, but it seems like it might be connected to your points in this video.
I’ll agree that “blowing tone” is quite vague. In any case, if it does mean something to me, it’s blowing/squeezing steadily on a well balanced, well tuned instrument. If the drone rates are taking different amounts of air, even the slightest variance in pressure to make the instrument ebb and flow out of tune. And too many sets have chanters that are not well-suited to the drones, either too quiet or too loud… So for me, it’s all about balance. A steady and well-balanced instrument would be a more accurate saying.
![ประสบการณ์ จ้าง Developer ที่ผมจะไม่มีวันลืม [ภาค2]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/pZbsSDRrmXA/mqdefault.jpg)
Interesting. I think I speak for the world when I say: “we want the tuning video!”
Yes please
Hi Matt, a superb video. I can so identify with your comments around the tenor E harmonic. There is nothing sweeter than hearing the drones locked into low A, then when you hit the E in a tune the tenors just simply sparkle!
I began learning pipes just because I loved the drones LOL the chanter was a bonus
This! So much this! I love listening to the drones. When I started playing, I’d just love playing a constant lowA and just sinking into the resonance. Just love the vibes. As a drummer, cellist and electric bass player, I just love those low frequencies! Just put all the hairs on your arms up. Just lovely. Helped me blow better too! Great video Matt!
I like your heart, soul, & brain analogy. Very good observation about being able to focus on the presence of the drone sound vs. the absence of the discord coming from the chanter.
I remember reading Pipe Major R T Shepherd’s article on the harmonic sequence of the bagpipe in the International Piper magazine in the 1970’s. I still have that copy 😁.
Tenor drones are one octave lower than Low A, meaning every time the tenor reed beats once, the chanter reed beats twice. Every time the bass beats once the chanter reed beats 4 times, this mean you can get the tenor drones locked to Low A more easily. Great video!
This becomes more and more meaningfull every few months im playing :)
Love this video, Matt. The drones are my favorite part of the sound, too. Nice to have validation that just hanging out and listening to them isn't too weird.
Great video/concept! I start every session playing just my drones (chanter stock is corked). It’s an amazing sound… and to be able to listen for the “locking agreement” of the 3 is always a wonder. 😊
Really enjoyed this, Matt...thank you.
Awesome video. Love just hearing some of the philosophy and mind set stuff about playing. Super helpful.
Hi Matt
Absolutly agree with you, when the tenors are right in tune, this the instant when the harmonics bloom, and the magic of the pipes comes, the pipes are a musical ensemble like an organ, too many people separate the chanter and the drones, while they are the real thing
I've been playing for52 ears AND ...
Luckily, I'm gifted of an innate ear that’s awfully right, and never have used a tuner, thus I always followed my feeling of the sound and still do this way and my tuning is done very quikly and I got THE global sound of my pipes
Tuning is an affair of feeling, a tuner can't lead you to the harmonics, because it can't analyse them
Cheers Matt
Thanks, great videos!
Thanks for watching!
I agree more than hundred percent 👌🏻👌🏻
Very insightful... Many years ago I played in an Irish rock band, the fighting jamesons.. I switched from my acoustic set of bagpipes to the electronic red pipes.. being on stage in large venues, it was easier to control and the band could play and sing in whatever key they wanted because I could switch and transpose my pipes.. I have just recently returned to the world of acoustic bagpipes.. what a world of difference, your videos helped transitioning back.👍🏼🏴🙂
Great video, I’ve just mastered drone tuning on my pipes and it really does make you smile the first time you play a tune with the drones singing.
Never been able to get my Korg CA-30 working to tune my chanter for some reason, always brings up the wrong notes :(
I wouldn't even say I've mastered drone tuning! The Korg CA-30 really would only work for the drones. The chanter is in its own temperament different than the standard equal temperament modern concert instruments use.
Zen and the art of bagpiping
Interesting! I'll keep it in mind next practice! I've always thought that the drones were noticeable to the average person only when they're grossly out of tune, or double toning, or any other general malfunction. Listening to some of the masters, they have things so in tune, so well set up, they have such a command over their pipes, that you don't hear drones and chanter, you hear "The Pipes". The drones blend right into the chanter and vice versa, and that bad boy just sings.
2:17 Sorry, I missed that. Could you say it again?
Leaning into the drones is exactly what I'm doing right now as I take my first steps on the practice pipes. I'll spend some of my practice time on the practice chanter, but an equal amount of time on the pipes doing the simplest of long tones to try and establish consistency. And wouldn't you know it: the first thing that starts falling flat when the bag pressure goes down is ye olde tenor drone. I can hear the feedback; now the challenge is actually responding to it 😅
Hi Matt, sorry to bother you. Do you think you might be able to post soon a dedicated video on how to tune the drones? The process of tuning the drones and adjusting their reeds is literally killing me… neither soul nor heart right there… just immeasurable frustration! That being said, terrific content as usual. Keep the great work coming. Thanks!
There will at some point be a drone tuning series, but it's quite the endeavor. First, you have to be able to blow extremely steady or you won't be able to get them in tune.. Then you have to know how to get your chanter in tune, or the drones will only be in tune on certain notes and not others... Then you have to make sure the drone reeds are all set up properly and taking the exact same amount of air or the slightest change in pressure will cause the drones to fall out of tune with one another... And only then can you tune your drones successfully. So a multi-part series for certain!
@@MattWillisBagpiper Thank you, Sir! I will then eagerly waiting for that multi-video series! TA
I love numbers , the 12th root of 2 giving us 1.05946309436 will tell every note hertz based from one chosen note (440 concert A or whatever your low A is reading), just remember the chanter has 9 out of 12 notes until you go into “hidden” notes
A lot of people are talking about manometers lately , I built one and curious about your opinion , it doesn’t really help me with bridals but I might be doing something wrong
Well, that math is true fir equal tempered music, but we have a just scale based on fractions for our instrument... so much math!
@@MattWillisBagpiper you got me intrigued lol , the low A and high A with equal temperament and Braw tuner are both of course half or double( almost lol )... but the rest are different by as little as one cent and as much as 15 before matching in the next octave (470 and 940.0000000075032 to be exact ) ,, while HG was 822.5 braw and 837 temp??? Interesting
With c and d being back to back and f and g in the tempered scale I got 1.05 and 1.06 as braws ratio , ironically close to the 1.059 lol ,... but the intonation off a set frequency dose sound more “perfect” lol ... interesting stuff
Interesting, I'm more about the bass. I've read somewhere from Ron Bowen that the most important sound off your pipes is your bass. And I've honestly never looked back. Just like I'm tired of how almost every opera singer has a wrongly slow vibrato, too often I hear pipes that don't have enough bass in their overall sound. I can see why the tenors are so important, but just my opinion, I have an insatiably bass dominant apetite. it's why I like 6-palmi Italian zampogne pipes better than 3-palmi, because 6-palmi pipes are much rarer.
I actually hear the tenors the most.
There's a phrase I hear a lot (and really can't stand): "blowing tone"....
Not really sure what it means, I admit, but it seems like it might be connected to your points in this video.
I’ll agree that “blowing tone” is quite vague. In any case, if it does mean something to me, it’s blowing/squeezing steadily on a well balanced, well tuned instrument. If the drone rates are taking different amounts of air, even the slightest variance in pressure to make the instrument ebb and flow out of tune. And too many sets have chanters that are not well-suited to the drones, either too quiet or too loud… So for me, it’s all about balance. A steady and well-balanced instrument would be a more accurate saying.
Yes, tenor quiet pipes are borrrrrrrrrrrring. The bass is sonorous, but the tenors are what make the chanter vibrant.