James Fleetwood wrote:
>  >  You put a set of Omega reeds in
>>them for $75.00 and with a little adjusting of the reeds you have a set of
>>pipes good enough for competition.

I wrote:
>     The jury is still out on this end, about Omega drone reeds. I
>really like the Ross bass reed. But, to my ear, the tenors are just
>too loud. Even adjusted to their mellowest setting and played through
>Rosewood drone Pipes.

     OK, the jury is returning... I really hadn't tried my Omega tenor
reeds since I started playing a cane reed in my Blackwood Chanter.
Since this topic came up, I did some more experimenting...

     With gentle pressure, Omega tenor reeds are loud, harsh and
unstable. With a bit more pressure, they mellow out and stabilize. I
was trying them before, while using a Clanrye soft reed in a Rosewood
Chanter.
     Giving the Omegas enough pressure was difficult for me at the
time, and also pushed the Clanrye easy to the verge of over-blowing.

Ross Omega drone reeds + Clanrye easy Chanter reed = Bad combination.

     My Soutar reed is a harder blow, and I have the strength now, to
mellow out the Omegas... Pretty nice sounding!

Iechyd Da,
Andrew



--
God made the idiot for practice, and then he made the School Board.

- - Mark Twain

Here's the beginning piping equation for success:

piping teacher + practice chanter + practice = forward progress

Get yourself a teacher before you buy your first PC.

-S

p.s. remember: you're not married to your first piping teacher, so if he/she
turns out to be a dud, find another, but for the first few lessons anyone
will some experience will do.

----- Original Message -----
From: "Doc" <nmdar2001@...>
To: <bagpipers2@yahoogroups.com>
Sent: Thursday, October 02, 2003 2:39 PM
Subject: [Bagpipers] Brand new potential piper


>
>
> Hello all. Ive been lurking in this groupf for a while. I am
> interested in learning the pipes. There is a pipe band where I am
> from and I want to begin taking lessons. What I need to know is, how
> do I start?  I have been reading and I think that the first thing I
> need is a chanter and a book. Any suggestions? Any help or comments
> would be highly appreciated!
>
>
> Thanks again everyone!
>
> Doc
>
>
>
> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
> bagpipers2-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com
>
>
>
> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
>
>
>
>

OK, enough arguing about which pipe set is best.  Now what about chanters?

Seriously, what's the general consensus on Walsh?

HLE

"Now what about chanters?...Seriously, what's the general consensus
on Walsh?"


Can't speak to Walsh GHB chanters, as I've never played one (nice
smallpipes, though). I'm quite fond of my blackwood Naill, although
I have friends with Kron Medallists and McCallum blackwood chanters,
both of which are very sweet, too; I doubt that I'd be unhappy with
either of those. I also have Gibson and McCallum poly chanters;
between the two I really like the McCallum.

>be nice Jean!
>John
>
***************
Yeah - sorry about that. But it seemed so obvious.

Apologies extended.

Jean
...usually nice, or at least civil. Usually.
--



__________________________________________
"Doon the stair tript Lady Jean"....Oops!
                          -Melville Castle

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

>OK, enough arguing about which pipe set is best.  Now what about chanters?
****************
Oh my goodness! One reason I'm so touchy lately is that you all wore
me out with the "which pipes" posts. Now we're talking chanters????!!!

Okay, I'll start.

After asking around a good bit not long ago, I came up with either
Naill or McCallum. I opted for the McCallum because I had McCallum
pipes. (I traded my old pipes for them but had to keep the old
chanter 'cause it belonged to the band I was in at the time.)

I love the McCallum - the way it feels in your hands - and you can
really feel the holes! I'm still looking at a Naill too - and if I
ever get good enough to deserve a wooden chanter, I will get the
Naill. I have a wooden Naill PC and I love it.

Jean


--



__________________________________________
"Doon the stair tript Lady Jean"....Oops!
                          -Melville Castle

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Jean Hayes wrote:

>I love the McCallum - the way it feels in your hands - and you can
>really feel the holes! I'm still looking at a Naill too - and if I
>ever get good enough to deserve a wooden chanter, I will get the
>Naill. I have a wooden Naill PC and I love it.
>
I need that.  I have an old (METAL) J. P. Foote and my son plays a
Walsh.  I like the weight but can't find the holes on his Walsh during
fast changes.

HLE

Patrick wrote:
>Jeeze, I go away for a couple of days and look what happens.  We
>certainly opened a large can of worms.  Sorry about all the Paki-
>bashing, wasn't my intention.

     It happens. It's good to get this sort of discussion out in the
open. Clear up some misconceptions. And offer some insight to folks
looking for their first stand of Pipes. Especially those who cannot
afford better quality... What they can expect to find, what headaches
they will probably run into, and how to overcome them.
    Sure. They'll never sound as nice as a stand of Kron's, no matter
how much you work on 'em. But, they can sound good enough that the
"Average Joe" would never guess that they are cheap Pipes.
    Sure. They will be difficult to set up, especially if it's a
person's first stand of Pipes, they're trying to set 'em up & learn
to play them at the same time, and doing so without any help.
     But, it's not impossible. And, if a person survives the
experience, they'll be able to set up another stand quickly and
easily.

>   The problem with my cousin's pipes
>isn't in the drones at all (although they're a bit quieter than
>Scottish made, they're still more than passable).  The big snafu is
>that the chanters aren't in tune.  At least not with any known
>bagpipe scale and they're not in tune with each other, either.

     Let me guess... "D" and "E" are WAY sharp. "F" and/or high-G are
flat? I hate to keep mentioning this, someone may start to think I'm
a Clanrye salesman or something... But, try a Clanrye reed. The
Chanter will be louder for the same amount of squeeze, and all of the
notes will be pretty close, within a couple cents. The Clanrye may
actually make "E" a little flat, requiring the "E" hole to be reamed
out a bit. (To my ear, nothing sounds worse on Pipes than a flat "E")

>   Holes not drilled in the right places.

     Different hole spacing, but different hole size too, to compensate
for the different spacing. Rosewood Chanters will have a smaller bore
size, and smaller finger holes than Blackwood Chanters... A Clanrye
will boost the volume, especially on the high notes.

     Y' know, the more I think about this, the more convinced I'm
becoming, that Clanrye uses Paki-Rosewood Chanters in their research
& development department.
1. They tune up much more closely than a cane reed in a Paki-Chanter.
2. They over-compensate for the muffled sound of Rosewood.
3. They sound horrible in a Blackwood Chanter.

>I'm glad you're having good luck with yours, and
>I hope you're having even more FUN with them.  That's what it's
>about for me!  If is ain't fun, it ain't worth it.

     Absolutely!!! If someone is going to invest the money, and
especially the time and effort into learning how to Pipe, and they
don't enjoy what they're doing..... Why?????
     You can get a huge stack of Bagpipe CD's for less than the cost of
a stand of good Pipes.

Iechyd Da,
Andrew

--
God made the idiot for practice, and then he made the School Board.

- - Mark Twain

Hello again. Responding to your messge. Spoke to the two students
today and they do not wish to put any more into these pipes. One has
purchased another set and the other is going to borrow a set for a
bit.
I was not positive where they got these from but it looks like a shop
on ebay. They didn't remember the name. She paid $550 for each. The
price that I quoted was from a shop here with his time and labor and
parts. These pipes are just going to be used in parades by students
who need experience in other areas, Marching, learning our routine
and just getting over the overall nearvous feeling of being in front
of a crowd. They all still take lessons 1x per week from our pipe
instructor.
I never claimed to to an expert and never will. I was just trying to
advise a new person not to make the easy mistakes that we see
countless times a year.
As for the best chanter: I have no clue but, I know it's not the
Dunbar that my band uses. I wish I could stay with my Shepard
chanter.
Later pj

Pat wrote:
>I was not positive where they got these from but it looks like a shop
>on ebay. They didn't remember the name. She paid $550 for each.

     Yowza!!! Are these Paki-Blackwoods, or Rosewoods? The price is
about right for Blackwoods. If they're Rosewood, then she WAY
OVERPAID.
     A decent (by low-end standards) stand of Paki-Rosewoods can be had
for $150. A lesser quality, but still playable stand for $100.
     If they're Blackwoods, forget what I said about the Clanrye reed.
Try a Soutar cane reed. They really shouldn't need much more than
that, and maybe some hemp substitute & a bit of TLC to get 'em
sounding nice.

>  The price that I quoted was from a shop here with his time and labor and
>parts.

     What all was he planning to replace? Other than the Chanter reed,
most everything that comes with Paki-Pipes should be quite usable.
Even the flimsy bag that comes with the cheap-cheaps will hold up for
a while, especially if using a soft Chanter reed.

>  These pipes are just going to be used in parades by students
>who need experience in other areas, Marching, learning our routine
>and just getting over the overall nearvous feeling of being in front
>of a crowd. They all still take lessons 1x per week from our pipe
>instructor.

     If they're Rosewoods, that's probably a good use for them. If
they're Blackwoods, it would be a shame to not get 'em working.
     Without being there, it's difficult to tell what might be missing
from the equation... Damaged in transit, rough reed seats, improper
hemping, etc.

>I never claimed to to an expert and never will. I was just trying to
>advise a new person not to make the easy mistakes that we see
>countless times a year.

     If it's happened before, it's going to happen again... and again,
and again. Is there anyone in your band who's a general
Jack-of-all-trades, do-it-yourself handyman? Maybe you could let him
take those Pipes home for a while & play with them. Or, maybe have
everyone in the band chip in a couple of bucks for a cheap stand of
Paki's. Give 'em to the handyman & let him experiment to his heart's
content... Cut, grind, scrape, sand, ream, etc. 'till he knows the
setup inside and out... Next time a new member comes along with a
stand of Paki's, he'll be able to get them up and playing, quick and
painless.

Iechyd Da,
Andrew



--
TV is chewing gum for the eyes.

- - Frank Lloyd Wright

$550.00?
I look at "bagpipes" on EBay every single day. Since the morning of
Sept. 30th, there have been seventeen Paki's posted for sale,
ranging in price from $220.00 to $50.00, yielding an average price
of $138.16 USD. A larger sample would be more accurate, but this
looks pretty consistent with my experience.
During the same period, you could bid on a grossly overpriced Dunbar
P1 for $595.00.
A couple of months ago, you could have had an ebony Kintail/Glen
with button mounts for about $440.00.
While I have on occasion seen items on EBay so grossly
misrepresented as to constitute outright fraud (and the
$220.00 "satin black cocuswood" set of Paki's certainly pushes that
envelope), the claim of two people from the same band had the
incredible bad luck (actually judgment) to be swindled out of
$550.00 apiece seems hardly credible to me.

They are Rosewood. I realize she got taken highly. She baught these
in May/June. It wasn't two students, it was the same one who baught
two sets at the same time. She baught them for another student
friend that couln't afford  better. She thought she was doing a
good deed. And that was very noble of her. Now you see why I was a
bit upset. I know and so do you that she was
taken advantage of.
The student wanted the shop to put a synthetic zipper bag on and
replace the leather one that leaked so bad. They both came with these
terrible cane reeds. Two of the Six were cracked. They were replacing
them with Wygents. Also one drone stock was so poorly made it
actually had a pin hole in it. I think it was the tenors on both.
Also all the hemp was going to be re-done all around. She also was
going to put
the Little Mac valve on with a 2 1/4 in airstream blowpipe and
mouthpiece. My band has a leathersmith who looked at the pipes but
when he started the work and had so many problems he got to
feeling like this was a losing battle. He said he didn't have the
time to work on them because it was taking too much away from other
jobs. That is when we looked outside
to the more experienced shops.
Remember this was not one set but 2 that she was going to have to pay
for.
The best part of the deal was the cords that came with them, they
were beautiful. Also the bag cover was ok. Even if it was the
Blackwatch tarten.
I know that she felt bad and everyone told her to send them back but
she was feeling about as low as you could get. We basically just got
to the point that she didn't want to deal with it any longer. She
saved up and got a 2nd hand set from a guy in Philadelphia. Not
certain what kind but really nice. She took our Pipe Major with her
to look at these before spending. She got smart. Now she has set that
she is good with. So these two other sets will just be carried.
If I could get my digital camera working I would send you photos of
the sets. But I need a new one.
Pj

I have seen some paki pipes go for as much as $800 US. I'll try to find the site
and post it... They are supposed to be blackwood pipes... but I don't know..
John
The P-Ville Piper

Emmet Bondurant <ejb@...> wrote:
$550.00?
I look at "bagpipes" on EBay every single day. Since the morning of
Sept. 30th, there have been seventeen Paki's posted for sale,
ranging in price from $220.00 to $50.00, yielding an average price
of $138.16 USD. A larger sample would be more accurate, but this
looks pretty consistent with my experience.
During the same period, you could bid on a grossly overpriced Dunbar
P1 for $595.00.
A couple of months ago, you could have had an ebony Kintail/Glen
with button mounts for about $440.00.
While I have on occasion seen items on EBay so grossly
misrepresented as to constitute outright fraud (and the
$220.00 "satin black cocuswood" set of Paki's certainly pushes that
envelope), the claim of two people from the same band had the
incredible bad luck (actually judgment) to be swindled out of
$550.00 apiece seems hardly credible to me.





Yahoo! Groups SponsorADVERTISEMENT

To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
bagpipers2-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com



Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to the Yahoo! Terms of Service.


---------------------------------
Do you Yahoo!?
The New Yahoo! Shopping - with improved product search

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Seriously, what's the general consensus on Walsh?
HEY, don't be trashing me on the web!
Seriously, I have a Kron Medalist chanter. It is one of the earlier ones and
sounds great. It has a very ergonomic feel, it fits my hands better than any
other chanter I've tried, quite possibly because of it's narrow neck. The later
Medalist chanters are thicker in the neck of the chanter and pitched higher.
This chanter is extremely easy to to reed and loves and easy reed and scales
very well with an absolute minimum of tape. It is to me a great solo chanter.
I would recommend the whatever chanter you buy, you should be careful with you
selection. You want to look for a chanter that is easy to reed. This means it
accepts a variety of reeds and reed strengths. One of the biggest problems with
chanters tends to be the high G and F notes sounding together. My original
chanter had that problem... it wasn't that I couldn't find a reed for it... just
that when you tried to tune it to another chanter the top hand would get
squirrelly.
Another thing is if the chanter scales well with a variety of reeds. My Medalist
does this, the Kron band chanters we have don't. The Medalist will do this with
a wide variety of reeds, the band chanter we have is quite finicky and does not
like easy reeds.
Just some food for thought.
John Walsh
The P-Ville Piper

HLE <levoy@...> wrote:
OK, enough arguing about which pipe set is best.  Now what about chanters?

Seriously, what's the general consensus on Walsh?

HLE


Yahoo! Groups SponsorADVERTISEMENT

To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
bagpipers2-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com



Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to the Yahoo! Terms of Service.


---------------------------------
Do you Yahoo!?
The New Yahoo! Shopping - with improved product search

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Thank you very much. Ill contact the pipeband first thing!

Doc


--- In bagpipers2@yahoogroups.com, "Emmet Bondurant" <ejb@s...> wrote:
> "I am interested in learning the pipes. There is a pipe band where
I
> am from and I want to begin taking lessons. What I need to know is,
> how do I start?"
>
> If I were you, I'd start by introducing myself to the local pipe
> band and enquiring about lessons; either with the band (some are
> more teaching-oriented than others), or individually (speaking in
> very general terms, I think most people progress faster with
> individual 1:1 tutoring). The bagpipe is a notoriously difficult
> instrument to play, and I don't think I could've ever gotten off
the
> ground with it without the assistance of others.
> As for what you'll need, I'd ask my new tutor or pipe major first;
> they may have specific preferences regarding learning materials,
and
> may know of good deals to be had on a practice chanter. Dunbars are
> quite popular around here, although I'd love to have (be able to
> afford) a blackwood Naill. Get a good one; you two will be spending
> a lot of time together!

Pat wrote:
>The best part of the deal was the cords that came with them, they
>were beautiful. Also the bag cover was ok. Even if it was the
>Blackwatch tarten.

     Yep! Those sound like the ones... Chrome plated ring caps &
ferules? Ivory colour plastic mounts? Ivory colour plastic sole plate?
$99 is the going price now on eBay & musicbrokers.com.

     You're right about what you said before... The blowpipe tenon is
too thin to accept a SmallMac valve. And, the stock bore is too
small. The SmallMac would have to be sanded down quite a bit to fit.
Though a full AirStream blowpipe with built in SmallMac valve will
work.
     A Soutar or Turner reed will work in those Chanters. Though cane
will sound very dull & lacklustre in those Chanters.
     I'd bet Clanrye soft reeds would have those Pipes up & playing
though. They're real easy for beginners, and won't put too much
strain on those flimsy bags.
     Seasoning the bags would help. But, it may not even be necessary.
The hide on those bags is so soft, retying the stocks might stop 'em
from leaking. (I never did like that cotton string they use for
tie-in cord on Paki-Pipes. I redid mine with nylon cord. 8 winds and
4 clove hitches, followed by a triple square knot on each stock...
Singe the ends, then a cable tie to make sure nothing slips.)


>I know that she felt bad and everyone told her to send them back but
>she was feeling about as low as you could get. We basically just got
>to the point that she didn't want to deal with it any longer. She
>saved up and got a 2nd hand set from a guy in Philadelphia. Not
>certain what kind but really nice. She took our Pipe Major with her
>to look at these before spending. She got smart. Now she has set that
>she is good with. So these two other sets will just be carried.
>If I could get my digital camera working I would send you photos of
>the sets. But I need a new one.

     It doesn't sound like those Pipes are going to be made to play.
But, just in case... And for anyone else in a similar situation... A
word of caution/advice about using a Clanrye soft reed with EzeeDrone
reeds...
     This combination does sound pretty decent in Rosewood Pipes. The
problem is that the C-soft is so easy to blow. As you adjust the
bridles on EzeeDrone reeds towards an easier setting, the "Window of
Opportunity" becomes smaller. That means that a micro-fine bridle
adjustment either way will cause the Chanter to strike in before the
drones, or the drones to overblow when the Chanter strikes in. They
can be made to work, with a wee bit of headroom after the Chanter
strikes in. But, it does take a considerable amount of patience and
sensitive touch.

Iechyd Da,
Andrew

--
You have the capacity to learn from mistakes. You'll learn a lot today.

"I have seen some paki pipes go for as much as $800 US. I'll try to
find the site and post it... They are supposed to be blackwood
pipes... but I don't know.."


Soundstream Music sells blackwood Paki's for $739; they're turned to
their specs. and set up with Wygent's and a Naill poly chanter with
a Clanrye reed. I have a set of their parlor pipes; if they're any
indication, then the quality's probably pretty good, but for that
much money I think I'd probably still go with a new set of poly
Dunbars, or a good used set of Grainger & Campbells or Hardies.

http://users.techline.com/soundstream/webpage/

Those are pretty consistent issues with Paki's I've seen; they need
to be fully rehemped, they need drone and chanter reeds, and they
need an new flapper valve on the blowstick (at a minimum). Cracking
blowstick tenons isn't unique to Paki's; I've seen Little Mac's do
it to good Scottish pipes, too. However, that brings up another
trait of most Paki's; small bores...you may have difficulty
installing a Little Mac, new blowstick, or poly chanter as the
stocks are so small. Bore them out, and then they're really thin and
even more prone to cracking. If you do install a poly chanter,
you'll find it nearly impossible to balance with the drones because
the bores are such small caliber. I'd go with a cheap rubber
flapper, and trim it to fit. Certainly one benefit of a band is
there's always somebody who has an old leather bag or an old set of
drone reeds laying about somewhere. A new Airstream blowstick, new
synthetic bag, and new drone reeds are quite expensive, and to some
extent analogous to putting lipstick on a pig. Go for inexpensive
solutions to get Paki's going, and save those pennies for a good set
somewhere down the road.

> You'll probably do just fine with a medium, unless you can scratch
> your knees without bending over.

Anyone can. You just bend your knees a bit and you're not bent over
but able to scratch.

What is a cannister bag?

I think I see your problem, you're supposed to blow.

--- In bagpipers2@yahoogroups.com, "Pat" <pjcronen@a...> wrote:
> ... a proven fact about Paki pipes. ...they SUCK. ...

--- In bagpipers2@yahoogroups.com, "Jean Hayes" <jewelmtn@e...> wrote:
> >We're called, "Musicians." But, I don't think the term really
applies.

We are musicians, but the so-called "real" musicians don't understand
what we do or how we do it, so they belittle us.  I get to play
combined bands quite often (not massed, that's pipe bands only).
I've had a number of conversations with military band (brass and
reed) members who start out repeating the above rubbish, but by the
end of the day are absolutely astounded by what we do and the level
of professionalism, discipline, and MUSICIANSHIP needed to pursue our
calling.
They say we're not really musicians, we call them the spit and
dribble crowd.   :-)
Just a thought.

andy341

--- In bagpipers2@yahoogroups.com, "ironhelix001" <ironhelix001@y...>
wrote:
> Hey.
> A few questions.
> First, the Dunbar P1s are exactly the same as the P2 and P3, except
> without ANYTHING fancy, right?

The P1 has a chalice shaped top on the drones, with no combing on any
of the parts; they are completely smooth.  The interior, therefore
the
sound, is identical to the P2&3.


> That polypenco is a form of plastic? Does that mean it won't have
any moisture problems and is low maintainence?

It is a form of plastic.  It is low maintenance, it therefore has
other moisture problems.  Because the plastic doesn't breathe like
wood, condensation will build up quickly inside all the bores.  They
will need to be dried regularly, otherwise the moisture drips down
and
drowns the reeds.


> I'd like a low-maintanence bag if I can get one.

There are several makes available.


>How often do you "season" a bag and what does that entail?

As often as needed.  It involves disassembly of the pipes, plugging
the stocks, pouring in a seasoner, and massaging it into the leather.


>Are there any cheap synthetics (i.e. any they show on the
> site dunbarbagpipes.com) that don't require much maintainence?

The synthetics aren't cheap, but I would say they are worth the
investment.


> What is a zippered bag? Wouldn't a zipper leak air?

A zippered bag has a zipper to provide maintenance access to the
reeds
and inside of the bag.  They don't usually leak because they're the
same as on a drysuit for scuba diving.


> And bag sizes. What are the differences? I'm 6'2" and weigh 200lbs,
> should I get a large bag?

Get the large bag.


> Thanks!

You're welcome!

Emmet Bondurant wrote:
>Those are pretty consistent issues with Paki's I've seen; they need
>to be fully rehemped,

     Yes. What I like is hemp substitute. It's heavily waxed & squishes
down really nicely to fit the opening it's being inserted into...
     With Paki's it's good to chuck up a rod in an electric drill motor
& wrap some fine sandpaper around the end of the rod. Spin it in &
out of the stocks and tuning pin receivers a few times. Then with the
waxed hemp substitute on the tuning pins and tenons, rotate then
while inserting and removing several times. The wax will fill in the
woodgrain & make a mirror smooth surface.
     Then add some teflon tape to the hemp on the tuning pins.

>  they need drone and chanter reeds,

     The drone reeds will work with a little TLC. The Chanter reeds are
impossible.

>  and they
>need an new flapper valve on the blowstick (at a minimum).

     On the $99 Pipes, definitely. The skin/hide isn't much thicker
than a piece of construction paper, and the tab isn't much wider than
about 4 beard hairs. The flapper on the $150 Pipes is pretty good.

>  Cracking
>blowstick tenons isn't unique to Paki's; I've seen Little Mac's do
>it to good Scottish pipes, too.

     That's why it's good to have the tenon well hemped before
inserting the SmallMac valve. The hemp acts sort of like a ferule.
Also, don't have a trained ape put the valve in... Whatever pressure
you use to insert drone reeds will hold a SmallMac valve in place
just fine.

>  However, that brings up another
>trait of most Paki's; small bores...you may have difficulty
>installing a Little Mac, new blowstick, or poly chanter as the
>stocks are so small. Bore them out, and then they're really thin and
>even more prone to cracking.

     You don't need to bore them too much, if at all, depending what
you're putting in. An AirStream blowpipe will fit in a Paki blowpipe
stock. But, only 1 layer of hemp substitute, no overlapping.
     If you do need to enlarge the holes a wee, it probably wouldn't
take much more than spinning a piece of rough sandpaper in the hole,
followed by a piece of fine sandpaper. Even if you do have to enlarge
a hole considerably, as long as your ferules are good & tight, you
won't have any problem with cracking.

>  If you do install a poly chanter,
>you'll find it nearly impossible to balance with the drones because
>the bores are such small caliber.

     By the by, on that... Does anyone with a stand of Scottish Pipes
happen to have an inside calipur, & could measure the inside diameter
of the tuning pins, and the inside diameter of the upper drone
sections, beyond the tuning pin receivers?

>A new Airstream blowstick, new
>synthetic bag, and new drone reeds are quite expensive, and to some
>extent analogous to putting lipstick on a pig.

Unless you're an experimenter from the get-go like I am. That's one
reason I like having a couple stands of cheap Rosewood Pipes. I'm not
the least bit afraid to cut, sand, scrape, bore, etc.

    My cheap-cheaps are pretty much stock right now, except for using
the Chanter & blowpipe from the better ones... And the snow-white
mounts from those Pipes too...
     My better Paki's are now fitted with an AirStream blowpipe,
Blackwood Chanter, the stocks and drone sections are black lacquered
to match the Chanter & blowpipe, and have the ivory coloured mounts
from the cheap-cheaps. Ross Omega bass reed, EzeeDrone tenor reeds
and Soutar Chanter reed.
     I've also done considerable work on smoothing up the drone bores,
and opened them up a hair today. That made a difference. I want to
open them up a hair more though.
     All in all, I'd put my black Pipes up against a stand of Pipes
costing twice as much... Including all the after-market stuff I've
added.
     The cheap-cheap's, they work. Now that I've done considerable work
on my black-boys, they don't sound nearly as nice, but they work.
Fine for packing out to Saline Valley, or up in the Sierras.

Iechyd Da,
Andrew

--
Eighty percent of all people consider themselves to be above average drivers.

Hello All,

     Here's a question that's been puzzling me for a while now. And
it's impossible to answer it without other Pipers around...

     I realize that my drones are pretty close to my left ear, and my
Chanter is down in front of my abdomen, so the drones will tend to be
louder to me. If I use Ross Omega drone reeds, from where I'm
standing, they seem to dominate the overall sound & come pretty close
to drowning out my high notes...

     But, what is someone standing several yards in front of me hearing?

     I tried to answer that at the Darwin Music Camp last week. I had a
couple different wind musicians try to blow my Pipes... Even the ones
with the Clanrye easy reed in 'em... They'd huff and puff, turn red
in the face, squeeze 'till their arm was shaking & maybe squeak out
1/2 second of one note. (If anyone hasn't tried that, it's funny as
hell to watch) (It's also a good ego tamer for those who think Pipers
aren't legitimate Musicians)

Iechyd Da,
Andrew

--
Eighty percent of all people consider themselves to be above average drivers.

lolol...I have, on occasion, seen that rare person who can do it
without bending their knees.

The canister system is a moisture control device.  I'm familiar with
the Ross brand.  It consists of a rubberized bag, a bunch of hoses,
and a canister filled with cat litter.  Yep, cat litter.  As you
blow moist air into the bag, it's filtered through the litter and
demoisturized before it gets to the reeds.  Moisture buildup can be
a problem.  Right now, I don't have the moisture stuff installed,
just using the bag.  Come summer, however, as I live in humid
Wisconsin, I'll reinstall all the hoses and the canister.

--- In bagpipers2@yahoogroups.com, "ironhelix001"
<ironhelix001@y...> wrote:
> > You'll probably do just fine with a medium, unless you can
scratch
> > your knees without bending over.
>
> Anyone can. You just bend your knees a bit and you're not bent
over
> but able to scratch.
>
> What is a cannister bag?

That's about how mine sound to me, too.  I can hardly hear my high
notes, but I can hear them.  Listeners seem to be able to hear it
all just fine.

--- In bagpipers2@yahoogroups.com, Andrew Michael MacTao
<mactao@Q...> wrote:
> Hello All,
>
>     Here's a question that's been puzzling me for a while now. And
> it's impossible to answer it without other Pipers around...
>
>     I realize that my drones are pretty close to my left ear, and
my
> Chanter is down in front of my abdomen, so the drones will tend to
be
> louder to me. If I use Ross Omega drone reeds, from where I'm
> standing, they seem to dominate the overall sound & come pretty
close
> to drowning out my high notes...
>
>     But, what is someone standing several yards in front of me
hearing?
>
>     I tried to answer that at the Darwin Music Camp last week. I
had a
> couple different wind musicians try to blow my Pipes... Even the
ones
> with the Clanrye easy reed in 'em... They'd huff and puff, turn
red
> in the face, squeeze 'till their arm was shaking & maybe squeak
out
> 1/2 second of one note. (If anyone hasn't tried that, it's funny
as
> hell to watch) (It's also a good ego tamer for those who think
Pipers
> aren't legitimate Musicians)
>
> Iechyd Da,
> Andrew
>
> --
> Eighty percent of all people consider themselves to be above
average drivers.

--- In bagpipers2@yahoogroups.com, Andrew Michael MacTao <mactao@Q...>
wrote:
>     Yes. What I like is hemp substitute. It's heavily waxed &...
>

Never heard of it.  Is it not waxed hemp?  That's what I use.

andy341

Need to know where to purchse used band chanters or good new ones
without breaking the bands piggy bank? We are in need of about 10
chanters. Pat

I've seen entire lots of used band chanters for sale on
the "Trading Post" on Bob Dunsire's Forum;
http://www.bobdunsire.com/CGI-BIN/ultimatebb.cgi


> Need to know where to purchse used band chanters or good new ones
> without breaking the bands piggy bank? We are in need of about 10
> chanters. Pat

>  >     Yes. What I like is hemp substitute. It's heavily waxed &...

Andy341 wrote:
>Never heard of it.  Is it not waxed hemp?  That's what I use.

     No. It's different than regular hemp. I think it's a synthetic
fibre. It doesn't swell up with moisture, even if it didn't have wax
on it.
     If you squeeze the stuff between you fingers, you can flatten it
somewhat & it will stay that way. That's one of the things I like
about it. Even if you're in a hurry & do a sloppy job of hemping,..
Criss-crossing and overlapping, When you push the tenon into the
stock, it will smooth out really nicely. If the fit is too loose,
just cut a short piece & add a few more winds. The new winds will
squish down, or conform right into the existing windings... And stick
there.

     The only place I know that has it is ebagpipe.com. They have it
listed for $12 per spool. I'm not sure how to get to their bargains
page, but if you do a google search for "hemp substitute", you'll
only get about 3 or 4 hits. One of them will be their bargain page,
where they have it listed for $7.50 per spool.

     If you get some, when you click "Checkout" it takes you directly
to PayPal. So, I think you have to have a PayPal account to buy from
them.

     Oh! by the by, also on their bargains page. If you like Turner
reeds, they sell those for $8. But, on the bargains page, they have
'em for $19.95 for 5, or $29.95 for 10. They have a few other reeds
there too, and various odds & ends. I don't recall what though.

Iechyd Da,
Andrew

--
If you think nobody cares you're alive, try missing a couple of car payments.