Chiff and Fipple Forums

Sounds like a great one. Wish I could come.

The San Francisco Piper's Club is sponsoring a Tionol on Feb. 13-15th in Berkeley. Guest pipers will be Joey Abarta and Preston Howard. $75 fee for the weekend whether paid in advance or at the door. The concert will be on Sat. the 14th at the Freight and Salvage. Concert admission is separate from ...

Makoto's pipes are great. He owns a set by Michael Hubbert of Boonville, CA, who he thinks is a master maker he has gotten a lot from. Michael's pipes are top knotch and he lives near you. He has the beginning of a website up, but not much on it yet. Call me in Tomales for more info. (707) 878-9978.

Hi Tom, I also come from a classical background and read music as well. Most of my ITM tunes were "caught" by ear. I only refer to the dots when trying to figure out what I am hearing, although many transcriptions of ITM are not quite they way the music is played. Better to learn by ear an...

When I played GHB for dancers in times past, I learned to play the A part 3 times as a matter of course. At a local ITM session we often play for set dances, reels, solo dances and so on. Most session players need to be told of the 3 A parts at the beginning. Reels are often played at a faster tempo...

Geoff gives a good account as to how to seal most leaks at once. That is what I use for diffuse leaks where the bag is porous. If only one or a few spots at the stitches are leaking, I make a small amount of sealant of wax and lard or Crisco and place a 1/2 inch worm of it over the seam where the le...

It is a good idea to find out where the bag is leaking first, before attempting any type of treatment. I suggest you remove all the pipes from their stocks, cork or rubber stopper the stocks and inflate the bag fully. Plunge the inflated bag into a bucket of water and press on it. Note where on the ...

Typically, Varigated Arundo Donax has very short tube lengths between the nodes. I have not found it to be useful in making reeds. I never tried it for drone cane. As I harvest drone cane that is growing straight up from the rhysomes, rather than using branches from larger tubes.

Adusting and working with cane drone reeds is an art. There are a few techniques to master that will usually revive them or keep them going. I have an article on cane drone reeds that I posted on my website (piperssupply.com) that I refer pipers to that has some instructions in it that cover the bas...

Just pointing out that drone reeds go wonky for a variety of reasons, but sitting and doing nothing is not one of them. They age rather well.

Drone reeds don't die just sitting there doing nothing. I have tried reeds in sets that haven't been played in over a hundred years that worked fine. Reeds can go wonky and no longer want to work for a variety of reasons. I will make a new one for you for free, if you cover the postage. I would need...

The Little Mac valve can be used on the blowpipe valve but is too small for the bellows valve.

I agree with Geoff, no extra weight needed. I use the skin side toward the opening. I find it easier to cut the hinge, leaving only the skin for it. A flexable hinge is key to a fast response of the valve.

I called Arundo Reeds and Cane. They use a hardness tester of the Brinell type with a ball, made by Rolf Potratz. To test the cane it must first be gouged as it is tested on the gouged side. A Rockwell tester is unsuitable for testing cane for the reason I wrote about above. They may be able to pick...

Thanks for the info. Larry. I have seen cane growing in So. Oregon. Good luck in your search. I have found only a few areas produce soft cane in California. There is mostly hard cane. It seems soil is the main ingredient in producing soft cane. I could fill a shipping container with hard cane which ...