Chiff and Fipple Forums

Boosey and Co., R.S Pratten;s perfected,serial number 13867 so C.1891. In cocus wood with nickel silver keys, cylindrical bore, lined head. Length overall 26 3/4", middle of embouchure to bottom of foot joint 22 3/4". Plays at a=445 with the head joint 1/2" out. Condition is as follow...

It's what we've all been waiting for, a futures market in pipes!

Ivory was traditionally polished with whiting ( French chalk) and a little oil ( almond ) on a cloth. I have polished ivory with toothpaste successfully too though the minty odour could cause comment!

It may be best to do nothing at the moment, it's still a very new reed and should soften up over the next few weeks and hopefully the top notes will come; it's really easy to overwork a new reed so it works well new initially but a while later dies. Just play it as is and see what happens.

I am serious. The period of a pendulum is dependant solely upon the length of the string ( at least with a thin string and a dense weight to minimise the drag), a foot long pendulum has a period of about 1 second. which gives 60 /120 BPM.

Cheers,

Charlie.

No, I meant a real piece of string and weight job, a foot or so gives a steady safe speed for jigs and reels ( 2 beats to the bar). Try it, but I should mention it can be a bit mesmeric.

Cheers,

Charllie.

Regarding metronomes, they can be difficult to play with as you have no real idea of when the next tick is and there can be a tendency to play a bit ahead of the time, and then compensate with a longer note whilst waiting for the next beat. A traditional, free, and in my opinion more user friendly o...

Hi there,

I composed an Em air awhile back for a similar occasion, if you're interested, I can send the dots.

Cheers,

Charlie.

Cords eh. Tricky trousers, I turned up for a gig once in same and discovered that they are rather leaky and had to improvise a popping strap!

Regarding Pakistan made instruments, at risk of being booted off the Uilleann pipe forum I play a set of Pakistan made pipes, to be fair I have extensively reworked them and they do work now really well. As to the remark that regarding supporting terrorism; of course they do; that has ever been the ...

I would not worry too much, keep an eye on it to make sure that it does not get larger, but at the end of the day the utility of a good chanter far outweighs minor cosmetics; if it plays well that is is what it was made for. If it becomes a problem years hence, well at least you will have had years ...

Regarding changes in humidity, I would think that it probably does help with stability in the long run as the initially bound reed is full of stresses, and changes in humidity as well as playing and simple ageing will work the the structure and reduce the stresses as the cane gets the hang of being ...

Regarding sustainability of African Blackwood, there was a program on radio 4 last week about instruments and timber and featured the Mpingo (ABW) Conservation Project in Tanzania.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio/aod/radio4_a ... undingpost

Cheers,

Charlie.

I use superglue; dribble it over the binding and then wipe with polythene sheet ( which does not stick ), it's totally airtight, instant, and holds everything together too. I'm not sure about longevity and you have to watch the fumes. If you pull a reed apart ( not too easy) you get left with a litt...

Making reeds in the kitchen! They'll think that we are savages.

A gentleman makes reeds in the living room.

Cheers,

Charlie.