Flutulator wrote:
In the middle of week 4 on uilleann pipes for me, and I definitely can get in ruts when I use the bellows to change pressure. I bet it's because I am used to a regular, constant pressure in the bag
I hadn't thought of it that way (probably because I learned the uilleann pipes 40 years ago!) but you're right. Highland pipes want dead-steady pressure, and on the uilleann pipes you have to tailor the pressure for each note, more or less.
It's why I have people just play a single note (say B or G) at first until they're blowing dead-steady.
Then I have them play in a range of notes that use the same (or nearly the same) pressure, say, from G in the low octave to Back D.
Because you can't do the subtle pressure changes required from an uneven base. First must come absolute steadiness, then can come the controlled tiny sophisticated changes in pressure that playing in tune requires.
Beginners, especially those coming from Highland pipes, misunderstand the differences in pressure required to play the octaves. (Beginners coming from flute and whistle have an advantage here.)
Highland pipers seem to always imagine that there's a constant pressure at one level for the low octave (just as on the Highland pipes) and a constant pressure at a different level for the 2nd octave.
Hence they tend to underblow the low octave and overblow the 2nd octave.
It's not like that. Rather, the uilleann chanter has a range of notes requiring around the same pressure (which spans the octave jump) with outliers above and below.
So on my chanter the notes from G in the low octave up to F# in the 2nd octave blow at around the same pressure.
Down below, I have to back off a bit for Low F# and Low E and blow very strongly for the Hard Bottom D.
Up above, I have to give a little boost for High G, a bit greater boost for High A, and an even greater boost for High B.
Ironic that the lowest and highest notes require the most pressure (taking High B to be the highest note that regularly occurs it ITM). On my chanter High C and High D (done with keys on my chanter) require less pressure than High B.
Add to that the tricky E's. Many Concert Pitch chanters have around an eighthtone to quartertone differential in pitch between Low E and High E. How one handles it varies from player to player. What I do is tune my E right in the middle, with Low E a tad sharp and High E a tad flat. On long Low E's I back off on the blowing and shade the holes with my two lowest fingers. On long High E's I give a pressure boost. On fast tunes they're just off a bit.
The B's are similar, but opposite, in that High B tends to be sharper than Low B. Many pipers tune Low B "just" (-16 cents) which makes High B at around its ET value.