Chiff and Fipple Forums

It's a beautiful thing Tony Have you named it yet?

Sorry, none of my pipes have names.
I'm kinda sad because I've come to the point where I need to make a decision. I said I would put some of my other pipes up for sale when this set arrived... but, I like them all and don't want to part with any of them.

Those are gorgeous, Tony. Are they blackwood?

Yes, they're blackwood with nickel-chrome plated keys and stag mounts. Time permitting, I'll shine them up this weekend and take better pictures.

No fields of clover in Miami. However, there is a castle made of coral rock at a state park near here. I might take some pictures there.

A cold chill of horror fell on me when I realized you aren't joking Tony!

Patrick.

Y'know, I like my pipes shiny too. I paid good money for them and actually I derive a lot of pleasure just from the thought that they show impeccable craftsmanship. To let the brass tarnish over may give them that desirable antique look, but I think it doesn't do them justice.

I gues it's kind of like whether you liked the Sistine chapel better before or after they cleaned the frescoes.

That ought to give Patrick a heart attack.

Jeff

I'm with Patrick on this one. The natural tarnish of brass is beautiful. Even tarnished copper is considered a luxery...which you often see on the cupola of expensive homes.

As for the number of sets of pipes one could own, I think the closer a person gets to where he or she wants to be on the pipes the clearer it becomes. I've gone through several sets and still haven't acquired what I would consider the ultimate full set. I think of it as having one set for the band and another for personal enjoyment...namely a flat set.

flat pitch-->I'm with Lorenzo on the flat stuff...concert D has it's place...and certainly won't ever disappear..it's fun, enjoyable and worthwhile in it's own rights...but there something unmistakably pleasureable about playing a flat set! I just made myself a new B chanter in boxwood, and boy have I enjoyed playin in the new reeds and just "hanging" out with the new sticks..no practice pressure..just diddling out a few tunes..

polishinh--> to each their own...but as someone who first learned to play the NSP's..I find it very interesting that NSPers keep their sets polished, while UPers prefer the antique, beat-up look...I wonder why that is? HMM! We could do an entire ethnomusical psych-social cultural study on this topic!

an interesting thing about brass is that the particular patina it gets depends on the person's chemical makeup. My office manager has a couple of brass desk keys that he has used twice a day for about 5 years. When he started they were about 3 years old and had very little patina. They are now solid brown, the color of chocolate. I can't make brass do that to save my life.

Here's some pics of a boxwood B chanter I turned the other day...

http://www.domainnamesanity.com/webumak ... C_012S.JPG

Adding a wooden top and stop key tonight...working on 3 other B chanters in grenadillo, mopane and cocobolo too...tonal experiments...

And a set of Cocobolo & Box SSP's for my best friend...
http://www.domainnamesanity.com/webumak ... C_006S.JPG

<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: Davey on 2003-02-14 14:08 ]</font>

<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: Davey on 2003-02-14 14:10 ]</font>

Here's a picture of my new drone set.
All parts made by Davy Stephenson
Chanter is ebony and brass
Drones are ebony and nickel silver
My wife made the green velvet cover because the bag seasoning was leaving grease smears on everything I set it down. on



Jeff

Hi Jeff,
Nice So you found time to take a pic then. Did you order a new bag with the drones or did you add them to an exsisting practice set? if so did you tie in the drones yourself?

Cheers, Mac (looking forward to being able to justify drones)

<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: MacEachain on 2003-02-14 17:02 ]</font>

I ordered a new bag with the drones. I'm glad I did too, it's bigger and I find myself working less to keep things going now.

Jeff

<<Mac (looking forward to being able to justify drones)>>

Justifying it to yourself should be pretty easy, justifying it to your wife may be a harder sell.

Here's what worked for me, have someone over to your house who has a half set, have them turn on the drones and play a few tunes, point out to your wife how great and how much better they sound with drones, make sure she agrees. Then, whine incessantly till she finally says "yes" just to shut you up. Quickly place your order before she changes her mind.



Jeff

Beautiful set there Jeff...I've been admiring Davy's bellows for some time, those bellows look huge, or maybe it's the camera. You're gonna have some fun now. I remember when I got my first practice set, I use to sit at the pump organ droning some D's, wishing I had a 1/2 set. You'll probably hear some tuning issues now that you have a steady note to bounce the melody against. Let'em climatize.