Pipe muter

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rglight
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Tell us something.: I've been playing low whistle for under a year while I've tried to find a practice set of uilleann pipes. I now have a Michael Hubbert practice set and am looking for a community that can provide me tips, as well as find deals on used irish instruments.

Pipe muter

Post by rglight »

I live in an apartment so finding a place to practice without disturbing people (or feeling like I'm disturbing people) can be challenging. I ran across someone mentioning a bagpipe muter and thought it looked interesting. Here's the link. http://www.barbarrickmusic.com/bagpipe-mute

I've seen people use these on GHB, but do you think they'd work on the uilleann pipes or has anyone reported their experience?

Thanks
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Mr.Gumby
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Re: Pipe muter

Post by Mr.Gumby »

I've seen people use these on GHB, but do you think they'd work on the uilleann pipes{...}?
How do you propose to stop the chanter on your knee when it's in a bag? Image
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rglight
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Tell us something.: I've been playing low whistle for under a year while I've tried to find a practice set of uilleann pipes. I now have a Michael Hubbert practice set and am looking for a community that can provide me tips, as well as find deals on used irish instruments.

Re: Pipe muter

Post by rglight »

I thought about that. I wasn't sure if maybe it just seal up right if stuck on your knee a certain way. 'Tis why I ask
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dyersituations
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Re: Pipe muter

Post by dyersituations »

Solutions to being able to play quieter often seem to be making quieter reeds or playing flat pipes. That being said, I've been told that some chanters are hard to make quieter and some flat pipes are quite loud. For myself I found that a B chanter made playing on my own in a small room much more comfortable, though I wasn't in an apartment.
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PJ
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Re: Pipe muter

Post by PJ »

I've seen another type of muter, made out of a 4" pipe and wrapped in foam. That allowed the piper to close the bottom of the chanter, but I imagine that this took from the sound-proofing.

The late Bill Ochs taught online (Skype) and some of his students were in different time zones. Bill didn't want to disturb his neighbours at unsocial hours so he installed a small sound-proof booth in his apartment which he's use if the online class began after 9.30 p.m.

I have heard of other such solutions - sitting in the closet surrounded by coats, draping blankets, carpets, etc. on walls, ...
PJ
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Hans-Joerg
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Re: Pipe muter

Post by Hans-Joerg »

An old, used telefone-booth with a fibreglass-bulb for the drones. :)
rglight
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Tell us something.: I've been playing low whistle for under a year while I've tried to find a practice set of uilleann pipes. I now have a Michael Hubbert practice set and am looking for a community that can provide me tips, as well as find deals on used irish instruments.

Re: Pipe muter

Post by rglight »

I might try some of these suggestions. But some of them seem like a bit of finagling.

I tried just knocking on the neighbors door, gave them some contact info, and told them to call me if they're studying or taking a nap. So far, so good.
brassnebony
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Re: Pipe muter

Post by brassnebony »

Quiet reed or b/bb set for practicing

I just play at reasonable hours generally and play flute or whistle if after 8-9ish
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eskin
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Re: Pipe muter

Post by eskin »

Do you have an iPad and $4.99?

This plus headphones:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O0DSPw75krM

More info at:

http://www.tradlessons.com/Uilleann.html
JR
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Re: Pipe muter

Post by JR »

Narrow Bore pipes are what you want. They typically come in keys below concert D but there are a few makers out there who make beautiful sounding quiet D chanters.

Another trick you can do is lightly wrap some PTFE tape around the reed head. If you do this, it should dampen the sound, and you can always add or take away tape as you need. I do this with regulator reeds typically, but it does work on chanters too.

Anecdotally, I was always worried about practising in my last apartment until one day I bit the bullet and got a good few hours squawking in. Afterwards, the upstairs neighbour knocked my door only to tell me that their brother was an all-Ireland champion piper and that I sounded good.
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ausdag
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Re: Pipe muter

Post by ausdag »

I have one of those mutes for my GHBs - works great, cuts the volume of the GHB chanter down to about an average fiddle volume.
To use it for a UP chanter, you'd need a top-feed (swan bend) chanter top as the chanter feeds in though the top of the mute and a draw string closes the opening around it. A typical 'T' style chanter top would be an awkward fit unless you cut off a section from the bottom of the mute (see next point) to shorten it as it is quite long compared to the length of a CP chanter.
You'd also need to cut open the bottom of the mute so to allow the chanter to still be stopped on your knee.
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rglight
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Tell us something.: I've been playing low whistle for under a year while I've tried to find a practice set of uilleann pipes. I now have a Michael Hubbert practice set and am looking for a community that can provide me tips, as well as find deals on used irish instruments.

Re: Pipe muter

Post by rglight »

I have a swan bend chanter, so maybe that'd work! I've also been considering vpipes, instead of getting a new, quieter chanter. At least, if I'm going to drop a lot of money on a solution, the vpipes seem like the best bet.
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Re: Pipe muter

Post by liestman »

That is exactly why I own some vPipes and they work fine for that purpose. They would never replace my real pipes but they make it convenient to practice when and where I normally could not.

On the muter idea though, you could make a cover over the chanter with slots for your hands and it might work if you have a popping valve on the end of your chanter to help seal against the leg without having a hole in the bottom of the muter which would totally defeat the purpose. Just a thought.
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