Apron/Popping Strap Traditional Material?

A forum about Uilleann (Irish) pipes and the surly people who play them.
User avatar
Aldwyn
Posts: 31
Joined: Sun Jan 29, 2017 11:21 am
antispam: No
Please enter the next number in sequence: 8
Tell us something.: I am haunted by Uilleann Pipes. Been so for years. I have an Irish background and have played Trad on guitar in a duet long ago. Just started on the UPs in Feb of 2017!

Apron/Popping Strap Traditional Material?

Post by Aldwyn »

So, maybe I think to much... and a bit too anal retentive... but I am in need of replacing my current piping strap, and this ponderance came to my head. I wanted to get something traditional, and started looking at leather on line at places like Tandy, etc... but then I got to thinking: The predominate leather in Ireland "in the day" would have likely been sheep skin, not the cow leather I have been using and shopping for.

Anyone have input on what the traditional leather actually is for piper's aprons? Sheep, goat, cow...?

Thanks!
Kirk Lynch half set
Guitars, Ukes, whistles, misc percussion
Pocket lint
User avatar
An Draighean
Posts: 889
Joined: Mon Mar 26, 2012 11:18 am
antispam: No
Please enter the next number in sequence: 10
Location: Parker County, Texas, USA

Re: Apron/Popping Strap Traditional Material?

Post by An Draighean »

Mick O'Brien appears to use a folded piece of chamois. You can buy these in auto parts stores (they're used for drying water off of paint).

I suspect you're over-thinking this - use whatever piece of soft leather is convenient. There is not much history or tradition to a popping strap, beyond the obvious need to close the end of the chanter. I've seen a lot more sheep than cows in Ireland, but there are both.
Deartháir don phaidir an port.
User avatar
s1m0n
Posts: 10069
Joined: Wed Oct 06, 2004 12:17 am
antispam: No
Please enter the next number in sequence: 10
Location: The Inside Passage

Re: Apron/Popping Strap Traditional Material?

Post by s1m0n »

Granted, the pipes are an expensive instrument, but 19th and early 20th C Ireland was a relatively poor place. They'd have used whatever leather was at hand - cow, calf, sheep, goat or pigskin are all valid options.
And now there was no doubt that the trees were really moving - moving in and out through one another as if in a complicated country dance. ('And I suppose,' thought Lucy, 'when trees dance, it must be a very, very country dance indeed.')

C.S. Lewis
User avatar
daveboling
Posts: 4881
Joined: Sun Feb 17, 2002 6:00 pm
antispam: No
Please enter the next number in sequence: 8
Location: Huntsville, AL

Re: Apron/Popping Strap Traditional Material?

Post by daveboling »

Spoons-player skin is always popular :P Might be a little thick for some....

dave boling
I teleported home one night
With Ron and Sid and Meg.
Ron stole Meggie's heart away
And I got Sidney's leg.
-- Douglas Adams

'Bundinn er bátlaus maðu'.
User avatar
s1m0n
Posts: 10069
Joined: Wed Oct 06, 2004 12:17 am
antispam: No
Please enter the next number in sequence: 10
Location: The Inside Passage

Re: Apron/Popping Strap Traditional Material?

Post by s1m0n »

daveboling wrote:Might be a little thick for some....
Bravo!
And now there was no doubt that the trees were really moving - moving in and out through one another as if in a complicated country dance. ('And I suppose,' thought Lucy, 'when trees dance, it must be a very, very country dance indeed.')

C.S. Lewis
User avatar
oleorezinator
Posts: 1625
Joined: Mon Dec 29, 2003 1:21 am
antispam: No
Please enter the next number in sequence: 8
Tell us something.: I love uilleann pipes I love tin whistles I love flutes I love irish music I love concertinas I love bodhrans
Location: Behind the anthracite and shale curtain.

Re: Apron/Popping Strap Traditional Material?

Post by oleorezinator »

s1m0n wrote:They'd have used whatever leather was at hand - cow, calf, sheep, goat or pigskin are all valid options.
Add to the list deer hide and greyhound skin.
Information is not knowledge.
Knowledge is not wisdom.
Wisdom is not truth.
Truth is not beauty. Beauty is not love.
Love is not music. Music is the best.
- Frank Zappa
User avatar
an seanduine
Posts: 1997
Joined: Sun Sep 13, 2009 10:06 pm
antispam: No
Location: just outside Xanadu

Re: Apron/Popping Strap Traditional Material?

Post by an seanduine »

oleorezinator wrote:
s1m0n wrote:They'd have used whatever leather was at hand - cow, calf, sheep, goat or pigskin are all valid options.
Add to the list deer hide and greyhound skin.
Aye, that would be the slow greyhounds. :D
Bob
Not everything you can count, counts. And not everything that counts, can be counted

The Expert's Mind has few possibilities.
The Beginner's mind has endless possibilities.
Shunryu Suzuki, Roshi
User avatar
s1m0n
Posts: 10069
Joined: Wed Oct 06, 2004 12:17 am
antispam: No
Please enter the next number in sequence: 10
Location: The Inside Passage

Re: Apron/Popping Strap Traditional Material?

Post by s1m0n »

They all get slow eventually. And with greyhounds, 'eventually' means 18 months, or less.
And now there was no doubt that the trees were really moving - moving in and out through one another as if in a complicated country dance. ('And I suppose,' thought Lucy, 'when trees dance, it must be a very, very country dance indeed.')

C.S. Lewis
User avatar
Aldwyn
Posts: 31
Joined: Sun Jan 29, 2017 11:21 am
antispam: No
Please enter the next number in sequence: 8
Tell us something.: I am haunted by Uilleann Pipes. Been so for years. I have an Irish background and have played Trad on guitar in a duet long ago. Just started on the UPs in Feb of 2017!

Re: Apron/Popping Strap Traditional Material?

Post by Aldwyn »

I adopted a retired racing greyhound, and she is off hiding now, thanks to this thread! 146 races... http://www.greyhound-data.com/d?d=lazy+ ... birthland=

So no greyhound leather for me! :D

I tried to get a local spoon player to let me have his thigh skin... all I got was an imprint of a spoon on my forehead, and a headache!

So long story short, stop thinking about it, and buy some leather of whatever kind.

So, what is traditional... polished, or suede? Horeen? What color... green? Red?

Kidding! Kidding!

Thanks for the input, guys!
Kirk Lynch half set
Guitars, Ukes, whistles, misc percussion
Pocket lint
User avatar
PJ
Posts: 5884
Joined: Tue Jan 18, 2005 12:23 pm
antispam: No
Please enter the next number in sequence: 8
Tell us something.: ......................................................................................................
Location: Baychimo

Re: Apron/Popping Strap Traditional Material?

Post by PJ »

Aldwyn wrote:The predominate leather in Ireland "in the day" would have likely been sheep skin, not the cow leather I have been using and shopping for.
I suspect that the most common hyde is likely to have been pigskin. Sheep skin (or more likely lambskin) would have been processed so as to keep the wool on the hyde for insolation and comfort. Lambskin gloves are very comfortable. Pigskin, on the other hand, wouldn't have been considered a luxury product.
PJ
User avatar
tommykleen
Posts: 1686
Joined: Fri Aug 30, 2002 6:00 pm
antispam: No
Please enter the next number in sequence: 8
Tell us something.: I am interested in the uilleann pipes and their typical -and broader- use. I have been composing and arranging for the instrument lately. I enjoy unusual harmonic combinations on the pipes. I use the pipes to play music of other cultures.
Location: Minnesota, Birthplace of the pop-up toaster
Contact:

Re: Apron/Popping Strap Traditional Material?

Post by tommykleen »

Some of the players I admire most use chamois. But I don't get it: chamois folds and creases like crazy. Maybe its so soft that you can seal the chanter right through a fold (?).
Tommykleen
Well, don't forget to make music.
User avatar
PJ
Posts: 5884
Joined: Tue Jan 18, 2005 12:23 pm
antispam: No
Please enter the next number in sequence: 8
Tell us something.: ......................................................................................................
Location: Baychimo

Re: Apron/Popping Strap Traditional Material?

Post by PJ »

Don't know about the seal. Chamois tends to be porous.

Apart from the seal, leather helps reflect the sound, which I doubt chamois does.
PJ
bensdad
Posts: 719
Joined: Mon Feb 23, 2004 2:41 pm

Re: Apron/Popping Strap Traditional Material?

Post by bensdad »

Don't use seal. Just don't.
User avatar
Nanohedron
Moderatorer
Posts: 38211
Joined: Wed Dec 18, 2002 6:00 pm
antispam: No
Please enter the next number in sequence: 8
Tell us something.: Been a fluter, citternist, and uilleann piper; committed now to the way of the harp.

Oh, yeah: also a mod here, not a spammer. A matter of opinion, perhaps.
Location: Lefse country

Re: Apron/Popping Strap Traditional Material?

Post by Nanohedron »

I seem to recall a fellow who used the top side of an old, beat-up work glove, fingers and all. You know, one of these jobbies, split in half:

Image

He was a working man's working man, so it was perfect not so much because of the association, but that he'd used what he naturally had on hand. I thought that had to be about the coolest and fiercest popping strap ever on the whole darned planet. :thumbsup:
"If you take music out of this world, you will have nothing but a ball of fire." - Tribal musician
User avatar
Peter Duggan
Posts: 3223
Joined: Tue Aug 30, 2011 5:39 pm
antispam: No
Please enter the next number in sequence: 8
Tell us something.: I'm not registering, I'm trying to edit my profile! The field “Tell us something.” is too short, a minimum of 100 characters is required.
Location: Kinlochleven
Contact:

Re: Apron/Popping Strap Traditional Material?

Post by Peter Duggan »

Nanohedron wrote:You know, one of these jobbies, split in half
No, you don't want jobbies! (Said the Scot...)
And we in dreams behold the Hebrides.

Master of nine?
Post Reply