Good for you.

The GHB is often accompanied by the cultural expectation of being a "man's instrument", but women GHB pipers have certainly been documented since at least the 1700s. Here's an article on women pipers:

https://bagpipe.news/2020/03/08/how-wom ... ld-part-1/

The real issue has been the historically unequal status of women at the professional and competitive level, no matter how good they might be. These days, gender in professional and competitive piping is, as a standard, officially outdated and irrelevant - but as you yourself have learned, old attitudes die hard. I applaud you for ignoring them.

_________________
"Time is the wisest counselor of all." - Pericles

"I remain not entirely convinced of it." - Nano

Good day Zhu Li

Once again Nanohedron makes a very valid point on the gender thing.

It is fine for you to email me but if you post questions in this forum you will probably help people that have the same questions. This is a very friendly forum and other members only seem to want to help, there are no prickly criticisms. These forums are about help and information and you are entitled as much as anyone else to ask questions here. There are no stupid questions, just questions.

I have one more video to complete on the drones and I will post links to all the videos to help with the questions I have been receiving. Especially about the "tone chambers" and drone reeds.

You will understand better once you start to set up your own pipes.

Lots of pipers have different methods to fix things so don't get too confused. There are many ways to cook a chicken but at the end of the process there is cooked chicken. Some may taste better or worse but they are still cooked chicken.

All the best

G

Ah! Thanks for the explanation. It's another foreign term (along with anorak and luddite and such) for this American to keep track of.

What's interesting is that I never encountered that nose-tapping sort until joining international internet chat forums, where certain people would enter an ongoing conversation by casting aspersions on what everybody is saying without offering any alternatives. When asked, they would hint at secret knowledge, and say nothing more.

It's not for me to guess whether or not these people actually have the expertise they imply. Either way, they're not contributing anything to the community.

_________________
Richard Cook
c1980 Quinn uilleann pipes
1945 Starck Highland pipes
Goldie Low D whistle

Well Richard, sometimes you just need to grow an extra layer of skin.

I get emailed every week with some very bizarre alternate views and while I could crank up and treat these individuals as nutbags, I choose not to as there would be nothing to gain. I now ask them to help me understand by providing objective information. While this method of people management does create work for me, I don’t get into a spitting contest and you just never know what you might learn.

I am still having communications with an individual that saw my video on the saturated air and he wants me to concede that while the mouth blown air going in is saturated, and the air coming out of the drones is saturated, there would be pockets inside the bag that could be 65% RH as per a web page reference he sent to me. He sent me a string from a bagpipe forum, (not this forum) of this being debated, as irrefutable evidence showing he was right. What do you do with that?

As it happens, I went to the web page he referenced and the 65% RH has now been replaced with “saturated”. The point of my video was to demonstrate that the reeds are subjected to saturated air regardless of regional humidity and what moisture control devices are being used, this chap just missed the point. Notwithstanding this, I conceded that I could not account for the RH content of every corner of the bag without seeing some test data and that I did not have the necessary equipment. I continue to reply to his emails.

I recently sold a set of post war ABW Hardies with Caitlan mounts, red synthetic drone reeds, synthetic bag and no chanter to a lady so her son did not have to use borrowed school pipes. I bought them for $375 at a deceased estate garage sale and sold them to her for $550. The condition of the bag cover made them look rancid hence the good price.

She contacted me a couple of week later and told me the pipes were not very good pipes and wanted to return them. She was told these pipes did not have “strong” tone chambers and would never sound really good. I told her I did not understand and could she elaborate, which she did. She told me that her husband had a friend that knows a bloke whose son’s mate’s father’s colleague knew a lady that had a friend that played the pipes when he was at school (not an exact quote) and he said these pipes would not sound good because they did not have “strong” tone chambers. Hearsay at best.

I know that this model pipe has been played by champions to good effect so I asked her if this person could provide some more specific data. I said I would take the pipes back and refund her the $550 and would try and find her a set of pipes that better matched the data she provided. The data she provides was a string from a bagpipe forum, (again, not this forum) of a group having a spitting contest over tone chambers and the showing of 2mm of hemp. Again, what do you do?

Before this matter went sour, the boy’s bandmaster told him he got a real bargain and that the bandmaster played an identical set at non band engagements. Now the kid and his mom are happy to keep the Hardies.

I have spent some considerable time over the last 2 days turning up exact copies of drones with 3 different “tone chamber” dimensions to test in a new video because, this “black arts” stuff needs to be defined, or put to bed. I will post the links when finished.

Cheers

G

Hello Mr Glenarley
My GHB bagpipe has come and I am very happy but my teacher had to make the reeds work for me and the blow in pipe was so long I have to buy one that is not so long.
My playing is no good but I will make it good soon I hope to
My teacher can only help tomorrow so he does not work and this is good so I can have some days to practice
He is Indian and he is still very nice to me so I like him to be my teacher
The Chinese boys do not want to help me I am to much trouble to them
It is not easy and my teacher has your good advice to play with only the drones to learn first.
Tomorrow I will start on the next tenor pipe and after that I will start the long bass pipe
It is hard for me to hold the pipes up and blow and keep the bag hard but I will do this because I can practice at home because the drone is not to loud.
I will be very happy soon
Thank you for your good advice
Thank you for your answer to my questions

You are wise to ignore people that say things like that.

Here's a modern Grade One band. What do you see? Every other piper in the front rank is female.



Who knows? Perhaps when some of those women were young beginners they had old men telling them they shouldn't be learning the pipes.

But here they are, in one of the world's top bands.

_________________
Richard Cook
c1980 Quinn uilleann pipes
1945 Starck Highland pipes
Goldie Low D whistle

Oh, I'm not at all offended by those people! They just don't contribute anything.



You could have put automotive hose clamps around the tone chambers, and asked her "are they strong enough now?"

Keep your eye out for pre-war Hardies, they have stronger tone chambers

_________________
Richard Cook
c1980 Quinn uilleann pipes
1945 Starck Highland pipes
Goldie Low D whistle

Good day Zhu Li

Good news about your pipes. I don't like to promote brands but you should know, your Dunbar pipes are made to Henderson spec and you will not find too many that will blag the Henderson name. You have a fine set of pipes.

No Chinese boy wants his butt kicked by a Chinese girl, you keep up the practice and you may be surprised how attitudes can change.

I personally have found the Indian pipers to be steadfast and true to the craft, I believe you are in good hands. The PC mob probably don't appreciate your open and honest reference to him but for me. it's absolutely fine and brings a smile to my face.

Just keep listening to your tutor, practice as much as is practicable and only put effort into the things that matter.

I have posted a few videos that may help explain some of the things you have asked. Just search "Glenarley" in youtube and you will find them. The video on reed pitching is probably of the most relevance to you at this time. If you have questions, your oboe teacher friend will probably understand what I am trying to explain even better than me.

It is interesting to see that the female pipers in the picture posted by Richard are the only pipers in the front rank that have their flashes oriented the same as the PM, maybe they also listen better too.

I wish you well

All the best

G

Good day Richard

I was not suggesting those people were good enough to offend you, you've been around far too long for that.

From a personal perspective, I never know if acknowledging only leads to justification thereby providing the attention they crave, or if totally ignoring anything they state is rude and ignorant.

I will not put effort into foolishness trying to figure it out, just a ponderance.

Cheers

G

Good day Zhu Li

Just to make a point to you, the following quote was sent to me by a piper that had viewed my videos. It is a direct quote from another bagpipe forum.

"I wanted to ask if anyone has come across a chanter that might've been carved too much. I'm having a tough time getting an F to stay stable. Just the hair extra of pressure and it's sharp and just a hair under and it's flat. It's an older Sinclair. I can take the same reed and put it into an older Naill and pow, it's in tune. If carving can affect the note is there a way to build back up what's been carved out? Other notes in the chanter are fantastic.

Thanks,"

While this person is obviously a GHB piper, it it clear he has never been taught the fundamental reed skills. This is not uncommon in the current piping environment.

Had this piper asked a reed maker or an experienced pipe major, he would have been given the answer straight away and would not be left hanging.

My point to you is, never be too shy or embarrassed to ask questions as you can only learn from it. There are no stupid questions so do not walk away wondering.

Keep up the practice

All the best

G

Good day

Further to my post on the dodgy F issue, I have further been has sent quoted answers from other participants on that forum to the original question. I feel they demonstrate the common problems by help seekers and I would like to expand on them here.

Quote 1: You might also try putting a mm or two of tape on the bottom, or the side, of the hole, which will have the effect of reducing the hole size.

This is a Sinclair chanter and this company has been making chanters to great effect for generations so to suggest they put the wrong size hole for the F is strange as it suggests the maker is in error when it is clearly the reed that is incorrect.

Quote 2: An old remedy was a skillfully fitted bit of beeswax...to ‘redefine’ the note hole...probably mixed with a tich of black wax to stiffen it. Good luck with that.

This suggestion would also suggest the chanter maker is at fault and is most unlikely to address the problem.

Quote 3 : This has nothing (or little) to do with the carving. Sinclair chanters can have an unstable F with some reeds, especially easier reeds.

This is a more reasoned answer but still attributes blame on the chanter maker which I feel is unreasonable and misleading as all chanters could have an unstable F if the wrong pitched reed is being used.

It is reasonable to believe that a company such as Sinclair would not have sent a chanter out into the world with an inherent fault. The maker would have been sure to check the tone, balance and pitch before producing and dispatching the chanter. We just don't get given all the information at the time of purchase.

The chap asking for help highlights that the reed he is using is fine in a Naill chanter but not in the Sinclair. We personally use 3 generations of Sinclair chanters as profile benchmark tools and find them to be exactly as the manufacturer intended and easy to reed.

The issue is the reed pitch and nothing to do with the chanter in isolation to the reed. The Naill has a higher throat and the Sinclair has a lower throat. As such, the pitch of the most suitable reed will be different so a reed from the same manufacturer will work perfectly in each chanter if the reed design has enough flexibility to cover the pitch range required. I clearly demonstrate this in my videos and this is a reason some pipers will not use the aggressive ridge cut reeds over molded reeds.

It is not the chanter’s fault; it is a lack of knowledge and reed skill on the part of the user.

Just ask an uilleann pipe reed maker about the C#.

I try not to rant but the chap asking for help is going to go round and round like a f*rt in a milk bottle if he tries to make sense of the various views expressed and I feel this causes unnecessary confusion and anxiety, making an already difficult task unnecessarily more difficult.

Cheers

G

Hello Mr Glenarley and thank you for your good advice and for the youtube lessons
i will see my teacher tomorrow and will ask him to tell me what your youtube lessons tell me
i am practicing very hard
Thank you for your troubles and for your good advice

Good luck Zhu Li

Further, further to my post on the dodgy F, I have been sent all 9 comments from that thread and would like to address 2 of the latest.

I am not naming the origin or the tags of the authors, I just want to make punters seeking help think before going down the rabbit hole.

Quote 4: The Carving itself shouldn’t make any notes unstable.
putting tape over the whole should help counter balance the pitch of the note carved out. I would guess that the unstable F may be a factor of the Reed or where it’s seated...

Sounds like he/she knows something about reeds but would have been more help if he/she had suggested trying a couple of different reeds but good advice none the less.

Quote 5: It absolutely will if the cut-off frequency for the hole, which is a function of diameter and thickness, drops close to the target frequency of that hole. Any pressure variation will then cause large changes in output frequency.

This from the person that gave the earlier “Quote 1”. A whole lot of techno speak without a hint of execution. We say, “If you can’t dazzle ‘em with brilliance, baffle ‘em with bulldust”. I think this is a fitting saying in this case. Notice “if the…” in the first part of the techno blerb. This techno blerb could apply to a clarinet or a flute with the same relevance, and coming from the same person that suggested taping the “side” and “bottom” of the hole to fix stability, I feel this person was reacting to a bruise in defense and not offering helpful information. Either way, the person asking for help was only going to go further down that hole. Just what he was trying to avoid by asking for help in the first place.

We have been making and repairing uilleann and GHB chanters and reeds for more than 25 years and misinformation provided by individuals that have serious holes in their knowledge is the bane of our lives, and destroyed some fine instruments. I am not saying we are the greatest, but after 25 years, it is reasonable to believe we have learned something. And yes, self praise is no recommendation.

This chap has not said his chanter was gouged and no one has asked him to look and report back. Might have helped to ask. We know the reed he is using functions in another chanter so just ask him to try a couple of reeds at different pitches in the problem chanter and the different responses will give enough information for those that actually know what to do, to offer suggestions of help.

It is reasonable to believe the chanter was in tune and playable at a pitch and pressure when the maker sold it.

There are many different GHB chanters on the market so it is also reasonable to believe that they will require different pitched reeds to suit what the maker configured them to produce.

It is not reasonable to assume that your favorite make of chanter reed will be suitable for every make of GHB chanter on the market.

It is not rocket science.

We also say, “better to remain silent and have the world think you are an idiot, than open your mouth and remove all doubt”.

My motives are sincere, sometimes I falter in execution.

Cheers

G

I gotta say to anyone who wants to haul in some obscure techno-speak, "cut-off frequency" is good for the purpose, because it does sort of exist, but no one can honestly nail a number to it. Unfortunately for this speaker, "cut-off frequency," such as it is, is a property of a tube with a series of toneholes, not any one hole, and it is unlikely to be anywhere near the playing frequency of a particular note.

Thanks Tunborough for giving it some meaning. The other bloke was clearly just another Bullduster in a Big Hat. The bane of my profession.

It is a bit strange just how fluffy the GHB mob can get.

I am covering the "Tone Chambers" in a video series and have only posted the first in the series. I received an email from a now, non-valid gmail that "strongly advise you" not to finish as it will anger some pipers because it will "devalue old sets of pipes". Odd thing is, I have not made exclusive reference to the age of pipes, only the chambers.

I will finish the series of videos and post as intended. Just struggle with how precious and nutbag this Black Art stuff can turn people.

Thanks again Tunborough.

Cheers

G