Well it was bound to happen wasn’t it? You start listening to pipe CDs.
Then you slip over to the Uilleann forum a bit…you know just to see what’s going on…then, Wham! the piping bug bites you right in the…well…er…the wallet!
The next thing you know you’ve swapped a really nice keyed flute for a Preshaw C 1/2 set and you’re pacing in front of the mailbox for 3 days.
If you’re lucky your wife brings you sandwiches.
Well today they arrived. I put them together, strapped the babies on, started pumping and squeezing and wigglin’ my fingers and Voila! I’m a piper.
I’m pleasently surprised that I’m actually able to squeak out a tune or two (sort of). Just think what I"ll be able to do if I actually learn the right fingerings.
They (occaionally) sound really nice.
Anyway, my arms are killng me but I’m havin’ a blast!
Mixed reviews on the musicality (ie..whadda ya get when you cross an Irish flute with a whoopie cushion etc…).
Though all think it very entertaining to watch me struggle. Two of 13 insisted on being strapped in and givng them a whirl. Only one seriously spell-bound (chip off the old block she is ).
Mom smiles but looks just a bit pained. She’ll like them as I improve I think she does like the sound.
I have a question though, isn’t the little switch on the end of the main stock (is that right?) you know, the wooden thingie the drones stick out of…anyway, isn’t that switch supposed to shut off the drones? It seems just a tad loose and does nothing I can see regardless of the position.
Seems like this process would be a bit easier if the drones were off for a bit.
Hey, pardner…switch them drones off! Yeah, that’s it. Push that switch all the way out (away from the mainstock) and that should shut the air supply off to the drones.
Good luck, and remember…it don’t come easy, so count your blessings while things seem good. And thank God for all that rain in that dry desert there in Idaho!
Usually the tutorial and CD by Heather Clarke are recommended and also the first volume of the NPU instructional DVD. You can get a discount on both if you join NPU. Whether you get them there or not, you can read about them at the store on their website:
Tommy Reck once told me how a friend of his asked Seamus Ennis ‘Do you know a piper named Tommy Reck?’. ‘No’ Ennis replied, ‘but I know a Tommy Reck who owns a set of pipes’.
Any recommendations on a tutorial? Anybody got an old one they’d like to part with?
Congrats and aloha, Doc, its an endless journey - enjoy the ride. I’ve got some underutilized materials that I probably want to keep for reference purposes, but you’re welcome to borrow them - if I get a chance before leaving town next week, I’ll get 'em in the mail. Hope you can make it to the SLPC Tionol in June .
Peter Laban wrote:
Tommy Reck once told me how a friend of his asked Seamus Ennis ‘Do you know a piper named Tommy Reck?’. ‘No’ Ennis replied, ‘but I know a Tommy Reck who owns a set of pipes’.
The most I’d claim for myself is that I sport a set of pipes, and they look darn good on me when I wear black. I heard another tale that on one occasion, Seamus and Leo Rowsome were both at the Dublin Piper’s Club (I think it was), and on hearing Leo playing away in another room, someone asked Seamus who was that playing, to which Seamus replied with icy dignity, “No one at all.”
Sean Mac Donncha actually told Geoff Wooff and myself that story, sometime during the mid 80s. Himself and Seamus were staying upstairs in Friel’s, Leo playing in the bar. There were some other good stories , some involving the Friel’s cat (there was a mutual dislike between the cat and Ennis with hostilities culminating in Ennis finding a dollop of catshit on his pillow)
I don’t believe it: The moderator actually bleeped the cat’s (bleep) )
Sean Mac Donncha actually told Geoff Wooff and myself that story, sometime during the mid 80s. Himself and Seamus were staying upstairs in Friel’s, Leo playing in the bar. There were some other good stories , some involving the Friel’s cat (there was a mutual dislike between the cat and Ennis with hostilities culminating in Ennis finding a dollop of (bleep) on his pillow)
[Bleeping] hilarious! Thanks for that, Peter. I knew I shouldn’t have put it past him (Ennis, that is, not Our Moderator).
Really?
Testing, one, two, three, fuck. Testing.
Man, that’s cool! I love it, automated thought control.
Fuck you and fuck you and I shit on your fucking head and shit and fuck!
Welcome to the dark side. Don’t get too excited and try to play too long at first, as shoulder injuries have sidelined several new pipers. You can remove the mainstock and stopper up the bag for a practice set, or leave the stock in with the drones off. I like the latter as you need to know where the drones want to lie on your lap when you do get around to adding them into the mix. Gain good control of the chanter before adding the drones though.
What do all your children think?
).
