I’ve watched this video posted by Murk https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OAtEnKBvmbM&sns=em
over and over again ,and I am amazed each time. Anyone willing to offer some insight into what is actually going on in the pipers mind to be able to multitask to this level. Is it that he has practiced the chanter part and then the reg part so much that it happens automatically or is his mind switching back and forth very quickly or is it that he has two brains?
RORY
The latter.
I think it’s a matter of building up a few bars at a time until a degree of independence is possible.
Oh and Sh*t loads of practice !
If you watch closely you will notice that Padraic is simultaneously reciting the soliliquy from Hamlet in Czech translation by blinking his eyes in Morse code.
Maybe someone who’s played both instruments can tell me:
Is this more difficult than co-ordinating both hands when playing piano?
It’s an exceptional piece of piping.
His right hand barely moves. Is he using his right thumb to play the keys?
Yes, he is using his right thumb to play the keys as well as the heal of his hand.
I have played several instruments that need seperate co-ordination of the two hands including the piano, and it is not easy to say if this is more difficult than that needed to play the piano… but similar in a different way. Perhaps more akin to playing a church Organ where both hands and both feet get used to play notes.
I always recall a radio interview with the guitarist Segovia on his 80th birthday… well, a question asked of him about how he spent his day where he gave the information that he practiced his music in half hour bouts during the day and it equated to five hours of practice in all. For a Professional musican this is the working day.
The amateur musician practices a piece untill the mistakes are eliminated… the professional musican practices untill it is impossible for mistakes to happen during performances.
I saw Paddy Keenan use the thumb, Joe McKenna use the bottom of the chanter, Denis Brooks take the right hand off the chanter and play all the reg keys like a keyboard…
I have found this take : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PeBc2BsDUqA Great playing
Makes me wonder if playing at this level is all mental. Not really in the “I think I can, I think I can” sense, but rather more of a paradigm shift. As a Mathematics Teacher, it’s consistently apparent to me just how differently learners/amateurs view the discipline from the professionals or those with more experience. My students are decidedly likely to see the math that we do as a set of individual rules that should be followed - and try as I might to reveal for them the larger connections between these “rules” (how I hate that word) - only some of them will begin to see the topic that way and only after considerable time and effort. As the “Mathematics Professional” (humor me), I might see a unit of study as one greater concept or idea, with individual sections merely being variations on that theme. Most of my students - for all my efforts - simply interact with the variations and try their best to piece them together.
There’s nothing wrong with this. Everybody goes through learning in this way. Some might have an easier time piecing things together at the seams but we all have to do it sooner or later or never.
Mind that I’m saying this as a green learner - but maybe Padraig thinks about how the regs are played at a level one step higher. Maybe he does multiple things at once not by making most things automatic and thinking about one aspect, but rather by making everything automatic. Padraig’s muscles are just playing “The Arrival of the Queen of Sheba” - a piece of music. The notes and the rhythm and the chords and the harmonies maybe are just one giant motion to him.
I guess the question then would be how did he get to this place? Maybe I’m just shouting at the moon and that was the question to begin with.
Murk, you make some interesting observations. From a mental view point I’d take a piece like this as One Automatic Thought … so I would try to put it all together from the start and let muscle memory take over. Although with the Pipes it is very simple to seperate the two activities of playing the Chanter and playing the Regulators, I like to try to lock the whole thing together as early in the learning process as I can.
Another point that I feel is important is the size and shape of the player. A certain amount of tallness makes handling a Pipes in this manner more comfortable. Hand size is also a factor as is girth. Not so easy to manipulate everything if you have small hands, short legs and arms, a fat belly and the chair is too high.
Starting to learn the pipes at 7 years old helps enormously too… I’d imagine. 
So, what I’m saying is ,we should not beat ourselves up if we cannot play like this … enjoying the ride is important too.
PS; oh, and a decent set of Pipes is also usefull ; 
What Geoff says is true enough. Watch Ronan Browne on The Piper’s Choice Vol. 1. All the elements come together there. He’s big, he has a great set of pipes, and he’s been at it since he was a lad. And he is relaxed. He doesn’t clutter his tunes with fancy twiddley bits. He’s letting the tune do the work.
I guess I’ve come closer to an all-at-once (or at least, more-at-once) approach to playing regs with the chanter. This does lead to a considerable amount of non-music being played (initially). But it seems to integrate the two teams more quickly than adding the regs later (at least for me). You have to be prepared to make a lot of noise, though: a practice best pursued when cohabitants are a way 
Here’s a video that gives a good view of Padraig McGovern’s right thumb when he’s playing. The real action is when he finishes the air (anyone know the name of it?) and goes on to the march (The Fairy Troupe).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PeBc2BsDUqA
I don’t have regs yet, but my guess is it might be rather like getting a cat and dog to be friends; introduce them to each other as youths.
And… after watching that video… I think I need to start a gofundme for some regs.
One of the commenters calls the air, “Cath Cheim an Fhia.”
Excellent camera angle on that video. As an observer, it convinces me that the pipes are physically impossible for mortal humans to play, demigods like Mr. McGovern notwithstanding.
This thread has cost me money! Because I went to the Carberry McGovern site, listened to the sample track from the joint CD, thought I might as well have the Carberry solo one as well at the offer price, and hit the pay button…
Does that bag neck length look too short? clearly not an issue for the man, just ordered his cd
When I had a piping class with Mikie Smyth last weekend, we talked about Padraig as well. Mikie showed us a photo of when he made a high five with Padraig. Twice his hand size actually. Mikie said that Padraig could stretch his right thumb over almost ALL reg keys without losing grip on the chanter due to his very special finger physics. So this certainly helps…
Amazing stuff. I have a feeling it might cost me money as well.