Cathy Wilde wrote:In my experience doing these things, the tuning of the orchestra can be pretty random too, especially as the performance goes on and the room heats up. I've played with some church and community orchestras that make my pipes sound like the only in-tune thing in the room!
Yes indeed, I've played at things like that, for example weddings or wedding receptions where they have a string quartet playing outside in the damp cold and all their instruments are going wonky and they're struggling the entire time to play in tune.
But I would NEVER use that as an excuse for ME not being in tune! I take great pride in always being as in-tune as possible. As I've said, the quickest way to gain the respect of all the 'legit' players in the room is to play in tune. They all hear it! Likewise the quickest way to lose their respect is to be out of tune.
Cathy Wilde wrote:
I think all you can do is your best ... adjust your reeds & tape your toneholes accordingly in practice, and then on the day of the performance get there early, tune the pipes in the room, and pray to The Gods of Uill Winds that the climate doesn't change too dramatically once the room is full of hot sweaty exhaling people (in the past I've tuned a few cents sharp with that in mind). And, like Skipjam (I can only dream of playing as in-tune as he does) says, work the bag pressure. Sure, pipes are a folk instrument but playing with orchestras is fun, and the pipes can add such nice color and texture.
Good advice!
Sometimes there's not much you can do though... there was one gig, a very expensive wedding in a fancy huge ballroom overlooking the Pacific ocean, for which they had hired a little 'classical' ensemble with strings and what not. I was hired to play Highland Cathedral. (I tried to explain to them that HC was a GHB tune and wouldn't sound the same on the uilleann pipes, but to them 'bagpipes are bagpipes'.)
So for the rehearsal beforehand we're in this room with the air conditioning set on Fargo and my pipes are very flat. I had been out to the actual ballroom and it's temp was normal. I explained to the band leader that my pipes would be very flat in this cold room, that I could move reed and tape and bring it up, but then I would be very sharp in the ballroom. He said "make it in tune now" so I did.
Then I had just a couple minutes between the time our rehearsal ended and we had to go out and play to move my reed back where it was.
Out in the ballroom all was well! The entire ocean-side of the room was huge glass walls/windows, which were open, and a lovely coolish sea breeze was coming in, and my pipes were happy.
BUT THEN... they shut all those windows and it was The Greenhouse Effect and the temp shot up maybe 20 degrees.
My big solo is coming up, I only have maybe two or three minutes... I can't go anywhere to check, I'm sitting with the group and the violins are playing their thing. I was torn between moving my reed up, guessing on where to set it, to try to flatten the chanter, or just leaving it and hoping against hope that I'm not
too sharp.
I did the latter, a mistake! Because I was sharp. Oh well, you can just do what you can do, and live and learn.
After all this is a rare skill indeed!
sorry, but i disagree that its a temperament issue at all. If the E & A are on pitch, Just go with the flow and tune on the fly to everyone else. [thats what every single musician onstage will be doing also, except for the conductor, keyboard, harp, marimba, & cymbals.] A couple rehearsals and it will become 2nd nature where to sharp or flat, on or off knee, ease pressure, lay into the bag as necessary. Wish I could go to the show, which im sure will be awesome. GOOD LUCK "The Silver Spear" 
