Top X reasons to like the Uilleann Pipes...

snoogie · Post by **snoogie** » Tue Dec 02, 2003 8:30 pm

Lorenzo's post on "Why some people don't like Uilleann Pipes" made me think of this one...

(There's only 5 because that's all I could think of...please add more)

Top 5 reasons to like the Uilleann Pipes:

#5: They attract strange animals...
http://chiffboard.mati.ca/viewtopic.php?t=15993

#4: They attract strange people...
http://chiffboard.mati.ca/viewtopic.php?t=14259

#3: They repel spouses, friends, pets, etc. (great for those times you just want to be left alone!)

#2: Avoiding the Phineas Gage syndrome. I have never even remotely considered driving and playing the pipes at the same time.

#1 Reason to like the Uilleann Pipes: They just sound really cool!

fancypiper · Post by **fancypiper** » Tue Dec 02, 2003 10:33 pm

# 6. They can be rather difficult to master.

That's some history I collected from the extinct bagpipe mailing list.

Pat Cannady · Post by **Pat Cannady** » Wed Dec 03, 2003 9:36 am

They definitely attract strange people. People who never follow advice from others, for instance (sometimes it's okay to do this, really!!!). People who, as beginners, refuse to take anything on the authority of more experienced players because it sounds too much like hard work. People who love the use of the pipes in soundtracks and broadway productions but won't listen to irish trad, thinking it stodgy, rustic, and boring. People who will spend thousands of dollars, pounds, or euros for an instrument they never practice. Fanatics. Curmudgeons. Geeks. Alcoholics. Misanthropes. Handy types who can't play their way out of a paper bag but love to tinker with reeds.

lemonsquash · Post by **lemonsquash** » Wed Dec 03, 2003 10:21 am

Not to mention people who make snap judgements!

Pat Cannady · Post by **Pat Cannady** » Wed Dec 03, 2003 10:44 am

Oh yes, and people who live for the sake of being contrary to anyone with any real hard-fought, hard-won observations to make on the dichotomies between real music and commercial swill made for the wool-eared masses, between art and rubbish, between dedication and dilettantism...shall I go on?

Chadd · Post by **Chadd** » Wed Dec 03, 2003 11:50 am

Behold! The wool-eared masses are listening

Pat Cannady · Post by **Pat Cannady** » Wed Dec 03, 2003 12:02 pm

All right, Chadd, good one. The previous statement was a bit over the top.

I just find myself a bit mystified by how some people bother to go through the drama, hassle, and expense of buying pipes but don't do their homework afterward. Anyway, this is supposed to be a thread about top 10 reasons to like the pipes, so I'll add a couple:

In-tune regulators blazing away

The chicks

AlanB · Post by **AlanB** » Wed Dec 03, 2003 12:38 pm

Pat Cannady wrote:
The chicks

Pat,

Are they the hairy things that come up and ask "where do you blow" after a gig?

Alan

jeff_lindblade · Post by **jeff_lindblade** » Wed Dec 03, 2003 12:47 pm

Pat Cannady wrote: The chicks

Pat I'm surprised at you...

What would Karen say?

for that matter - What would your girlfriend say?

...you are so greedy, you get all the "chicks" and the Quinn pipes.

..wait a second.. maybe it IS the Quinn pipes. Perhaps we have just discovered yet another reason to own a set of Quinn's - they are "chick" magnets.

Pat Cannady · Post by **Pat Cannady** » Wed Dec 03, 2003 1:05 pm

so you get those, too, Alan?

Jeff, sssssshhhhhhhhh. Mum's the word.

AlanB · Post by **AlanB** » Wed Dec 03, 2003 2:50 pm

I was once asked "do you make your own wind"

Alan

Pat Cannady · Post by **Pat Cannady** » Wed Dec 03, 2003 3:15 pm

Get outta here! That's hilarious!

fancypiper · Post by **fancypiper** » Wed Dec 03, 2003 3:16 pm

Just tell them there are 4 D batteries in the back end of the bag. That will satisfy them.

snoogie · Post by **snoogie** » Wed Dec 03, 2003 9:54 pm

My wife is always complaining about me making my own wind. (and it has nothing to do with the pipes)!!

lemonsquash · Post by **lemonsquash** » Wed Dec 03, 2003 11:04 pm

Careful where yer swingin' that righteous sword o' truth, big feller! Some of us unworthy pretenders to musicianship're liable t'git hurt!