Drones coming.....what to expect?

Ailin · Post by **Ailin** » Sat Dec 06, 2003 10:02 am

Next month I will finally be getting my drones from Seth Gallagher. Finally, not because Seth is taking long, but that I finally have the $.
Anyway I have read here about some folks feeling like they are practically starting over again once they add the drones. I plan to first get used to having the drones positioned before I even attempt to play them (yeah, right). Then I will add in one drone at a time.
What can I expect in the step up? Is there going to be a major difference in required bag pressure? Is there any reason I wouldn't be able to be up and runnning within a week or so? Are there are other potential problems that I should be aware of? Perhaps, some of the answers here could be added in to the FAQ.
Thanks,
Ailin

Tony · Post by **Tony** » Sat Dec 06, 2003 10:16 am

You may have to adjust your chanter to play with less pressure, otherwise the drones may go out of pitch (or cut out) when squeezing the bag for the second octave.

djm · Post by **djm** » Sat Dec 06, 2003 11:08 am

Ailin, there would be no great benefit to playing one drone at a time. Let 'em all go. What you will notice is the difference from when you were able to close off the solo chanter and build up pressure in the bag. With the drones going, you are always losing pressure, and therefore always having to keep the bag pumped up. Don't fall into the trap of over-working the bellows. Slow, steady, regular pumps on the bellows is the rule, regardless of the tempo of the music.

Tony is quite correct about how pressure variations will affect your drones. Probably the first thing you will want to practise is just playing the drones without the chanter, learning how to maintain the pressure so that the drones do not waver, but stay at a constant, steady tone. That being said, your drones should not be over-sensitive to pressure variations, else there is a problem with your drone reeds. Minor pressure changes should not affect the drones. This is what people are referring to when they talk about the steadiness of their drones during reed discussions.

The next step is to start SLOWLY playing tunes you are comfortable with while the drones are going. Pay attention to the tone of the drones while you are playing. The drones should not vary while you play the melody part. Depending on what bad habits you have developed while learning the chanter without drones, you may find you must relearn how much pressure you apply to get into the upper octave. The drones will suddenly bring to light any overly abrupt moves you are making to change the pressure. This is the real learning curve when adding drones.

The last difference with drones is, as you mentioned, their physical presence, and how they may force you to change your position/posture from what you learned while practising droneless.

Is it all worth it? Absolutely! When the voice of the chanter blends with the drones you will find the sum is greater than the parts, and since you are holding it all in your lap, you will be more aware of it than anyone else.

Enjoy!

djm

fancypiper · Post by **fancypiper** » Sat Dec 06, 2003 11:47 am

I have never gotten drones with them tuned satisfactorily.

I would first get the drones stable and able to play through the pressure swings needed by the chanter. The drones should not change pitch with bag pressure.

General drone reed rules:

1. More open reeds take more air and are harder to "blow shut"
2. If the drone reed goes sharp with an increase of pressure, adjust reed so that it will play sharper and vice versa.
3. Watch out for leaks as they can drive you crazy as you try to adjust.

I had to make my own reeds to get both my drones for both C and D sets stable, BTW.

You will find it takes between 3 and 4 times as much air to run drones and chanter compared to the practice set.

glands · Post by **glands** » Sat Dec 06, 2003 12:05 pm

What to expect? A lot of advice...some of it nonsense....figure this set of comments out for yourself!

Get with an experience piper for helpful hints or else spend some time with Seth when you take delivery.

The most important thing will be for Seth to have your chanter to balance the set up front. So, I'd recommend traveling to his shop when the drones are ready or else shipping the chanter to him for balancing and tuning. This alone will save you much trouble.

Each "pipe" that is "open" permitting air to pass and vibrate a reed takes air. The more pipes open the greater the air requirement. Drones do not, however have to take a lot of air dependiong on craftsmanship and set up. At first, however, you will feel as if you have to breathe faster with the bellows. It does take some getting used to so I believe it is good advice to learn to play the smallest drone alone along with the chanter until you are comfortable, then add the middle and, later, add the bass when able to supply air to the set without compromising your chanter playing. It will not take long for your spinal cord and subcortical brain levels to work the bellows in response to bag pressure changes while you focus on the music so start slow and don't force the issue.

Actively listen to yourself playing of the drones. If the pitch wavers it could be a sign that the reeds are off but often it is a sign that you are taking on more than you can handle and are failing in your attempts to properly drive the instrument.

A reasonably good exercise is to play the drones and the lower octave a on the chanter sustaing them for several minutes...listen ...strive to maintain a steady tone. Also, learn to listen to drones while doing same and gingerly sliding each drone in and out of tune....both sharp and flat...so you can get accustomed to hearing the differences when in and out of tune.

For effect, try some tunes with only two of the drones or only one of the drones. You'll learn that some tunes work better with one or two drones in different combinations.

AlanB · Post by **AlanB** » Sat Dec 06, 2003 12:12 pm

djm wrote:Ailin, there would be no great benefit to playing one drone at a time. Let 'em all go.

djm

Sorry djm,
That's a bad track to follow! One at a time is essential, it helps you build up your air flow skills, so starting with tenor for a couple of weeks, then, tenor and baritone etc., will make for a better ability with stability. This is the most common tip from teachers and pipemakers. Otherwise we might just as well strap on full sets from the beginning and make a god awful noise for 15 years and be able to play London Bridge by the time we're 60.

Alan

djm · Post by **djm** » Sat Dec 06, 2003 12:59 pm

AlanB, I'm still having problems with London Bridge

, but you're right in so much as some drone set-ups suck a lot of air. My Joe Kennedy drones don't take much air at all, and that is the basis of my experience, but I have tried others where the bellows had to be going constantly, instead of once every ten or fifteen seconds. If that is the case, that the drones are greedy, then I agree, learn to fuel one drone at a time.

djm

sturob · Post by **sturob** » Sat Dec 06, 2003 11:21 pm

It's traditional in the GHB world to add the drones one at a time for beginners. It's not a bad idea, as you can get used to the blowing and the different feel of a faster-emptying-bag gradually. And with GHB, there are also sometimes stamina issues . . .

Fancy . . . 3-4x as much air? Yeesh, check your bag for leaks!

I've never played a set that needed that much more wind to keep the drones going . . . or maybe I don't perceive it correctly. Which is also quite possible.

I guess I'd say that something else to try with drones is SLOW AIRS. Hold notes out, and make sure your pressure is rock-steady. Uilleann drones are, in general, a lot more stable than non-overblowing pipes (since they have to keep close to pitch in two octaves). But one thing you might notice is an unmasking of "bad" blowing/bag pressure technique once the drones are going.

I might actually recommend trying something slow which has pauses/rests in it. That way, you can get the feel for adjusting to playing the chanter from dead standstill (with drones).

So be prepared for work. But, it shouldn't be too bad.

Then order your regs! Ha!

Stuart

Kevin L. Rietmann · Post by **Kevin L. Rietmann** » Sun Dec 07, 2003 1:58 am

Make sure the tenons are firmly wrapped with string. Not drastically tight, the wood may split; but firm enough so they won't leak air as pressure is added - think of it as the drone bore suddenly being the size of the room you are playing in. No wonder the pitch will shift. Also, firmly wrapped sliders won't detune as you play - Sean Pott's bass drone slider actually fell off when he was playing at the tionol concert in San Francisco.

fancypiper · Post by **fancypiper** » Sun Dec 07, 2003 8:39 am

sturob wrote:Fancy . . . 3-4x as much air? Yeesh, check your bag for leaks! I've never played a set that needed that much more wind to keep the drones going . . . or maybe I don't perceive it correctly. Which is also quite possible.

Perhaps I should have said 2-1/2 to 3 X. I have no bag leaks I can detect. I do have a baritone drone reed that is either rather greedy for air or cuts off, one of the two. I haven't gotten it as tamed as my last one.

Try counting pumps you need per minute on just chanter, then kick in drones and count for a minute.

Antaine · Post by **Antaine** » Sun Dec 07, 2003 11:26 am

hm...mine takes alot more air, but I know my problem is reg keys. tim just wasn't able to get the springs any tighter. i've often thought about doing something with it, but I'm afraid of making things worse.

The Sporting Pitchfork · Sun Dec 07, 2003 10:36 pm

Then order your regs! Ha!

Ha! Hahahahahahahahahahahaaaaaaaaaa..........................

Jim McGuire · Post by **Jim McGuire** » Mon Dec 08, 2003 12:09 am

One problem with turning on one drone at a time is the overall balance and pressure of the drone reeds. You will need to adjust it each time. The tenor barely takes any air, so tenor and baritone make sense to turn on together to start, then the bass drone.

Or just turn all three drones on.

Both ways will get you to the same point in probably the same amount of time.

Kevin L. Rietmann · Post by **Kevin L. Rietmann** » Mon Dec 08, 2003 2:05 am

Antaine wrote:tim just wasn't able to get the springs any tighter

Brittonz, eh? Those use those round store-bought woodwind pads, right? You could substitute foam for those, I think. Might take a bit of sculpting, but it could be a bit more tight.
When I got my Pedersen drones 8 years ago I took to them to a friend who has a Britton set for reeds. John packed in some little party favors but didn't bother with reeds, it seems... :roll: My friend was quite amazed how easy the Pedersen drones were to reed. John said it was a Rowsome design of some sort. These were 15 year old Britton drones, so I hope by now he's found a better design for the drones. And regulators. And chanter. Again: :roll:
The springs on these regulators were really whimpy, like you're implying. Maybe some matching black rubber bands are in order.

No E · Post by **No E** » Mon Dec 08, 2003 12:42 pm

Ailin,

Fear not! Seth's drones are a joy to play! I was amazed at how little additional air they required to play. You'll get used to them in no time. If they're being shipped to you, be sure to check that the reeds are seated properly when the arrive (sometimes they shake loose in shipping).

Good luck and have fun with them!

No E