Hi pipers. I have gotten some great advice from many of you not long ago on general beginner issues. Now I have a question about something really simple. I am a beginner as of January, but do not have much access to tuition or a close by tionol (sorry, don’t know how to insert the accent mark). I am learning with a half set, but rarely ever use the drones accept when I get familiar with an easy tune…I like to see how it all sound together. Anyway, I keep the drones on the stock because I figured now is better than any time to get used to proper posture and positioning. Problem is, the corner of my bellows keeps hitting the drone-switch and/or colliding with the tenor drone. Is there a way to avoid this? I have a lot of questions about proper posture/positioning all together, but don’t want to fill up a full page of questions, so if anyone has general advice along side advice about the bellows and stock, I’d love to hear it. Thank you all so much.
Have you tried adjusting the length of your airhose? Don’t mess with the one you have, but find a similarly sized hose and temporarily replace your current one, trying different lengths until you see if this fixes your problem.
“All right, they’re on our left, they’re on our right,
they’re in front of us, they’re behind us…
they can’t get away this time”
There are no hard and fast rules other than to find a position that is easy and comfortable for you.
o The strap that holds the bellows to your body does not have to be on your waist. You can move it up or down to whatever feels good.
o The bellows do not have to be horizontal, parallel to the strap. They can be twisted upward or downward to whatever fits your body shape well and doesn’t cause collisions with the set.
o Also, as KK has mentioned, you can experiment with the length of the hose between beellows and bag. Some like to keep this short so that they can push the bag up under the left arm with the bellows from time to time. Others make the hose quite long, which allows more freedom of movement with the bellows arm without affecting the position of the rest of the set.
You may have to experiment to see what works best for you. At a later date, when you get a chance to be in front of a teacher, a more experienced piper may suggest corrections if he sees a gross error in your position that is limiting your abilitiy to play well.
Thanks, guys. I will try all of those suggestions. I have been altering my bellows position, but mostly in an effort to “try” to stumble upon the right way to strap them. Per this advice and from watching so many pipers on youtube with varying styles, I am realizing that it really must be a personal preference thing. I tried folding up a hand towel and putting it between my elbow and the bellows…it does help. I felt like it made the bellows more snug. kinda helps me from that sporadic twitch-like attempt to pump when you realize you are low on bag air which ends up making you accidentally jump to the second octave (when you are a knube like me). I will further try to accept that my practice time running up and down scales and playing simple tunes can also be time to figure out what works best. I figure that once I get this bag-bellows relationship down, I will be able to confidently play a full tune without accidentally jumping octaves on F#, E and bottom D…the latter being more of a goose-like sound when that happens
Thanks again. Anyone else with other advice please feel free to post it. Oh how I long to sit down with a piper and learn from him/her.
which ends up making you accidentally jump to the second octave (when you are a knube like me). I will further try to accept that my practice time running up and down scales and playing simple tunes can also be time to figure out what works best. I figure that once I get this bag-bellows relationship down, I will be able to confidently play a full tune without accidentally jumping octaves on F#, E and bottom D…the latter being more of a goose-like sound when that happens 