Draft FAQ...for your review

Uilleann Pipes
21

Hey, all:

The first step is to find another piper near you and talk to them. See if you can make arrangements to hear their pipes.


This is the sentence that kept me from trying to find a set of pipes for a long time. It’s a fine idea if you live in a major city, or near enough a whole bunch of them to make it easy, but there are lots of people like me who live too far away for that to be practicable.

Might I suggest something along the lines of:


The first step is to find another piper near you and talk to them. See if you can make arrangements to hear their pipes. Also, try to attend a Tionól (pronounced chunnole) or piper gathering and listen to as many different pipes as you can. Decide what you like/don’t like.

If you can’t do either of these things, then try to amass as much piping music as you can [insert numerous links to the greats; Ennis, Rowsome, etc, etc] and spend a lot of time listening to it. The videos from NPU http://www.pipers.ie , while no subsitute for one-on-one teaching, are a good start.

As well, try finding Irish clubs or Celtic music societies in your community and play penny-whistle with them, to give you a grounding in the music in general, as well as a rough understanding of the fingering of a chanter. [perhaps an image of the fingering of a chanter here?]

When you finally decide to purchase a practice set (take a deep financial breath, they’re expensive), try to remember that these pipes are stupidly complicated and frustrating anywhere in the world, and in islolation it’s a touch harder because there’s nobody you can complain to who’s got a chance of understanding what you’re going on about.


Mark

22

Very nice.., this forum could do with a FAQ.
Is it possible to make threads “sticky” in this forum?
It should be at the top of the threads yelling “UP FAQ, read first!” or something..

Good job!!

23

… Er … oh, yes … and the Lord spake, saying, "First shalt thou
take out the Holy Pin, then shalt thou count to three, no more,
no less. Three shalt be the number thou shalt count, and the
number of the counting shalt be three. Four shalt thou not count,
neither count thou two, excepting that thou then proceed to three.
Five is right out. Once the number three, being the third number,
be reached, then lobbest thou thy Holy Hand Grenade of Antioch
towards thou foe, who being naughty in my sight, shall snuff it.

Yes, I think we do need more threes! -gary

24

Snoogie, I feel secure that the development of the UP FAQ rests in good hands. :wink:

djm

25

Here’s a few suggestions. The original quotes are bracketed, followed by my rewrites.

[1) What are Uilleann Pipes (UP)?

[The Uilleann bagpipe is a specific kind of bagpipe. While there are many [kinds of bagpipes, Uilleann bagpipes were invented in their present form [in Ireland.

The Uilleann pipes, also known as the Union pipes, are a type of bagpipe native to Ireland, although they may have not been developed there originally. Most people know only of the Scottish Great Highland Bagpipe, but in fact bagpipes of various kinds are played in almost every country in Europe, and much of North Africa and Asia as well, as far east as India.

[The chanter is used to play the main melody. The drones supply [continuous tones for accompaniment, and the regulators are keyed [chanters which are used to add various chords.

The chanter is used to plain the main melody. It has a range of two octaves, and keys which enable the playing of semitones in the scale as well. The drones supply continuous tones for accompaniment, the smallest drone, usually called the tenor drone, playing the bottom note of the chanter, the next largest, usually called the baritone drone, playing an octave below that, and the largest, usually called the bass drone, playing an octave below the baritone drone.
The regulators are built like chanters, but with keys which only sound a note when pressed by the piper with the heel of the hand, or with the fingers of the right hand when it is not needed to play the chanter (usually in slower music). The keys of the regulators are arranged in rows to provide a simple chordal accompaniment to the chanter’s music. The regulators, like the drones, are usually labeled, in increasing order of size, tenor, baritone, and bass regulator.
The drones and regulators are fitted into a large cylinder, the mainstock, which is tied into the bag.

[UPs also play two full octaves. The GHBs only play a single octave.]

UPs play two full octaves. The GHBs only play a single octave and a note.

26

Don’t forget: GHP’s are played by sadists. UP’s are played by masochists.