Hi
with the bag inflated i have no difficulty playing the 2nd octave I have been playing amazing grace in the 2nd octave as an exercise
and my only real problem is the 2nd8 d. The reed i made is in concert pitch give or take a smidge .The bag stays nice and tight
So why when i put the drones on do i end up pumping out the titanic. How do I determine how much air each drone is using? How do i curb the air flow?
I am a novice piper with no access to a teacher so any help would be welcome. The drones are loud, in tune and i am using cane reeds. my outfit is a P Hunter
Flat D set. I am developing a nervous tic, rsi of the thumbs, and ear worms that keep going diddly diddly diddly squeak… http://forums.chiffandfipple.com/posting.php?mode=post&f=6#
Bryan
Put a piece of tape or some thing over the exist hole of the middle and bass drone and see how you get on.
RORY
Here’s some thoughts. Hopefully one of the pipe makers or reed gurus will chime in…
Loud drones tend to take more air than quiet ones. You might be able to quiet the reeds down a bit by moving the bridle to shorten the tongue, but that of course will affect tuning as well as how much air they use. Changing reeds can help too.
Don’t know how much you’ve played with drones, but if you’re new at it you might not have developed the fine coordination needed to keep them going without excessive effort. Better to cork off the bass and treble and to play with just the baritone until you can easily keep it going while playing the chanter. Once you’ve reached that stage, you can add the treble, and finally the bass. It can take a long time to get them all going comfortably. Corking off two drones can also help you gauge how much air the uncorked drone is taking.
By 2nd8 d do you mean the back d? Usually the problem with back d is it dropping in pitch with over blowing or a reed that has been misscraped. If you mean the highest d, that can be a challenge with certain reed/chanter combination. Your chanter may require different fingering than is shown on the charts in order to reach the 3rd8.
Get yourself a teacher who uses Skype! It’s not quite as good as in-person lessons but it is way better than struggling on your own. Bad habits develop really easily and are hard to shake so it’s really helpful to have someone who can point them out to you.
Finally, if it were me, I’d ditch amazing grace and play something that isn’t so strongly associated with the GHB. Just sayin’.
First:
Test your whole contraption for air leaks… When playing the ‘chanter only’ it is possible to survive with a certain degree of air leakage. Test each part seperately starting with the Bag…remove all pipes ( the mainstock and blowpipe) , block up the exists … then inflate by mouth through the Neck end… block off the final hole when the bag is very full, with a finger, then place the bag on a hard chair and sit on it to test it for staunchness. When the bag is absolutely air tight proceed to the following…
Check the Blowpipe and valve for leaks… check all bindings for good firm fit.
Next re-assemble the set, check the drone stock and drones by tape-ing off all three drone exits , strap on the set and inflate the bag, keep the chanter off the set and block the neck exit, move the drone stop key to ‘play’ and see if any air is leaking from the stock, the gland of the stop key rod is a prime suspect for leaks, all the bindings and even porosity of the mainstock may cause loss of air. Also Ovality of any of the parts can allow air to pass. When all is airtight move on to the drone reeds and check them individually for excessive air usage.
Yes you will use more air with three drones added to the mix but this should be controlable, for instance my own pipes will play completely ( chanter ,drones and regulators) with just pressure from my little finger on the bag ! New reeds will use more pressure than my ancient ‘played-in’ ones but a sinking feeling caused by air pouring through ‘too open’ drone reeds or leaks is unacceptable.
When you have defined where your excess air is going then come back here and see what we all might suggest for a cure.
BTW - to measure the airflow of a drone I bought this thingy here:
http://www.ebay.de/itm/Tragbar-LCD-Digital-Windgeschwindigkeit-Meter-Anemometer-Thermometer-GM816-/281353149646?pt=DE_Sport_Wassersport_Windsurfen&hash=item4181f45cce
It is called anemometer (over here) (windsurfers use it).
I held it to each drone of several pipers while playing a tune and found that the average sum of airflow is about 1.5 m/s (its menu allows for adjusting a few other units, e. g. feet/s), which makes ~ 0.5 m/s per drone. Above 1.5 piping doesn´t feel too convenient any more.
Only drawback: The thing comes from Hong Kong, which means that it is shipped around the world about three times 
Hi
Thanks for advice I have started from scratch and blocked of holes and gone round and round to shorten the tongues, painful but worth the effort. I also found that the clacker valve worked well under pressure but when the air dropped off there was a sort of capilery action and loss of air. I will have a look now at Geoffs suggestion about the stock. I don’t smoke so it looks like i will have to cadge one to test. Now this is red face stuff. I was actually looking for a 3rd octave d,the exercise amazing grace needed one and i was looking for it at the back d BUMMER
I will get back with results.Once again thanks for input
bryan
It is entirely possible to find leaks without using Smoke. A Stethoscope is a handy thing for detecting leaks by the noise and definatelyhealthier than the smoke method!
Porous wood of a mainstock is not likely to be a problem with a set from a good maker.
Remember; Fix leaks before fixing Reeds!!! 
What a good idea. I’ve got an old stethoscope which has now been repurposed. 
You can also ‘smell’ leaks. Your nose is very sensitive to air movement, so if you keep the bag under pressure and hold the potential leak spots (joints, bindings, seam) close to your nose you can usually feel the air escaping.
Especially if you have lots of nose hair. And no, I’m not available for hire.
The wet tip of your tongue is very sensitive to draughts and can be very usefull in this respect also… Oi!.. no smutty comments from the cheap seats please! 
I have improved the bag using a valve i ordered on ebay Little bit of messing around but worth it
Found the high d it was b and f# together.
Again where i am we get a poor download and scype is not an option. adsl +1 just above dial up, streaming is not a go
What about those new vapor fags for leaks
When it comes to tunes I like to memorise them so anything that is trying to break out of my head gets a go. right now its merry blacksmith and Tennesse waltz
One tune that just fell of the chanter was Portsmouth
I also have a theory that it would be better for a learner to have a Quality full set up and running as every time i add or improve a part. Its back to the drawing board with the bellows and bag
Thanks again people
Whilst a cheap price might encourage a person to ‘have a go’ at learning but, for a good outcome it is far better to begin with a decent
instrument. It is always the catch 22 " hmm, I cannot afford to learn the … because they cost too much".
Buy a decent instrument and it will still be worth something when you have decided that playing it is not for you. I have done just that very recently, bought a decent new instrument only to discover that " they don’t make em like they use’d ", or so I feel… perhaps that is because I am such a terrible player on my new toy .
A beginer Violinist might sound just as bad on a Stradivari as a Suzuki though the theory still stands that if you give a student a good instrument they are more likely to advance well.