“The five musical instruments that just plain suck the most”
http://www.drivl.com/posts/view/833
Hmmmph! 
After I finished blushing at all the profanity (yall know ah have a delicate constitushun) I was pleased to see that we had made it on the radar.
The author, though quite funny, is still a turd.
Smuggily/nerdilly,
t
Indeed, if wit were s**t, the author would be quite the prizewinning turd.
I did get a loud chuckle out of the comment about feeling compelled to slam someone’s head in a car door after hearing a hurdy-gurdy, though.
I think, though, that pipers of all sorts do at times need to take a step back and try to see themselves as others see us: pipes in the wrong hands are truly an instrument of evil…At times when I’m out socializing and chatting with an attractive young woman, I think to myself “how the Hell am I going to nonchalantly break the news that I play three kinds of bagpipes?!”
Perhaps as the popularity of uilleann piping continues to grow in the world, we can expect more attention from these whiny, surly killjoys who have nothing better to do than sit in front of their computer screens all day…Er, oh wait…Damn. Well, I was just leaving, anyway…
The first problem I have with Hurdy Gurdies is that everything played on them sounds the same.
The second is they take 1/2 an hour to prepare before playing, with tuning, rosining etc.
The third is that even a “student” model costs a LOT.
I got a huge guffaw out of this. Makes one think twice about how serious some of us really are… too much so, sometimes, IMHO. 
Sound familiar?
It is just possible that the Vielle presents more tuning difficulties than the (Irish) pipes. As for tunes sounding the same… ask a non-piper!
Bill
I’m a non-piper.
I play fiddle and melodeon.
Nobody ever asks about the fiddle, because everyone knows what it is. Except one guy who asked if it was a banjo, but he was VERY drunk. I think.
The melodeon does raise interest, but you don’t really want to hand a £1,000 piece of kit to a bystander to just play with, because they’ll try to work it without pressing a key and wreck the bellows, or something.
I’m a non-piper.
I play fiddle and melodeon.
Nobody ever asks about the fiddle, because everyone knows what it is. Except one guy who asked if it was a banjo, but he was VERY drunk. I think.
The melodeon does raise interest, but you don’t really want to hand a £1,000 piece of kit to a bystander to just play with, because they’ll try to work it without pressing a key and wreck the bellows, or something.
I know a good player that summed it up very nicely:
The hurdy-gurdy, a minute to play - a life time to tune
/MarcusR
I’m with you Joe.
The recorder is capable of some beautiful music.
Guys a weenie.
He needs:
- a Guinness poured down his gullet while ..
- Scotland the Brave is piped right into his face.
I’d like to include a fist full of Valium to chase that Guinness down with… hmmmmmm… might have to give that a go myself.
- A life.
(Gosh ‘piano’ wouldve been my #1 pet peeve instrument…those things are everywhere…)
As I always say: ‘there’ s no accounting for good taste…’ 
The website’s aptly named, don’t you think?
I very muched enjoyed the recorder bit. Although I think the fingering bit would be much better suited for the pipes…
I think the writer is suffering from an overexposure to Kumbaya. Who knows how many times those poor little kids had to play it. Who could even care enough to try to play it right? After hearing the first three notes or so I turn very nasty. I’m sure it is a fine song, but it needs to go away for a few generations.
In this age of modern electronics that can do everything except accurately replicate the sound of a violin…
um… Not so much any more
This Stradivari Violin is a sample library so technically it’s fake, and can be purchased as a software library you can play on a computer for less than $200.
It’s versitile too.
Can you tell which recording was played real time and which was produced from a midi file?
I’m fond of this quite:
“Number 4: THE HARPSICHORD. Seriously. It’s like the piano’s retarded older brother.”
“You Irish and French pipers are the nerds of the pipe world,”
Hmmm, I’m wondering if I can indeed come up with a valid retort to that one???
…just when I seem to be getting close the subject of reeds comes up…and any thoughts of countering the above statement seem to evapourate.
Sadly, “Nerds of the pipe world” seems our fate.
Perhaps “Kings (or Queens) of the pipe world” also applies?
Notice how he dosent include we ZAMPOGNARI… 
Yes, Brother Nano. It comes as no surprise that we are of similar opinion here. What does one really expect out of a website called “Drivl”??? I doubt names like Sontag or Buckley Jr. inhabit the mast head!
In fact one might even pity this poor witless cretin… whom I suspect spends much of his free time treating his knuckles for carpet burn. Imagine the creative power it takes to compose phrases like “a seriously suck-hole piece of work”. My friends, you have to stand in awe of his sheer genius.
Yes, pity this terribly bitter, cultureless, little cybertroll. Clearly he’s suicidal. After all, might not spewing your crap in public at a volatile group of pipers have it’s own unique set of negative consequences!
My advice to Mr. Roy: Most pipers, even the nerdy ones, are involved in an elaborate organized crime syndicate. We all have been trained to kill. Stop writing NOW. Flee the country. Somebody’s going to take your diatribes far too seriously and curb stomp you to the tune of “Thogail Nam Bo Theid sinn”
Have a liberal serving of some decent whiskey, get that enema you’ve put off all those years. And if you don’t like recorders, harpsichords, organs, bagpipes and hurdy gurdies…stay the hell out of Canada!!!
Might I suggest moving to a deserted island close to an active volcano….. 