My wife and I had a discussion about this and I thought I’d share it to see if any of you had thoughts on it.
We have both listened to recordings by Ennis and extensively at that. I have been following the NPU video instruction. In these places and other recordings of uilleann pipes, I know I am hearing errors slip in the playing of accomplished players: places where I think the note is in a wrong octave, especially in embellishments, especially what I think to be E.
I know it’s not my ears playing tricks on me. Even in the NPU instruction video, the instructor will play it wrong then it will come out right on the repeat.
Would any of you say it is a flaw in the design of the instrument? That even under the very optimal situation with an accomplished player, the wrong note (I mean, after all, an octave off is indeed a wrong note) will appear?
When first starting on the pipes, I used to stop and repeat the section when I’d loose the second octave. My instructor pointed out what you noticed..i.e. that even the most expert Upipers occasionally drop out of the second octave.
The point is to be able to keep playing and jump back up there in a note or two, then the next time around in the tune try to compensate for whatever the reed is doing today and try to do it better the next time around.
This still screws me up from time to time. I’ll make a mistake or misremember the next note, and then I get flustered and can’t remember where I am in the tune. Playing through errors is not as easy as it sounds. I have to practise just getting through stuff, learning to allow myself to make the errors, and get it right the next time.
One more thing to look out for: Dropping/jumping octaves or squealing can also be due to imperfectly covered holes.
keep playing and jump back up there in a note or two
Good advice I assume, since when playing for an audience, you need to gracefully regain the octave, rather than stop playing! The Rowsome tutor also warns to not go looking for the octave with the bellows.
Listen to Paddy Keenan’s solo (track 13 I think) on the Bothy Band’s ‘Live in Concert’ album. You’ll hear no fewer than three big squeaks during his bit - not counting the dropped octaves. It happens to everyone…
Oh, good. So squeaking and losing the occasional octave is not the utterly frustrating, major indictment of my playing I think it is.
I usually don’t have much trouble keeping the upper octave, but some of my lower octave notes get really jumpy. Today my lower octave F rolls kept popping into the upper octave, even with very light pressure on the bag. Is that a reed issue?
You betcha it is. I have the same kinda problem with my F in both octaves and my bottom d. Well at least all this is somewhat comforting, it’s the blasted sticks and not our sanity.
Sometimes jumping from the lower octave upwards to the higher octave can be a reed issue - a matter of the note needing more venting. For F, try opening the E as well, and see if this helps. Another thing you can try is raising the chanter off the leg when playing F. Of course, neither of these will help when you need to play a very short, stacatto F. Reducing pressure is one way to alleviate this, but it really helps to practise good closure of the tone holes between notes.
When all is said and done, as noted above, even the best pipers screw up from time to time. I used to despair when trying to follow along with Liam O’Flynn recordings, until someone lent me a live recording of him playing at a club. There it all was - he was screwing up at least once or twice in every tune. Hurray! (I guess).
The Rowsome tutor also warns to not go looking for the octave with the bellows.