. . . how long would it be until everyone starts looking at me askance, and making that little drawing-circles-around-the-ear-with-an-index-finger gesture?
But really, a couple easy questions:
Is it possible to get decent bellows and bag made from a non-leather material?
I seem to prefer the sound of flat sets to concert-pitch sets. Sweet, mellow, satisfying. I realize there’d be, um, issues with playing such a set at a session with a bunch of D-pitched flutes and whistles, but . . . Is it feasible to start learning on a flat set – does anyone even make flat-pitch practice sets? – or should I start with a concert-pitch get-up?
I’m 32. Any chance I can actually learn the things, or play well enough that I don’t cause much damage, before I’m using a cane and moaning on about how much better things were back in the old days?
What else should I know? (Buy the NPU tutors, seek local tuition, yada yada, but anything else I’m missing, here?)
It took about 11 seconds for me to recognize that “look” when I first started.
It goes away, with practice. How long it takes for that look to go away is up to you.
I’d strongly recommend that you contact either the San Francisco pipers’ club or the Southern California Club, and visit with those folks. And listen to what they say and what they play.
Checked my PMs, but nothing’s there. Maybe you sent via e-mail? If so, I’ll get it when I get home tonight.
(Hey, I tried one of those big kite surfing kites a couple weeks ago. Stood on the beach and got dragged around; pretty powerful things! May have to try it on the water. . .)
You might consider buying a flat set (chanter, drones, and regs), say in C, and also acquiring a D concert pitch chanter (usually a D chanter is all that is required for joining in, often no need for drones). You’d have the best of both worlds!
I’m surprised Kevin hasn’t yet mentioned Brad Angus’s narrow bore D sets…
Seriously, if you like the flat pitch sound, a narrow bore chanter in D might be just what you’re after. Old fashioned sound, but in tune! What more could one want? Oh yeah, a choice of even temperament or just intonation
Nano, that’s what happens when you try to dress up tomatoes at this time of year. Not even mascara helps. All we can do now is wait for the Great Pumpkin to arrive …
That sounds pretty interesting, actually, at least as a practice set before moving to flat sets.
I’ve been grooving on Ronan Browne’s stuff, lately, and on some other flat set recordings, but maybe learning on a narrow-bore set in D would be a good compromise. I’l look into it. Thanks!
Seriously, if you like the flat pitch sound, a narrow bore chanter in D might be just what you’re after. Old fashioned sound, but in tune!
So “old fashioned” means out of tune?
32 isin’t too late to start. One of Bill Och’s students took up the pipes at 65 or thereabouts. You just have to have your head screwed on straight. Or crooked. Get me?
You can make a pipe bag out of naugahyde vinyl. I believe I heard it said that they don’t make very good bellows, though, so you might have to swallow your principles there, and rub your stomach against dead animal skin, yecchhhh… Do a websearch for “naugahyde pipe bag,” or search the archives of this forum. There’s heaps of bitter arguments about the merits of various pipemakers, too, including this narrow D bizwax. Also the uilleann pipes mailing list archives.
What happened to this FAQ idea? Anyone working on that 'un?
Yep, still working on the FAQ. I’ve got a draft of the first few questions that I want to make one more editing pass at before I post them. Expect it in the next couple of days.
Work has kept me busy in the past couple of weeks, so I haven’t made as much progress on the FAQ as I had hoped…oh well.
