so I was at my friend Bippidave’s last night, and I brought the pipes (we’re collaborating on a musical). But Bippy’s mom plays the flute, and a couple who were friends of his parents were also coming over for some reason or other and they’re both musicians. Well none of them had ever seen anything like UP, and even Bipp hadn’t seen me play since I was only in possession of a practice set.
Well I’m playing for the family before the couple comes over and I’m giving them a stirring rendition of Boolavogue. They, and the cat, are all staring in amazement at this contraption until the final note when i hit the regs for the first time and resolve the whole thing with a chord (actually coincided exactly with Mrs. Cohen pointing at them and asking, “but what are those for?”
Anyway…the couple come in while I’m in the middle of some Riverdance stuff (I know, shoot me…but they’re not Irish and I wanted to play something they’d recognize), and the wife said she had tried once to take up the GHB, to which I replied, “I’m sorry.” and then we got into a discussion of the naming of holes and prescribed ornamentation and differing fingerings &c, &c, &c…and she comes out with, “now, these aren’t the traditional irish pipes, are they? I’ve seen them. I know they have a bellows, too, but they didn’t have this” and she indicates the mainstock and the regs. So a little further much needed education on how all she had seen was a practice set, and Bippy wanted to try them himself.
He’s a musician and plays several instruments proficiently, and after much trying with little success, determined, “this has to be the most complicated, most difficult instrument in the world.” I offered to lend him my practice set but he wasn’t biting.
long story short (I know, too late) he’s going to pitch to his band the idea of making a place for me in a song or two. he says he thinks they’ll go for it, unless it comes up that people might think they’re trying to copy Korn, who has a member who plays GHB for one of the songs.
That has to be the oddest uilleann-pipe-culture-clash experience I’ve had…what’s yours?