Loud Pipes

Uilleann Pipes
1

No - this is not about Harley Davidson mufflers :smiley: …

I believe my drones are too loud and taking too much air. Recently I received a 1/2 set and I am pumping my bellows like mad. I’ve checked the hemp and joints and they all are snug. When I turn off the drones - the chanter plays fine - strong vibrant reed , but fine. When I turn on the drones I am struggling and my tune suffers. :sniffle:

I believe the culpret is the baratone reed. When I put my hand at the end of the drone - it feels like a lot of air is coming out compared to the others. Since there is no bridle - how do i quiet my drone (and have it use less air) ???

Thanks from all of you out there - without this site playing uilleann pipes would be dreadful (for me and anyone else in ear shot !!!) :stuck_out_tongue:

Slan,

2

Firstly, if you’ve just got the drones from the maker, contact the maker to get the best advice. Anything you’ll read on this forum is only speculation or informed guesswork at best.

Secondly, most drone reeds I’ve seen have a bridle, although it’s made of waxed hemp. To adjust such bridles, you slide them up and down rather than squeezing them in and out.

Finally, if you’re not used to playing drones, it might be that you need to take a few days to get the knack. Have you tried plugging the bass & baritone and playing just the tenor? After a few days, when you’re used to playing with just the tenor, unplug the bari until you’re used to playing with two drones. Then unplug the bass.

But firstly, contact the maker of the drones.

3

Hey Michael,

While it could just be that you are not use to the extra air requirements, it sounds like you may have a leaky barritone reed. Plug the chanter stock, or pinch the neck of the bag, to remove the chanter from the equation and pump up the bag then switch on the drones. If it feels like someone poked a hole in your bag when you switch on the drones and you are pumping like a mad man to keep them going then I think you can conclude that one of the drone reeds is leaking. Since you already have reason to suspect the barritone reed, can you stop the under pressure by holding your finger over the outlet (like when tuning each drone)? A leaky drone reed can be difficult, or impossible, to stop under normal bag pressure. Next I would remove the reed and see if it is air tight by sucking through it, if it is not air tight there is your problem. If you have cane reeds it might take a while for them to adjust to their new enviroment, sometimes doing nothing is the best solution as the problem goes away in a while (this is particularlylikely if they were playing fine before). If you are inclined to intervene instead, you can some times fix this problem if it is not too severe by carefully snapping the blade a couple of times and then rolling the whole reed between the palms of your hand. Also, if the reed is a composite contruction look to see that the tongue has not shifted about where it is tyed on. If the reed is air tight it could just be poorly seated in the drone and leaking around the base. Seal it better with some bees wax and /or fix the wrapping so it fits in the socket better.
It is always a good thing if you have someone locally who has some experience to help if you are not sure, and better yet if you can contact the maker of the pipes.

Hope this helps!

John

4

if you suspect the bari drone, don’t play it. there are plenty of great pipers, many of which you may have recordings of, who do not use this drone… either cork the drone so no air is wasted on this reed, or use a small dental rubber band or the bridle to close off the reed… which is what i do.. i typically only use the tenor and bass… better harmonics for the set i currently play.

5

For me it depends on the environment I play whether I use the Bari-drone or not. I like the sound of just the bass and tenor, and that is what I primarily use, but every now and then, when the humidity is right, the baritone drone plays beautifully and I get this brilliant harmonic ‘A’ from it… and yes, my A drone is shut off during these times.

6

Just the bass and tenor drones? Spoken like a former highland piper ! :smiley:

I called the maker and I am going to let the drones settle in and perhaps cork one drone - to get used to the “elbow breathing” and if the drone reed is still taking in too much air - he’ll send a few more reeds! Good man that he is !

Thanks for all the input. That’s why I come in here - you guys are surley AND informative. :smiley: :smiley: :smiley:

7

if you suspect the bari drone, don’t play it. there are plenty of great pipers, many of which you may have recordings of, who do not use this drone…

I have yet to think of an example of this. Some players (Mickie Smyth, Seamus Ennis, and the occasional other one, Mickey a lot of the time others only occasionally in some airs) shut off the bass drone and some don’t use the bass drone at times as they can’t get it working. I have yet to encounter anyone who for reasons of style consequently plays without the middle drone.

Any examples of the ‘plenty of great pipers’?

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Kieran O’Hare, for one.

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Moi, for another.

I like playing against only one drone, the dos mohr aka bass drone, the dos man, middle/tenor drone but my favorite would be just playing against the dos beg, small drone. I also have an extra drone, high A which also can attain B, which is quite lovely to play against. I also have a Bchanter and it’s great fun to plug it into my D set and play against either the B or E and for more wacky stuff against a D. I also enjoy playing a single drone and hitting the stop key and picking up an F bamboo flute and playing against the D bass drone. Additionally, just to be further a field, i sometimes lay my concert D chanter in my lap, shut the drone off, let the chanter blare away and play a D whistle against the drone of the chanter, it’s pretty weird and takes some concentration to stablize the chanter drone to the whistle. I find this also has helped me in ascertaining appropriate bag pressures, or perhaps pressure equilbriums would be more descriptive.

I also have a E reg which i often use as a drone, ah the miracles of toothpicks, sometime in association with the B. There’s also the times when i use plastic bag tie-ups to use other regs as drones. I find playing against one drone to be much more fun that having all wash of three or four drones going on. However this is me and i’m a fair bit removed from the norm.

ymmv, just my 2cents sharp

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Any examples of the ‘plenty of great pipers’?

I seem to recall Patsy Touhey’s set only had the Bass and Tenor drones. and an E regulator in place of the baritone drone.

11

I have more trouble with tenor and bass drones.

I would plug the end of the suspected “misbehaving” drone with poster putty or a cork and play/practice with the fully working and balanced reeds. You may need to, as advised before, play with only one working drone reed until you get the “feel” of how much air that drone needs, then add another, get it balanced to about the same amount of air flow.

I use rubber O-rings that I can get at the local hardware store, if you know a teeth straightner doctor, they might be willing to give/sell you some of their bands that will fit your drones. That will give you a visible bridle that can be told from tie-in cord.

Make sure you can hold down the tongue, suck in on the output of the drone reed, turn loose and see if you can pull a vacuum for a short time (I get about .5 seconds before it lets in much air). If you can’t, you have a leaky reed, some can be fixed (composites), quills usually need to be discarded. Correct me if I am wrong as I haven’t much experience with quills (no luck, in fact).

To quieten the drone, insert a smaller bodied brass tube in the output end of the drone reed, if it is a matter of taking too much air, lower the tongue “lift”. Snap an O-ring or your favorite tie in cord or anything to hold the reed shut.

Let sit overnight, or if you are in a hurry, use an alcohol lamp or hair dryer to “heat set” the reed tongue.

I used to use an alcohol lamp, but I have changed to a hair dryer.

I place the reed on a nail in a piece of scrap board and brace the hairblower in my bench vice, place the reed 6-8" from the reed and put it on high for around 12 minutes.

Then, take off your “tie down” that you used and test the reed. Do the suck test to get used to the proper crow that you get when the reed is balanced to the chanter.

12

WOW ! That’s a ton of exerience there! Thanks Phil, I do appreciate it. Yesterday I practiced at a slower pace - concentrating on by bellows, timing, and rolls. I know, I know…I should be doing that already!

Thanks everybody for their 2 cents - Guinness on me next time your here in Greensboro, NC !

(that’s 2 for you Evil Moderator… ):twisted:

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Oh, BTW, if you enjoy watching TV/Video, I used that time with a cork plugged into the chanter stock and I bored a hole that pulled about the same amount of air as the pipe(s) I would be playing and would watch while getting the feel of the “gulp” of the bellows and how many “gulps” it would take and what "one gulp would just barely fill the bag and leave a bit of room for mistake.

It’s just muscle memory and that part becomes background to working on the chanter and keeping the fingers relaxed on it.

The main danger is you’ll get strange looks and the family might think, “I wish he would stop looking like a chicken and making that whistling noise and strange looking faces..” and sometimes compromises have to be made.. but:

Pets, don’t worry about, they will still love you and you are their boss!

Even if they run out of the room when you play, they will still love you!

14

I haven’t noticed baritones turned off, either. However, when playing at the Plough and Stars in San Francisco years ago, Denis Brookes once told me he often turned off his bass drone in order to allow the regulators to be better heard.

15

When you turn off a single drone, do you plug off the end of the drone (as its done with Scottish smallpipes or lowland pipe), or do you move the bridle to close off the reed?

16

You can close the drone by placing your finger over the hole at the end of the drone, increasing bag pressure (which causes the reed to close), remove your finger and relax to “normal” pressure. If you do it right, the drone stays closed. All you have to do to start the drone again is turn off and on all the drones with the drone switch. You can also turn on the individual drone by covering the hole with your finger and quickly removing your finger.

17

Thanks, PJ. I know about this in tuning them, but imagined that variations in pressure would kick back in the drone thus shut off.

18

I use a golf tee with teflon tape wraped
around it to plug off the middle drone.

A white tee if you have white plastic on the end
of your drone. A natural wood tee for box wood.

Works great, looks like it was made for the pipes.

19

Will it work for the bass drone? My Sky drone opening looks like it might as I can’t find a cork that size. I’ll have to grab a couple from my brother and try that out tomorrow!

Well, it’s time to see if the bass reed is behaving now…

20

Simple fact - If you can’t stop a drone with your finger as PJ describes; it’s probably leaking, AND is likeley going to be too loud, or of bad tone. For the following for drones, remember balance is the key; chanter: drones: regs.

Check for the drone for leaks, e.g.. If you can’t stop it at playing pressure - the drone is leaking; move the bridle to sharpen the drone reed and adjust the slide position to flatten a tad. Spring the tongue if it will not sound then, and do all the other adjustments necessary to get it to play in tune, at the position that will get it in,and in balance with the rest of the instrument. If it still leaks… replace.