Hey gang, well I’m moving right along in the 3rd week of learning the pipes. Seeing some progress, and was watching the Video from Na Piobairi Uilleann. Nollaig starts off with saying "Let’s start off with a few “points”, with his accent I thought he said “pints” and I’m thinking, this truly is traditional Irish. Let’s get all Guiness’d up and start piping.
Then I go to the end of the tape to where we see the labs and workshops of NPA. Now, what is the first thing you learn about the pipes, what does EVERY tutor and book say FIRST OFF?
DON’T MOUTH BLOW THE CHANTER!!!
What do I see, but some guy putting the chanter cap on and puffing up his cheeks and giving the ever-so-sensitive reed a good blow. Go figure.
Anyhow, I am loving it and learning it. Long Live the Uilleann Pipes.
Tim
[ This Message was edited by: TnWhistler on 2003-02-03 13:26 ]
One of the reason for not blowing a cold or dry blown instrument reed with you mouth is because the reeds when dry have many tiny pockets or cells in linear form, some say a small puff on the reed won’t hurt it, probably true, but its good practice not to mouth blow an uilleann reed.
If these tiny pockets become saturated with saliva over a prolonged period, then the carbohydrates and bacteria present in saliva can start to break down the cellular
structures within the cane, it is the sugars
still present in the cane itself that will act as a catalist and eventually over a long period break down the cane.
Hi,
strangely enough the guy who’s teaching me done that with my chanter when he was re-seating the reed. It’s probably easier to tell beginners such as myself NOT to do it than to try to explain how, when and where it can be done.
Is it possible that the person was gently sucking in, as opposed to blowing? I have been told that by sucking in, one can tell if the reed is leaking on the sides (?)
Elbogo,
I don’t think sucking on the chanter inlet pipe would work as the air would travel through the reed backwards. I read that when you’re making reeds you suck from the staple end to test them, in this case your breath does not flow through the cane although the air flow is in the right direction. You may already be aware of the manual available from SWAUP as a free download,(PDF) there’s lots of information gathered from various pipers on the topics not usually mentioned in tutor material. I found it made interesting reading while I was waiting for my practice set. They also have a PDF reed making manual showing various methods. I have’nt tried any yet, I’m having enough to cope with as it is
Oh he was efinitely blowing, unless he was Dizzie Gilispie. I have seen the practice of sucking in on the reed. It was nothing serious but I thought it amusing on the NPA video.
