thanks for everyone’s responses! One thing that’s changed since I’ve asked it, is that I’m seriously considering getting a half set from the get go. I just heard a set recently with the drones, and thought “I just have to get the drones at the same time”.
Might be sheer lunacy, but there it is. And with the addition of a set of drones, not sure if any of your responses would be any different? I was also figuring that I would get a wooden reed cap rather than a metal one, if that would have any impact on the addition of a stop key.
And if I do get a stop key, is it better to have it on the back or the front of the chanter?
Well, if you want to start off on a half-set, go for it. It may be helpful in certain ways, especially regarding playing posture. My only caution is–if you start off on a half set, do NOT even think about touching the drones for a long time. Being able to control the chanter with steady bellows/bag control and a loose grip [on the chanter] is THE most important thing in piping. If you cannot manage that part, there really isn’t much point in having drones as they will sound like livestock humping.
I’ve encountered more than a few pipers who grip the chanter like they’re strangling it, play with drones, and cannot get in tune with themselves–let alone anybody else–because they can’t control the pressure.
There’s the famous story of how Leo Rowsome kept Liam O’Flynn on a practice set for something like six years before letting him start on drones because he wanted him to have very solid control of all aspects of chanter playing first. That may be a little extreme. I played on a practice set for a year before I got my drones and that was fine. Just make sure you can play a decent handful of tunes well on the chanter before you attempt a simple tune with drones.
Where do you live? Will you have any access to a teacher?
Thanks for the feedback-I was actually thinking of just letting the drones alone for a while, and only focusing on the chanter. Just having them to begin with seems like it would be an advantage in some ways. Of course, adding that to my order may prolong the order more than it would be worth, in which case I would just get a practice set to begin with.
I’m in northern Calif., only an hour from San Francisco. The Uilleann Pipers Club is in SF, and so I would imagine there would be some teachers in the area. There is a fellow who plays pipes in my town and who might be willing to instruct me on an occasional basis-he plays in a band and so wouldn’t be able to do it on a continuous basis.
By the way, I liked your comparing badly played drones to “livestock humping”. Quite a picture it conjures up, but also a good reminder that playing pipes well is quite an accomplishment.
Oh, well if you’re around the Bay Area, then you’re all set (I originally hail from Santa Cruz myself). Several very good, knowledgeable players in the vicinity. Yeah, definitely go for the half set. The boys down at the Pipers Club will let you know when you’re ready to let loose with the drones.
If you have a wooden top you can choose which side you want the stop key on, if it is short enough: You simply rotate the ferrule the chanter inlet is attached to over to the other side of the cap. I did this with my Taylor chanter because my thumb kept bumping into the stop key when it was facing the back. With the Taylors and their followers it seemed to be traditional to mount the key on the back of the chanter, judging from old pictures; they seemed to be striving to make the chanter keywork invisble to the audience. The popping valve mounting is always on the back in pictures of old pipers, too. I find that it’s much more effective to have the mountings on the front, that way you can move the chanter all over the place and keep it sealed tight on the knee.
Flat chanters usually have very long stop keys which have to face the front.
