Been lurking for a while and figured I’d finally introduce myself.
I currently live in Atlanta where I work as the Music Editor for a music/film magazine called Paste. I was born in Ireland–my parents moved over there from the States in the mid '70s and lived in both Galway and Dublin before moving me and my siblings to Southern California when I was 7–endured a solid 2 1/2 years of schoolyard heckling before I unconsciously shed my Dublin brogue. (The daily routine went something like…Classmates: “Talk for us, say something. C’mon.” Me: “What do you want me to say?” Classmates: “Anything, just say something.” Me: “I really don’t know what you want me to say.” Classmates: [Falling-down laughing] Me: [Shaking head].)
I’ve been back to visit twice since then and have always loved Celtic music. I’ve been playing the guitar for 14 years and just started teaching myself Celtic fingerstyle about 9 months ago, thanks to John Sherman’s wonderful note-for-note transcriptions</a](http://hometown.aol.com/JohnS16545/dadgad.htm">transcriptions</a)>. Even so, my favorite instrument in Celtic music has always been the pipes.
Speaking of the Uilleann pipes, I’ve been playing them for, let me see, about three days. Just got a beautiful starter set from Michael Vignoles in Galway. After reading numerous posts about the traditionally excruciating waiting periods for pipes to be built, I braced myself for the worst. To my delight, Michael had been working on a couple extra starter sets and was able to finish one in time for my parents to pick up while they were in Ireland last week (how’s that for serendipitous timing?). They FedEx’d them to me as soon as they returned and I’ve been playing (read: honking/wheezing/squealing) since they arrived. They’re so gorgeous, it’s almost enough to just sit and gaze longingly at them. Can’t wait till they sound as good as they look (and can’t imagine how many countless novice pipers have said that before me).
Here’s my question: I feel like I’m exerting a tremendous amount of pressure on the bag with my underarm to get a good-sounding note. Is that pretty normal? I’m telling myself that it’s the pipes and I’m not just a feeble girlyman. Michael gave my parents a demonstration on my set and they assured me the pipes sounded gorgeous so I’m tempted to start lifting weights unless someone tells me otherwise.
Hello Jason and welcome. I’d be willing to bet that the reed in your set underwent a little changing during its flight over, and then again when FEDEX took it to you. This is perfectly normal for reeds to do when they leave their birth environment for their new home environment.
Is there anyone you are aware of near you that can help you out? There are several pipers in the Atlanta area, perhaps they can chime in with a helping hand?
Another thing to note - and while it may not be completely obvious:
You’re using muscles you’ve probably never used before!
LOL, ok, now with that little revelation out of the way - It does take quite a bit of getting used to the mechanics of it all, and once you find your stride you’ll do just fine. The most important thing I remind our new pipers out here is to conciously remember to relax EVERTHING. From your fingertips, to your arms and even down to your feet. Just think about playing relaxed, and don’t worry about playing Colonel Frasier right out of the gate.
Great to hear another has joined the ranks keeping the up alive and well!
I lurked, (and still do), for quite some time before jumping in. Good board though and most here are very helpful, as advice from Joe and Brian demonstrates.
When I first started I had a lousy reed (and no useful knowledge), so halfway thru a tune I’d be sweating like a banshee till, at a tionol, I got to play a well-reeded chanter…light streamed down from the heavens…(Actually just a passing police helicopter with a searchlight, but you get the idea).
I remembered that Michael packed an extra reed into a small wooden box that arrived with the pipes and I switched it out when I got home from work. My set now sounds lovely and I only have to hug the bag lovingly, as opposed to giving it a ferocious, trembling, death-gripping half-nelson. Thanks for the tip. Can’t wait to actually play some tunes. This business of holding each note for a minute at a time gets old pretty fast.
Hi Jason,
I live in Augusta GA which isn’t too far and I know of several pipers in Atlanta. Check out the southeastern pipers club, I’m sure some of the pipers in the club are close enough to give you help with getting started.
An important think that it took me far too long to figure out is that you need to check regularly for leaks - I think I was playing about 10 years before I figured out I was working twice as hard as I needed to (after being runner up for sweatiest piper in the country three years running). Check all the joints of your set regularly - if any of them are loose and pop out too easily, add a bit of hemp. It can be handy to have two grades of thread to hand - the normal hemp can be too thick for some jobs - keep some finer cotton thread on hand for joints that are only slightly loose. Also check the seams of the bag - almost all leather bags - including those that are glued as well as stitched, tend to leak through the seams. A good way to check for this is to…
Get yourself a light paintbrush or a pastry brush
Mix up some washing-up liquid with a bit of water
Block the neck of your bag (pinch it, or take out the chanter and hold your thumb over the hole)
Pump it up (yeah!)
‘Paint’ suds all around the seam and blow like fuck (don’t blow too hard or you can burst it, but put a good bit of pressure on with your elbow)
If you see air bubbling out, don’t panic, it just means you need to season your bag (the scottish contingent do this all the time).
You can do this with some scottish bagpipe bag seasoning, or (a tip I got from Mickey Dunne) just using Lanolin, which is pretty much the same thing and a bit cheaper. There are two types of Lanolin you’ll get in the chemists - one is ?anydrous? and the other is the-opposite-of-?anhydrous?(-which-might-not-be-the-right-word-in-the-first-place). The second one is about a quarter of the price for about 5 times as much and is the one you want. Heat it up til lliquid, pour a bit of it down the neck of your bag and swill it around the seam. Blow the bag up and plug the neck and put a bit of pressure on to push the gick into the seams. MAKE SURE YOU’VE TAKEN OUT YOUR STOCK AND PLUGGED THE STOCK CUP IF YOU HAVE MORE THAN A HALF SET OR YOUR DRONES AND REGS WILL BE FULL OF GOO. Leave it inflated for a litlle while, then let the bag down. The cooled down lanolin has the consistency of vaseline - you can rub the excess left inside into the skin of your bag (…) (which can dry out and become porous over time). The sides of your bag will tend to stick together a little bit for a while, but that’s no harm - just clean out any excess around the neck and around the stock cup and bellows inlet before plugging yourself back in.
The paintbrush and suds trick (a top tip from the bould Dan O’Sullivan) is handy for
checking your regulator keys and all the joints for leaks too. Just remember to dry it off pretty quick, especially around the metal and pads
As well as making it harder to play, a leak can really affect the tuning and intonation of your set. Leaky chanter and regulator keys will really affect tuning, and leaks in the bag/stock joints etc can make it much harder to maintain a stable drone, and affect the intonation of your chanter and regs too.
This post has gotten a bit out of hand, but it’s a subject close to my heart ( / bag)
as a side note, I had a chance to see John Sherman in a workshop in Columbus, OH. Wonderful guitarist . . . makes me sick. Makes fingerstyle look easy. Also had a chance to meet Michael Vignoles; just to let you know, he is a very helpful individual. If you ever have any problems with that set, you’ll never want for better customer service! Good luck to you.
Jason,
I’ve a Vignoles set too (half-set) which he delivered to my hands on a trip over last February. You couldn’t want to meet a nicer fella than Michael. Very helpful.
It seems you already made headway by changing reeds! Visit the sites that Fr. D’Arcy recommends. Make plans to attend the Tionol in March; it’s in your backyard.
Rick
Makes fingerstyle look easy. Also had a chance to meet Michael Vignoles; just to let you know, he is a very helpful individual. If you ever have any problems with that set, you’ll never want for better customer service! Good luck to you.