Just how close do your drones need to be tuned before they phase lock and how can you tell? I tune my drones until as far as I can tell, there is only “one big drone” sounding but there is no point where I can’t say that a mm or two somewhere different might not be better.
Does anyone have any thoughts on the physics of this phenomenum? To what extent does the level of coupling between the drones affect it and can one’s coupling be manipulated? What about drones in a common stock? Are they more tightly coupled? Does it matter how the drone reeds are setup (tongue length etc.) and oriented?
Is it something that top players can regularly get right? Can it be that I’ve never stood next to one?
Hi Chris - I am rather new to the SSP and am dealing with some of the same issues.
As a matter of fact, I am having a hard time really enjoying practicing because I can’t seem to get the dang things in tune!
I understand the phasing concept and can occationally hear the beats, but I have a difficult time even getting them to ‘set up’ so I can try to work with them.
It may be that my inexperience with my bellows keeps me from getting a consitent enough pressure across the reeds to maintain a good audible beat.
Anyway, it makes it incredibly frustrating because I spend so much time tuning (and never quite getting it right ) that I often am too ‘burnt’ to continue with my practicing and give up. But then I’m faced with the same problem when ever I get back around to it.
I sometimes just go ahead and start some tunes, but that is so unfullfilling for me as a musician, and HORRIBLE for anyone else in ear-shot .
It would be nice to have some more experienced players chime in on this, as it is becomeing a major hurdle for me.
I’m not the expert, but the accepted path seems to be:
Play with one drone only. Probably a tenor. Get your drone in tune with the chanter and get your chanter playing a clean octave (checked against the drone…). Play your tunes like this for now. A device called a “third hand” can be useful for closing the right hand notes on the chanter while moving the drones. Physically remove two of your drones and plug the holes if that helps.
Secondly and in parallel to the above practice with all your drones but with the chanter removed (and the hole plugged). Starting with one drone add a second and bring it into tune with the first. Then de-tune it and retune it until you’re thoroughly happy with what the diference sound like. Then with two drones in tune, add the third and tune/detune it until you’re happy with recognising the sound of three drones in tune and can find it reliably.
Repeat step 1 with one tenor drone then repeat step 2 tuning the other drones to the in-tune drone. It is recommended that you play a high A on the chanter to make sure your pressure is right, but otherwise, you ignore the sound of your chanter while tuning the drones to each other. Now you’re ready to play. If things drift out of step then go back to tuning one drone to the chanter on its own and then repeat the rest of the process.
And spend lots of time on steps 1 and 2 until step 3 seems a trivial step to take. Keeping all the drones steady while not worrying about playing any tunes should help sort out your bellows and bag technique.
Sometimes just having someone knowledgeable tune your pipes for you once can be very helpful - you see how they do it, you hear what your pipes are meant to sound like, they can tell you if the pipes have any problems… There is a DVD by Jim McGillivray (“Pipes up” I think?) on tuning the highland pipes, but the principle is the same and I found the DVD very helpful.
(You should know how to stop and start individual drones by tapping or pinging with your finger on the end of the drone. Get someone to show you how to do this if you don’t know how.)
I’ve found that my common stock smallpipes seem to phase lock pretty well. Of course you have to blow a steady pressure first, this is step one, but what will happen is once everything settles down, perhaps 10 minutes of playing, I will fine tune and then from that point on nothing changes. I can play for an hour and the drones will stay dead stable.
This seems to be a common stock phenomenon but I am no expert, this has just been my experience with this. It’s neat when it happens though. As long as I keep the same pressure it stays.
Common stocks do seem to be more conducive to phase lock but I wouldn’t say that just the reeds sharing the same chamber is the x-factor. Pressure and reed stability are still major factors.
Having phase lock is very satisfying but can be frustrating to achieve. I can get phase lock on my border pipes and GHB but the best phase lock I’ve heard is Stuart Liddell’s MacRae GHB drones. As much the piper as the pipes I’m sure. The sound is both firm and velvety.
) that I often am too ‘burnt’ to continue with my practicing and give up. But then I’m faced with the same problem when ever I get back around to it.
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