Pop/Bark: Popping is a wonderful characteristic unique to the uilleann pipes. It is achieved by very briefly playing a hard bottom D then bending the finger off the note you want to emphasize with this technique. I like to roll the finger off the note thus creating a bend in the note as it is played. The notes of the bottom hand are most commonly used for this effect but the upper hand is possible too with practice.
I’m curious if anyone has any video/soundclip of this being done, because I don’t know what in the world this is supposed to sound like.
That doesn’t fit my understanding. It doesn’t describe any ornament that I know
The pop/yelp/bark can be done on the notes octave E F# and G.
With the chanter closed and bag pressure for the note you want to bark is achieved, finger the note at the same time as lifting the bell off of the popping strap and quickly replacing the bell back on the knee.
It took me a while to get it because you really have to be relaxed to sound it properly.
I learned my first bark by listening to the jig “The Blackthorn Stick” second part where the octave G is barked on all the recordings I have heard.
It is explained much better than what I can do in the NPU tutor DVDs.
Barking is one of those things that’s usually discussed in vague terms in uilleann tutors. I could take the time to quote some tutors but the bottom line is that probably nobody could figure out how to do it from the descriptions.
Being analytical/anal and often being in the position of teaching this stuff, I had to come up with a way of breaking down barking into a series of comprehensible steps.
I did barks over and over, slowing them down and figuring out what was actually happening.
Try this, it’s worked for many students over the years:
play A in the low octave
play Hard Bottom D
lift the lower-hand middle finger while the chanter is still raised from the leg: if the pressure is right High F# should sound and be rather flat of pitch
return the chanter to the leg while keeping the lower-hand middle finger raised: the pitch of F# will rise to the correct pitch.
If these steps are all done in this exact sequence but very quickly, a strong “bark” from Low A to High F# will result.
I use this bark because it’s the easiest one for beginners to do. Once Low A to High F# is mastered you can try barking HIgh G and High E. The pitch of High G doesn’t change much, while High E is sharp until the chanter is replaced on the leg.
Now there are two different-sounding barks, a strong barking one if Hard Bottom D sounds and a smooth-sounding one if Middle D happens to sound. Strange, but Middle D can sound sometimes from the open end of the chanter.
NPU 2 talks about it. Explains why it’s called a popping strap. It’s cool when done right. That is fast enough. I can do it slowly n not within a tune just yet. Takes time.
You can “pop” the F#, G, and A in the bottom octave with the bottom D. Ronan Browne showed me this technique back in 1988.
You can see it here: http://source.pipers.ie/Media.aspx?mediaId=21046
As you can hear, if you’re not careful you will jump the octave, and this just goes to show that, while D’Arcy’s description may not seem to correspond to what you do when you pop in the 2nd octave, you are actually using a bottom D. Though I don’t doubt that you can “bark” (or at least something similar) in other ways.
