As most of you all know I am new to the U-pipes an have had my share of problems (not with the product) but with hand position, etc. It had bothered me so that in this thread I was offering up and instrument for which I had not begun to know, but for which after a couple of hours of frustration I was willing to cut all ties.
So what has happened to me since posting the sell of the pipes? Actually several things:
I went and saw a very experience player and told him my problems I was having and didn’t ask him if i could try his pipes, but instead I was a listener and observer…watching his fingering, his bellow and bag work and his posture and all around mechanics. Thanks Glands!..
After I posted my sell, I went to my sun room and applied what I had seen and bingo, I felt extremely comfortable.
I read a post from a recent friend in here who said the following:
though I honestly feel you haven’t really dedicated yourself to them enough.
and you know its right on. I have never quit anything in my life and I am not going to begin with the pipes. So thanks Joseph…
3) I spoke to a co-worker who has played guitar for 35 years who inspired me by saying, the instrument which requires alot is the one which pays off alot in the music it produces.
4) I called and spoke to the maker of my pipes…Thanks Seth…
5) But the one person who inspired me the most was “Seamus Ennis” All day at work I listened to his 40 years of piping and anyone who has heard this knows how it can make one feel.
So the final word is that “MY PIPES ARE NO LONGER FOR SELL”…NOR WILL THEY BE!
Thanks to all who wrote in support and for making me think…God Bless You All
Wow, you and my wife must have spoken…she too said it was a very expensive three weeks, but like I told her after I saw Glands set I knew I had invested in the wrong type of pipes and that the choice at this point is either 1) sell the set and buy Northumbians or 2) keep the set and let them collect dust.
The two quotes which has been used on this thread is a perfect example of the thought process of someone who was confused … at least until last night when I heard and saw the Northumbians.
I’ll tell you Keith, I am just a darned nervous wreck here. Well, it sounds like you’ve had an epiphany, so onward and upward with the Northumbrian Pipes! Good Luck!
For me it was what music do you want to play,not what pipes do I want to play. I only ever wanted to play Irish music and Irish music on Uilleann pipes was like the cream on the cake !!!
RORY
PS I get the impression from a lot of people on this forum that they think the instrument is more important than the music ,or for them the pipes come first than the music !!
You have another choice however. - Play both. Take the year to learn to play your uillean pipes and use that time to save up the cash for a set of northumbrian pipes. That way you will not lose out on your investment.
If you want to listen to some tasty northumbrian piping try Pauline Cato.
lots of people play both. the basics of NSP are probably easier, but when you get to virtuoso playing, there is no lack of challenge. i concur that its about the music. while there is some crossover in the repetoir, they are very different.
for me, and this is just me, and i am sure i am going to get flack for this, even well played, NSP sounds like music that should accompany one of those old merry-go-rounds- it is just too pip-pip-pipy to be serious.
staccato playing is a big part of UP playing, so if you go back to UP at a later time, you will have a better feel for at least that aspect.
for an NSP set there are LOTS of options, so make sure you know what you want before you invest.
I’m sorry that UPs did not work out for you, though I honestly feel you haven’t really dedicated yourself to them enough. I also don’t think that you will find the NSPs all that much easier to learn or play.
Having said that, I will add that we all must follow our hearts. I also want to express my well wishes for your boy, and I hope that his health improves and soon… I know that this is a big reason for your time constraints.
Good luck to your endeavors, where ever they may lead you.
Don’t sell your preference short. The NSP is not a less-serious instrument by any means. Just listen to some of Billy Pigg’s recordings or Becky Taylor for that matter. They are proof that the NSP has just as much range of expression as the UP.
One reason for my moving from NSP to UP has much more to do with the type of music I want to play (i.e. ITM) I did not decide to switch because I felt the UP was superiour in any way.
Another reason why I switched is that I never could hold the NSP chanter comfortably due to having long-spider-like fingers. My fingers would cramp from being bunched up so close to one another and holding the chanter with my fingertips. The span of the toneholes on the UP chanter and using the flats of my fingers is much more comfortable.
YMMV, but remember NS pipers are pipers nonetheless.
Don’t give up. I’m confident if you take the advice of your tutor, and the excellent pipers in this forum, you will succeed. Remember, Rome was not built in a day. Day by day, you will see progress.
