Good news for me - I’m getting my regulators at the end of the month. Very pleased but suddenly a bit scared!
Any advice on the best way to get started with them? I was thinking of largely leaving them alone for a couple of years, just experimenting with some slower tunes, and continuing to work on the chanter and drones.
I’m getting them a couple of years ahead of schedule - I wanted to upgrade to a full set before my maker retired, and wanted my set all to be made by the same guy.
I’d appreciate any feedback, but could you make it clear if you are passing on advice you’ve heard, or if you actually play with regulators.
I’ve been playing for 5 years now, can play about 30 tunes (jigs, reels, hornpipes) reasonably well, am comfortable with a range of triplets, rolls, short rolls and crans.
This, to me, sounds like the best approach. I don’t have regs yet (9 months and counting), but according to those more experienced pipers on this forum, proceeding slowly and carefully (without compromising chanter technique) is the wise approach.
Keith, I am in the same boat. I got my regs way too early for my abilities. And for the same reason too - I wanted to get a full set from the one maker and wasn’t sure if I’d be in the same location for long. One thing I would like to warn you about is leaving them be as you have suggested. Reeds need to be played or they will die. Even if you don’t play them a lot, you’ve got to exercise the reeds to keep them alive.
As to learning how to use them, you might want to check out NPU’s 3rd video. There is also a small section in Leo Rowsome’s tutor on regs, how and where to use them included at the back of NPU’s book The Leo Rowsome Collection of Irish Music. Beyond that, its pretty much up to you to figure out what you want to do with them. Listen to other pipers to see how they use them, especially Séamus Ennis and Ronan Browne.
I heard him give a go on those Harrington regulators when I was at his shop a few years back. He is a wonderful regulator player in is own right (as well as a great pipemaker)!
His advice on just holding down one row of keys at a time at first is what helped me on my way. There are other good ideas in the article as well.
Well, there’s the school of thought that asks ‘do you start playing the piano with the right hand only for a few years’ and points to the result of Johnny Doran starting out straight off on the regulators getting an unparalelled intergration between chanter and regs in the process.
Get them to go as well as you can and start holding down chords in tunes that suit the regs well like Jimmie Ward’s, Coppers and Brass and take it from there.
Sort of going with this topic… I am looking at possibly getting regs at some point. Does it make any sense to get one reg at a time from the same maker, as I can afford them, or is it better to wait until all 3 can be had at the same time? I know all 3 are used to play chords, but are they of use singlely? And like drones, can they be played one at a time until worked up to all playing all 3?
I suppose you can get 1 regulater. Most people have 2 regs or 3.
2 Regs is known as a 3/4 set
1 reg would be a 3/5 set
It’s up to you I suppose, My advice would be to go with all 3 or at leat 2
(tenor and baritone regs)
Some people buy one at a time. Some people are happy to just have the tenor and baritone, never going to the bass. Its entirely a matter of personal preference. Yes they can be played one note at a time, and often are, combining a note on the chanter with one note on the regs to “suggest” a chord. See Peter’s comments above.
WHile you an get them one atthe time or the ten and bari one, there is something to be said for doing it in the one go so the maker can line up the keys and height etc. Had terrible problems with that on my first set, getting them in instalments.
A lot of the early sets only had 1regulator…I say only but that is demeaning the makers intention.. people like Hussey and kenna were happy enough with 1 regulator.One regulator is fine if its in tune,
3,4,or5 regs are crap if out of tune.Also most players don’t use the 3 regs but a combination of say 2 regs at a time.Leo Rowesome used to hit one note a lot of the time..
Keith ,In my experience as a regulator player…(well ye wanted to know!!)
turn 2 regs away frae ye and concentrate on 1 reg for now then when ye become used to it introduce the 2nd then the 3rd.Hold one note down at a time …try The Kesh and go down the notes then up the notes or just hold one note ,voila ye are playing the regs…as Gay Mckeown said to me in a master class once"just play the feckin things"(and he was serious!
Or ye could always ask Kevan at the Pipers Club to give ye lessons on them
Slán Go Foil
Uilliam
Slán Go Foill
Uilliam
Hello
Got my -van Daal- regulators this week and started to play them right away although I can’t reach all the keys at the moment.
I think I have to use a shoulder strap.
i paid $2600 for my rebuilt set from tim britton. it’s reliable once you do a wee bit of tweaking, mostly consisting of making sure there are no leaks. lead time is a month or two.
There’s no need to wait, remembering that developing your wrist coordination is not the same thing as arranging tasteful accompaniment. But without the former, you will never have a shot at the latter.
You have to experiment with your tunes to see what is easiest to get a regular rhythm on either the up or down beat, or both. Usually only a part of the tune is suitable for starting up with this. For instance, most of the Dusty Miller is good for getting a continuous, Rowsome-like thumping on every beat, but let up on the part with the cranns.
Hitting the upbeat on hornpipes and reels is facilitated by stomping your foot on the down beat, giving you a definite one-two action. Not a habit you want to keep, but it will definitely help get you jump started. It will be easier to thump the downbeat for the jigs.
You can turn your bass and baritone regulators away from you, allowing you to concentrate on hitting just the tenor or the tenor/baritone together. Depending on your bass regulator configuration, you may be able to remove it and plug up the hole with something. The extension on the bass regulator can give you a lot of trouble when figuring out how to reach notes with your wrist. Once you get used to awkwardness of playing the chanter with your wrist moving in and out, then you can add the bass regulator.
The floppy action of the wrist is what you need to focus on developing, not holding continous notes.
Oh, and yes, I actually play my regulators.
Definitely use a shoulder strap, (unless you have a Paddy Keenan-like setup with the stock in low on the bag)
The floppy action of the wrist is what you need to focus on developing, not holding continous notes.
Definitely use a shoulder strap, (unless you have a Paddy Keenan-like setup with the stock in low on the bag)[/quote]
I respectfully disagree with the above. I think it’s very usefull to start by holding long notes and getting used to playing the chanter with altered hand position, as well as familiarizing yourself with appropriate harmony. Then you can move on to very basic one beat long, on beat punches; then off beat punches; then alternating; then working with the timing of the length of teh punches.
A good tune to try it with is something simple in D like the Silver Spear reel, focusing on the A/F# and B/G chords on the smaller two regs.
I tell my customers not to assume to aspire to 3 regs, and that the two smaller ones give most of the effect. The tandem chords afforded by the two are the bulk the effect of the regs and consequently, I don’t recommend getting one.
In my experience, the only reason to use a strap is for particularlly heavy sets and has nothing to do with Paddy’s low placement which I don’t relate to at all under any conditions. But that’s just me.
One more tip, in case you’re not aware of it, the trick to reaching the range of reg keys is to move your right knee right and left. The chanter bottom and your hands move along with them traversing the 6 inches or so necessary.
its 8 days now, that I play the regulators 9 (Mark van Daal = full set 4000 euro’s)
I always thought it would be difficult
but it is not, piece of cake
reaching the shiny objects is still (for a long time) complicated
but
i have the feeling of having two instruments
