Hi folks,
could anyone tell me where to find an mp3 file with just the drone sound of a concert pitch (440 hz) set? I would like to listen to it while playing my practice set to learn playing in tune.
Cheers,
Philipp
Phillip that is not the way to go.When ye get the drones for real ye will have to learn to keep the pressure steady on them and not allow the sound to waver.I fear that by listening to a Mp3 whilst very pleasant maybe, is only gonna lull ye into a false sense of achievement which ye will appreciate soon enough when ye get the real thing.Thats why I say it is better to get the drones ASAP and get on wi it.
Slán Agat
Uilliam
There is no substitute to actually playing the drones. When I first had my drones , I thought there was a problem with them and that they were sucking air like mad. I went to an accomplished player so that he could try them out and hey presto it was just me not the pipes !! If you can afford some then they are defintely worth it , if you can’t I believe Kenneth McNicholl sells a cd of just the drones on his website. Go on buy a set of drones …you know you want to 
it’s my opinion that the practise you are proposing will lead to serious pitfalls should you ever acquire the drones.
And my opinion is that it doesn’t make a bit of difference at all. If and when drones make an appearance, some modifications and adjustments will be made regardless of what kind of of background noise accompanied the playing of the chanter, whether mp3 drone, other session musicians, or Seamus Ennis on the cd player. No big deal, in my opinion (which also may be no big deal).
The only benefit I can think of for playing artificial drone sounds (and it is a very small one) is that it will help a newbie whose ear is atuned to equal temperment adjust to just tuning. In other words, you will begin to learn that your chanter is not necessarily out of tune, but that its tuning works quite well when blended with the drones.
So that little experiment will last you all of five minutes. Big deal. Even if you do go ahead and spring for drones now, you will find yourself spending 99% of your practise time playing chanter only, so don’t be too eager to spend any money on this drone business (even fake ones) until you really are ready for it.
djm
esteemed Mr. Reeder,
In your avatar you appear to be playing a practise set. Do you play a set of pipes with drones in them also?
esteemed djm,
playing pipes and drones in proper temperament is, acoustically and physiologically, a completely different undertaking from playing the chanter alone. This is not an opinion. To most tyros ( I daresay) the first time turning on the drones elicits a sensation akin to having a penknife thrust into the bag. One’s entire physical technique and approach to playing the instrument must be re-ordered and reconciled with the new acoustic and aerodynamic properties of the instrument itself. If starting from scratch is what Mr. Reeder referred to as being “some modifications and alterations” that “must be made” then i agree whole-heartedly and apologise for my contensiousness…
There is no argument to this, but it doesn’t take all that long to adjust to the drones IF you can already handle the chanter, and this is where I was headed: that you can buy the drones before you’re really ready for them, but then you will end up practising to learn the chanter without the drones turned on anyways, so if you can’t afford a full halfset just yet, no worries, all in good time.
djm
Or not..I take the opposite camp and say start learning wi the drones if ye have them.Even if its only one drone on so that ye know the correct pressure for both chanter and drones and no wavering on either.
Balance in a word.
A chanter on its own is no more an uilleann pipe than a drone on its own and the two of them together without balance is no better than having no pipes,or maybe a set of pipes alluded to on another recent thread. 
Slán Go Foill
Uilliam
My avatar photo has been been substantially reduced in size to meet the requirements of this forum. The set in question is, in fact, a Thomas half-set with a Childress chanter. Since then, I’ve acquired 2 full sets.
“If starting from scratch is what Mr. Reeder referred to as being “some modifications and alterations” that “must be made” then i agree whole-heartedly and apologise for my contensiousness…”
I apologize for my tendency toward understatement. It’s a character flaw.
“Or not..I take the opposite camp and say start learning wi the drones if ye have them.Even if its only one drone on so that ye know the correct pressure for both chanter and drones and no wavering on either.
Balance in a word.
A chanter on its own is no more an uilleann pipe than a drone on its own and the two of them together without balance is no better than having no pipes,or maybe a set of pipes alluded to on another recent thread.
Slán Go Foill
Uilliam”
I think this would be my position as well. I’ve never owned a practice set.
If pressed for an opinion, I’d recommend that one’s first purchase be a half-set, but I’d also recognize the fact that every person’s situation is different.
Well, thanks for all your advice, guys.
Its not that I want to have that mp3 as a substitute for real drones. It was just meant to be an experiment. Just to do it once to get a little impression.
I think I developed a reasonable sense for pipes beeing in tune or not while playing the highland pipes for 7 years. And I did tune them to the drones and by ear.
Well, after all, I’ll go on working on my finger technique and the amount of money on my bank account 
Thanks a lot again,
Philipp
Hi Phillip,
or even better: Write me an email and I´ll attach one:
hans-joerg-podworny 
online.de