Let’s see if I can start an uncontroversial thread…
Looking round various makers sites, I’ve seen repeated reference to an air stop key or wind stop key.
What’s it for? The only conceivable use I can see is stopping the chanter while you do remarkable things on the regulators…but I’ve never heard a player do this (granted I don’t have that much in the way of Irish piping to reference), and frankly, I don’t really see the point. Cars come with horns free of charge if you want to do some solo honking. (OT: does anyone remember a piece of music written for taxi horns a few years ago? I was telling someone about it the other day, and she thought I had been drinking (coincidence, I swear it)).
Are they a modern innovation? What traditional players are particularly famed for their use of the wind stop key? How common are they?
Sometimes I will need to use the drone air stop key in order to fine tune the regulators to the chanter , as the reeds will go out of tune as I am playing my pipes , or , If I wan’t to adjust the whole set to play a slow air , so that the subtle emotion expressed in the air is not lost due to a lack of tuning .
tok . + The drone air stop switch is the 2nd , that I know of , air stop other than the chanter . I think the northumbrian pipes have plugs for each drone , that way the pipes can be tuned perfectly . and the player will have as much control over the instrument as they choose . I think that is a good thing .
Check out Cillian’s playing on the Lunasa album ‘Merry sisters of fate’
Last set, first tune called the ‘Wedding reel’ great arrangement starting with drones then regs then everything. I suspect he was making use of a stop key.
I had the good fortune to see him play in Chicago a few months back. This is in fact what he was doing- I assume the tune was played the same way when track was recorded.
This was a great night of music at the Old Town School…
I understand that Cillian et al. will be back through Chicago in July for a couple days. (12,13,15 to be more specific) If you are anywhere close to Chicago I can’t recommend Lunasa enough. The Irish American Heritage Center would be a great place to get “up-close and personal” with the band.
I watched him do this live a few months back - at this time I had no handle on Irish pipes beyond the noise they made. I didn’t see him using the stop key, and I just assumed that like Highland pipes, you could just reduce the pressure and stop the chanter, and keep the regulators up. Och well.
Incredible what you don’t see when you don’t know to look for it…
lorenzo’s advice is often very good. i too am on a waiting list and i will need to tell the maker if i want this chanter stop key. for my maker, it adds lots and lots of pennies to the cost of the chanter. if i read the website correctly, like $500.00
so lorenzo, do you feel that the chanter stop key is critical? do you have one on some of your chanters? if you do not have one, how do you tune the drones?
while we are at it, which drone do you tune first, and why?
as a beginner, i will certainly have the drones off most of the time. but since the topic was already brought up…
I don’t feel the stop key is critical but it certainly is a nice luxury and I recommend getting one if you can still pay the rent afterwards. It makes for fewer annoying squeeks and overall a more professional sound… it also gives the punters something else to try to figure out while listening to you play
Meir…I had a twist-key (oversized violin peg) at the top of my gooseneck Quinn/Koehler B chanter, which worked fine. I’ll post pictures of it soon. My other D chanter that I’ve played on for years has nothing. I simply fold over the leather on the neck of the bag and squeeze shut. Luckily, with these Roberts drones, I seldom if ever need to tune the drones. They’ve been stable now for 5 months every time I pick them up. They have cane reeds too.
Calum…I don’t play the Highland pipes (never had a set in my arms) but I have a good friend who is a whiz on them and he seems to tune to a note on the chanter which is stable. The A note is not true on many D chanters unless the lower hand is covering the tone holes…which requires both hands. As someone said last year, tuning the D drones to the G note would probably work best if you’d like to leave the chanter going. Most pipers I know also only have two drones going against each other while tuning. They stop the other by closing the hole for an instant…which makes the reed clap shut.
The drone shut-off key is essential and has been installed on every 1/2 set of UPs that I have ever seen or heard about. It’s standard. The stop key on the chanter is usually an option.
Edit Note: No, it’s not critical to have a stop key on the chanter. I tune the tenor drone first, then the baritone, then the bass…often leaving both of the other going if they are still true. Patrick said it best though. It works a whole lot better to have one. I just don’t understand why they have to be so long, or have to be in front. It seems a tiny one on the back side of the reed cap would be fine…just reach the left thumb up for it (for you rightys).
I recognize the lower half of the upper part of the chanter, but the upper half of the reed cap looks like trick photography. Definitely “alien” Tony. Let me guess the “funktions” of this unorthodox hybrid. Pressure meter (or hydrometer), pressure-aid valve, humidifier-attachment valve?
The drone air stop switch is the 2nd , that I know of , air stop other than the chanter . I think the northumbrian pipes have plugs for each drone , that way the pipes can be tuned perfectly . and the player will have as much control over the instrument as they choose . I think that is a good thing .
