When I started playing pipes and before I knew about Geoff woofs long waiting list I actually wrote to him looking for a practice set .He very kindly wrote back within a week or so saying he couldn’t provide me with a set because of his waiting list.
I didn’t mind too much at the time as I got a practice set somewhere else .But after reading the resent article on Geoff and how he now only takes orders from well known and accomplished pipers I now think my letter was actually a letter of rejection. Now as I said earlier it didn’t bother me at first but as time went by I found it has really started to affect me.
I can’t do my tight triplets any more and my crans and rolls are starting to fall apart . Anyone out there been affected in this way. Sometimes I feel so alone I am hoping that talking about it will help ease the pain .Other people in the same boat can contact me regarding setting up a support group and I’m sure together we can get through this
P S
A piping friend reckons the reason I’m such a bad piper is because I don’t practice enough
You are not alone. Amount of practise has nothing to do with it. You have been traumatized, and by someone who should know better. After all, don’t we all look up to people like Wooff, et al? To be casually turned aside like that would be enough to scar any of us for life. Sounds like very good grounds for a lawsuit to me. He would have done much better to quote you a price that would be astronomical, a waiting period that would be untenable, and then suggest some reasonable alternate makers.
Don’t feel rejected, I’ve been rejected so many times I’ve forgotten what to do if someone (she) say’s yes. And as for practic on the pipes, I was really surprised when I took my pipes out of the closet after a year and I didn’t sound any better, but now after practing for about 3 months the pipes are sounding better, must have been the reed. If the guy who sold me my pipes could hear me now, he would probably pay me to get them back. I suggest a support group for UP makers because of pipers like me, a piper who can get sounds out of a set the maker never intended and then say’s proudly, these are a set made by so and so. What Fun!!
When I am having a prob in my life I have discovered a way to solve it . Just point and click , and one of these will be on your doorstep within hours . you can even pay online w your credit card . . Try this link ; cane corso . So why complain?? Sigh , well I guess I am a " dog person .
I was thinking I should wait and let Peter jump on this, but what the hell.
If you actually read the article, it doesn’t say anywhere that Geoff only takes orders from “accomplished” pipers. What it says is, basically, if you place an order with him now, it’ll be ready in fourteen years. However, if you show up on his doorstep and, as Boyd once put it (I think), “play like the divil”, you might be able to twist his arm into letting you jump the queue a wee bit. Having a big wad of cash on hand might not hurt either. It should be noted that Geoff is not the only pipemaker known to do this–quite a few do and I’ve known several people (including myself) who have benefitted from taking this approach. That being said, I’m not saying all of you who want a top-notch set of pipes should bang down some famous pipemaker’s door and play yer best rendition of “The College Groves”. That would be ill-advised.
I’m sure Geoff wasn’t trying to intentionally crush your spirits Rory. He probably just thought you’d be better off getting fitted out by another pipe maker who could get you a set in much less time.
I think that basically it was the word “practise set” in combination with a 14-year waiting list that did it. I had no problems ordering a full set from him - and luckily my playing still need the 14 years practise to take on a Woof set…
Geoff can turn down dingleberries now. Some pipers are more trouble than they’re worth, frankly. Any of the pipemakers here know what I’m talking about!
If you want a Wooff set go to Angus. Brad has figured out everything there is to know if you ask me. It’s Kenna vs. Egan. Someday Brad’s stuff will be just as desirable, and people will be kicking themselves for missing out on low prices and short waits.
Rory, I’d suggest that you check into the all-encompassing Equality legislation we have in Ireland, (thanks to our Masters in Brussels) - I’m quite sure that somewhere in there, is a provision that would allow you to take an action for discrimination against you on the basis of your playing standard.
I can even suggest a solicitor – Lionel Hutz, very competitive fees, I believe.
djm,
Typical Canadian…it all comes back to hockey eh! nice web site! Hockey is my second inanimate passion (though my often shrewish wife thinks my piping has taken on a “shrillling” life of its own and perhaps is animate!)
Geoff is a stand up guy and very helpful. He doesn’t put people down or set out to make them feel bad. As Morten said a 14 year wait for a practice set is a bit mad, better to get started on something playable from a short waiting list or secondhand, and sign on Geoff’s list for the full monty
Hey, here is an idea. Maybe at the next Canadian-based Toe-nail we can have a new class called “full check piping”. I can see it now: djm skates in, fends off a broadside check with a cran, deaks around the last defender with a couple of triplets, he shoots on his back D hand and SCORES!!!
Ahem. Although I live in Chicago, I grew up, er, reached the age of majority in the Detroit area. My sporting loyalties are still aligned with the city of Motor for the most part so
GO WINGS!!!
Maple Leafs, Black Hawks, Habs, Bruins, and Rangers SUCK!!
Back to the topic
Geoff was not dissing roryb - he was telling the truth. And the article is just stating the truth, too - Geoff will go the extra mile for a prodigy or professional because he wants his work to be played by people capable of using it to its full capacity. I think he’s entitled to that one little bit of vanity after taking a big risk by relocating from Australia to Ireland and all the years of working hard to achieve all that he has.
Most full-time makers will do this. I don’t begrudge it and nor should anyone whose livelihood doesn’t depend on music.
From what I understand Geoff doesn’t make ptractice sets anymore. Unless there was a youngster with great potential in search of one that is.
Geoff makes a complete instrument. The chanter alone cannot be compared to the chanter played with the drones. The harmonics just come alive when allt he reeds are gonig together… then you add the regs and … Aaaaaaaaaahhhhh! Maaaaaaaaaaaaaarvelous.
I would just like to thank people for their concern over my mental health I feel better already thank you.
I am now seeking professional help and have been advised that I might benefit from either a frontal lobotomy or electro-shock treatment but the doc says if I want to be a really good piper I’d better have both and of course plenty of practice
I hope I haven’t offended anyone with this bit of nonsense but as Brad Angus’s PR man put it geoff can turn down dingleberries so I must be one of them
By no means! But did you tell Geoff all the lines in the grain in the chanter had to be perfectly lined up, or some such? People want strange things like this sometimes. Geoff can afford to weed out people who he thinks are going to give him a bunch of grief someday.
Buy Simon Trapp’s Angus B set and you’ll feel a lot better. Call it hype if you want. Like I said before I played my Bb set and Giles Bettison’s Wooff B set one after the other, and they were equals in every department.
you can even pay online w your credit card . . Try this link ; cane corso .
So why complain??
Sigh , well I guess I am a " dog person .
