Beginning fiddlers are told to watch themselves as they play in a mirror, to make sure the bow stays parallel to the bridge. A similiar bit of advice for pipers is to watch the bellows as you play, and make sure it closes and opens fully. Thinking about it is one thing, but try and see if you can actually do it! It helps a lot with keeping the pressure steady.
Here’s one that should be a no-brainer :roll: but merits saying anyway:
If you’re playing a session in a dry, smokey pub during the driest, coldest night of the year (so far), and towards the end of the evening you start getting really bad autocran, weakness in the first octave, decrease in overall volume, ie all the signs that your reed hates this place and hates you for bringing it out there on a wretched night like this,
DON’T reach for the pliers to open up the reed by adjusting the bridle. Put the damned thing away and just play the whistle or go home.
end of lecture
Don’t play your pipes in a swimming pool that hasn’t previously been drained 
…and I thought you were going to suggest spitting into your bellows to raise the humidity level.
My American Irony Detector is buzzing like Mick O’Brien’s drones. 
Don’t try that witty tongue in cheek stuff wid me, pal! 
Seriously though:
It’s probably bad for the bellows leather to do that. You could drag a humidifier with you to a pub session (assuming you can find an electrical outlet), but it’s a major pain in the ass - and a ripe target for slagging from your so-called friends. A case humidifier is some help, too, but only until its beneficial effects begin to wear off. I guess it’s a matter of how much you really want to play tunes that night.
All right, I’ll shut up now…
Pat,
Barry Foy’s book is a crackup! He’s a good whistle player, too.
J.
I watched Ivan Goff put a wet cloth under his arm next to the air intake on his bellows. I was dubious, but his was one of the few sets that played through the whole CL weekend with little problem, while everyone else’s sets seemed to wither and die.
What Barry Foy does with the instrument in his lap is his business.
djm
Pat
so wise, so correct, why didn’t I realize that??? DARN Now I have to learn whistle or maybe get my fiddle in tune.. And I thought I got rid of the thing