Martin Nolan wrote a really good article for the Pipers’ Review, mostly on setup of pipes but also with playing advice. One thing he mentioned that I have found invaluable is to grip the bottom of the chanter a little tighter when playing top hand ornaments. It provides support, you see. I found that just having more fingers down in the bottom hand usually does the job. For years I struggled with playing rolls on B or A, or tight ornaments in the top hand; it was only when I began to shore up the top hand with the bottom in this way that they began to work.
Yep, I found this advice excellent as well, not just bottom to top, but top to bottom, as well. Also to hold a bit tighter on the bottom hand and relax the top hand when popping works well for some reason. In other words, even though popping a note on the bottom hand, hold a bit tighter with the few fingers remaining on the bottom hand, and pop with the wrist. Seems lighter to do it this way.
djm
i remember paddy keenan railing at considerable length one time about pipe bags that wouldn’t hold the chanter upright on one’s knee. the idea being if it stands by itself while inflated then the fingers are free to play not having to support the chanter. comments?
I wish I knew what the magic formula was to get the chanter to stay still. The neck on my bag is often bent, meaning the neck is too long, causing the chanter to constantly twist out of my grasp, unless it is suddenly too short, and puts a lot of strain on my upper thumb pushing against the back d.
djm
Vinyl bags like Paddy plays certainly stand up on their own. Whether this is entirely the case with thicker leather bags for D pipes I’m not certain. I have an older sewn leather bag that did this to an extant. The Taylors and Rowsome used a double thickness of leather, by the way.
Now, whether you can even make a vinyl bag that would hold up a Bb chanter all on its own I’m not sure; but I’ve finished gluing up one and will give it a go, just as soon as I finish up with this and that. The Bb chanter does wear out my bottom hand after a lot of playing - say, 3 hours…and whether it would help to have it standing up on its own I couldn’t say. Necks for these bags are very long and skinny, to get to the chanter inlet, which is by nature a bit off the ground; you can spot them in old pictures quite easy. B sets don’t seem so drastically huge.
Look at the set of pipes being played by John Wayland on the cover of Wheels of the World Vol. 2. Huge! Looks like an A set.
Also - I used this boat repair adhesive Dave Daye recommended for bags, and it certainly looks supertight. Dave says it won’t blow out like contact cement will; guess I’ll find out.
my pipebag is a quinn of '79 vintage. i think he mentioned that the leather was 4 to 4 1/2 to 5 oz. so anything lighter who knows. a friend of mine made a vinyl bag and had trouble with the chanter falling over. his solution was to take a screendoor spring and put it in the neck. it worked. the bag stayed shut as well. [just kidding] it really did work.
The only bags I’ve seen Paddy play are pretty short and stubby in the neck, including a very wide and stiff seam from gluing up the vinyl. He also plays with the chanter laying down almost horizontally coming out of the innner thigh, so I don’t know how that would figure into the neck holding the chanter up.
Royce
correct royce, which is one of the reasons he uses a vinyl bag. a bag made with heavier leather will do the same.
I was watching him last weekend and depending on the chair a bit, he literally has his left wrist laying on his left upper thigh, not quite to the knee area, so the chanter is essentially laying across his lap, with some angle of course because he stops on the inside of his right thigh. And his arms are easily long enough for that to be convenient and comfortable.
With my stomach and my arms that doesn’t work out so well for me, but it looks like a very comfortable position to play in.
Royce