I need some advice. I was thinking about that for some time now, but I don’t get this “problem” solved…
Well.
I used to play on my Chieftain lowD and my Feadog highD till now and I was satisfied with those instruments since I wasn’t into irish music so much, de facto I only occasionally played a tune on the highD and used the lowD mainly for “mystic medieval-inspired music” with lots of electrical reverb effects and that stuff.
But in the past months I realized that ITM is “my” music - and that my whistles need “professional” followers. I love the sound of wood, so I need wooden whistles, but they have a huge disadvantage: the price.
I own a flemish bagpipe which I used to play in my “mystic medieval music” times and which might be worth around 1000€ (~ $1200). That instrument is way too loud for my flat and I don’t have a band to play with, so the instrument might appear to be “useless”. But I like it. I like the sound, the playability, the workmanship.
What would you do? Sell an instrument you like to be able to afford another instrument you also like, or save for the other and keep the beloved instrument even if you can’t play it at the moment?
Saving would take quite long for me since I don’t have an own income (studying all the day and no time for work except at night, but I also have to sleep sometime).
Thanks for reading, and - in advance - for thinking.
Greetings,
G.
PS: I don’t know if this list is right for this topic, but it should be since it is no specific [insert instrument here] question.
If you are interested in pursuing ITM, why not just keep the whistles you have? A whistle made out of metal would, I believe, be more traditional than a wooden one. They are called penny whistles sometimes because they were a very inexpensive instrument. They are called tin whistles sometimes because they used to be made of tin. Almost anyone could afford one. Many people prefer the sound of a cheaper whistle. I don’t think you need a new whistle. You might want one, but you don’t need it.
The most critical thing is that you have access to good live or recorded ITM to listen to. There are good radio programs of Irish music on the Internet, if you can’t afford to get CD’s right now. If you can get some CD’s, make sure they are good ones by respected musicians of ITM.
I personally would not sell the bagpipes. But store them properly so that they do not get damaged. You might be really happy to have them someday.
I would stick with the whistles I have and work out how to start learning about ITM. Put your energy into practicing and not into thinking about problems with instruments for now. Just my opinion.
Hi Cynth,
I just wrote “ITM” because it - in my opinion - describes irish “session music” best. I don’t wanted to say that I want to be as traditional as possible. If i were, I’d have to hate zouks for being not traditional. And I’d be a living paradoxon because I like the lowD.
But I’m not.
Maybe I’d better have written “IM” or irish music inseatd of ITM since that seems to be a special style of irish music…hmm.
But thanks for your inspiring thoughts, just played some tunes on my ol’ Feadog, surely it’s not bad, the sound might be a matter of like or dislike (for my taste it’s too squeaky and penetrating), but it plays well. Seems that I can use it some more time…we’ll see.
I’m in a similar quandary. I have a set of good GHB’s that I played as a teenager. great, great times. I don;t see myself getting back into that scene for many different reasons, but I have a fair amount of life invested into those pipes. OTOH, they could also be converted into a really first rate flute or something similar, that I definitely would use.
