Archive for February, 2011

Bagpiper

We are sitting down with one of Atlanta’s professional Bagpipers.

Steve, we understand that the reed and it’s quality used by the bagpipers in Atlanta and around the country today is an essential part of a successful bagpipe performance. Would you agree with that? Tell us a little about your favorite, most dependable reed.

The highland bagpipes are a demanding and exacting instrument. The technique required to execute bagpipe fingerings and embellishments is considerable. To enjoy the music of the pipes one must also have the pipes in good tune. Lots of time must be spent in breaking in chanter reeds and tuning the drones to the chanter. There are a good number of different quality reeds on the market today.

Tell us a bit about how you fell in love with the instrument – when and where did you first come into contact with the instrument? How long did you study the instrument before being able to confidently play your first “gig”?

I’ve always had a “thing” for the great highland bagpipes. Hearing the pipes at annual The Stone Mountain Park Highland Games one Fall was my first real introduction to them. I’ve enjoyed every minute of the last 7 years learning as much as possible on the pipes and really get a kick out of playing for people.

The tartan colors and patterns that you pick to wear must be worn correctly for different events. Isn’t that true or can one style or configuration suit all?

I normally wear the Black Watch tartan when performing for memorial services and funerals. If you are Scottish, then it is easy to find your clan tartan online.

Of all the events that you have done for Blue Sky Atlanta, over the last several six years performing the bagpipes, what is one that stands out in your mind from the others in the past several years that was really heartwarming – really touched your heart?

There are many I recall, but I had the pleasure honor of piping at the wedding of Rob and Caroline in October 2009 and it was one of the most beautiful weddings I’ve played. The wedding was held at Flint Hill Plantation in Norcross, Georgia. We wish to thank Steve Thrasher for his time on this first of a two-part interview/post and we hope that you, our blog readers, found this information informative and educational. Mr. Thrasher is asked to appear at Wedding Ceremonies, Memorials, golf tournament starts, National holidays and Grand Openings throughout the southeast. For over the last 25 years, Steve has performed drums and vocals with one of Atlanta’s most popular Atlanta wedding music bands, BLUE SKY. Thanks, Steve for your time today and good luck with your future events.

http://www.blueskyatlanta.com is one the country’s premier live entertainment booking companies located in Atlanta, GA. For over the last 25 years, owner musician, Jim Tiernan and his company, have provided live entertainment including music bands, Dj’s, magicians, comedians, speakers, pianists, jazz groups and performing soloists for weddings, holiday parties, conventions and special events of every conceivable size and theme.

A bagpipe chanter is the part of the bagpipe that produces the melody. It is usually a narrow, conical tube that has a series of small holes. These holes are alternately covered and uncovered to control the pitch produced by the chanter. At the top of the bagpipe chanter is the reed.

Bagpipe chanters usually consist of two main divisions: the parallel and non-parallel bored. The former allows the bagpipe to produce a sweet tone while the latter allows for the control of volume in bagpipes.

Wood or resin?

Wooden chanters are made of solid, durable wood such as African Blackwood, Cocobola, or Rosewood. They usually come in the key of concert pitch D and the key of B and are usually tuned to the key of A in 440 Hz. Most wooden chanters have keyblocks for adding brass keys and mounts usually made of maple wood or synthetic ivory.

Meanwhile, a resin bagpipe chanter is made from durable resin and comes in the key of concert pitch D and the key of B. They are usually tuned to the key of A in 440 Hz. Resin chanters are ideal for both beginners and advanced players.

For beginners

Practice chanters are mainly used for practice in Great Highland Bagpipes. It is smaller than the typical bagpipe chanter and has a top piece that can be blown directly from the mouth. It is generally used by beginners so that they do not have to master the mechanics of controlling the bag. Practice chanters are usually made of hard wood or plastic.

Tips

When buying bagpipe chanters, look for those that have a blowpipe made of plastic. Plastic blowpipes are sturdier and do not crack easily. Also, plastics are not vulnerable to extreme moisture and temperature changes that can cause blowpipes to crack.

Shopping help / Consumer information

A complete Guide to BAGPIPE CHANTERS is available in Picky Guide, one of the fastest growing online magazines giving free consumer advice and product information.

Most bagpipe blowpipe problems are caused by a faulty valve. A typical blowpipe valve has a round rubber flapper that is used as the sealing element. If the rubber has hardened or does not lay flat against the seat, replace the valve. If the rubber is dirty, sometimes a good cleaning will get the valve working properly again. With a flapper valve, you may need to adjust how the valve seats on the bottom of the blowpipe. You can move the copper stem up and down or bend it to get the valve seated better. You can also check that the bottom of the blowpipe is flat and smooth.

The blowpipe itself must also be airtight. To check this, place the mouthpiece in your mouth and suck on it. You should be able to stick your tongue to the mouthpiece if there is no air leaking. If the valve is good, then the leak is either at the joint between the blowpipe and mouthpiece or the blowpipe is cracked. If the joint is leaking, remove the mouthpiece and add some waxed hemp or Teflon tape to the joint until the leak is gone. If the blowpipe is cracked, you will need to replace it or have it repaired.

The size of the blowpipe bore is also important. The larger the bore, the more air that you can blow through it for the same amount of effort. Ideally, the blowpipe bore should be 3/8″. If it is smaller than 1/4″, you should consider having it bored out to 3/8″ by a bagpipe maker/repairer.

Rauncie Kinnaird owns Kinnaird Bagpipes & Reeds retailing Scottish jewellery, food, Guinness clothing, gift items, Highland Dress, and pipe band supplies. Sign-up for free articles on pipe bands and maintenance tips at http://www.kinnairdbagpipes.com

Bringing Bagpipe Tuition to Everyone, Everywhere.

I have been teaching music for many years and always thought that there must be a better way of reaching more people who have a desire to learn a musical instrument but who have no idea of how to go about it.

People who live in remote areas. People who do not know of anyone who teaches their desired instrument in their area. People who might think that they may be thought of as “odd” for wishing to learn a particular instrument.

I teach bagpipes and have been a professional piper for many years as a competitor and as entertainer. Of course, I am Scottish! In between piping commitments, I have always taught young and old folks with a desire to learn properly. But, people are only willing to travel so far, for their weekly lesson and so we, as teachers are limited to the area that we can cover.

A few years ago, I put together a tuition programme for the complete beginner that took all the jargon out of learning and explained it all in simple language.

I then created a tutorial book with all the techniques needed to play properly. And put all the cotent on cd.

I then recorded an audio cd to explain and demonstrate everything on the tutorial cd.

I then recorded a video cd, showing my hands in close-up so that the student could see exactly what was needed.

Now I had the complete tuition course for the bagpipes. I advertised it on my website and sales have been very good with orders coming in from all over the world.

Still, I was not 100% happy. I was not reaching enough people. So I decided to try a new approach to teaching.

Live web conferencing or video conferencing where there can be many people online at any one time who, are all at the same stage of learning and can gain by watching and listening to the way others are progressing or are having a hard time. The competitive element really works.

There can now be people interacting with me from all over the world. The play for me and I can tell them what they are doing right/wrong and can demonstrate how to do it properly.

The feedback I have had so far has been really positive with people willing to pay between $20 and $50 for a one hour lesson.

I am hoping to start this type of tuition at the beginning of April and would welcome any comments or suggestions that might be of some benefit to me or my students.

Please join me on my website: www.learn2pipe.com [http://www.learn2pipe.com]

I can be contacted by e-mail at: enquiries@learn2pipe.com

Telephone : +44(0)1239 711868

Cellphone : 07751014474

Thank you for taking the time to read this short article.

Pipe Major Robert R. Pinkman.

Pipe Major Robert R. Pinkman Has been a professional piper since the age of 13. Innitially taught by members of the family, at the age of 12 he was tutored by Captain John McLellan at Edinburgh Castle, which also housed the British Army School of Bagpipe Music, famous for excellence the world over. Bobby, as he is known, is a successful solo-ist and Pipe Major having competed and entertained all over the world. He started teaching in his local area and was soon stuggling to keep up with demand so, he developed his website and tuition programme on a series of cd’s, tutor book, audio & video. He then realised that people needed a personal touch and came up with the idea of video conferencing. Feedback has been great and the live tuition is due to start April 1st.

Brand new Royal Stewart Tartan cover, with turned nickeled ferrules & sole. This is the standard by which all bagpipes are met. Click on picture to enlarge.

Details:

Also Included is:

* Seasoning & hemp. 40″ x 20″ * Brand New! * “Practice Chanter Tutorial” by Pipe Major R.T. Shepherd with photographs of finger positions, exercises, melodies & more.

Price: $299.99

Click here to buy from Amazon

The Gibson Regular Polypenco Practice Chanter offers acclaimed tone and balance. The holes are countersunk for ease in location. Overall length is 17.25″.

Price:

Click here to buy from Amazon

The bagpipe is one of the oldest instruments known to man, but it is not originally Scottish, or even British, but was brought across Europe from it origins in the Middle East. These pipes are suitable for beginner and avid player alike.

Price: $299.99

Click here to buy from Amazon

Bagpipe Style

When it comes to technique there’s no one single, absolute and correct way to make things happen.  By “things“, I mean the effective movement of fingers.  ”Technique”, simply stated, is the way we move our fingers to allow just the right amount of air to flow out of our melody-making chanter, the right amount of air to make gracenotes sound and appropriately place rhythmic flourishes (also known as embellishments).  To me, that’s technique.  Dead simple.

The language of pipers is full of euphemisms and one of my favourites is: ”S/he’s got great hands [followed by silence]” (translation: they know bugger all about music).  It’s the piping equivalent of the dating game: “S/he’s got a great sense of humour” (woof, woof). 

I have occasional moments of self-awareness and I am happy to say that I have had the great good fortune – and that’s how I see it – to have been bestowed the “great hands (shame about the face)” line.  I’ve always quietly worn it as a badge of honour.

We all know there’re nine measly notes on our scale [hey - reminds me of a great CD!], no rests, dynamics or much else to add colour to our music.  So we are left with technique.  Without technique where’s the music?

I don’t believe that pipers need virtuosic technique to create pleasing music.  I do believe that pipers need to be aware of their technical style — including their strengths and limitations.  It seems to me pleasing the ear of a listener — and your own — is so much more satisfying than an unpleasant blootery strafing of notes.

I just uploaded to youtube.com John Walsh’s solo from a 1989 concert in Edinburgh – and seeing that video prompted this note.

John is a fantastic piper (you may know, by the way, he currently plays with Shotts & Dykehead). In fact, I owe a great deal of my piping to his good teaching.  But what always strikes me about his playing is his technique: his light, barely-moving hands create a really effective precision of rhythm and music.  John’s a light-fingered technician.  While he’s one of the lightest (and effective) technicians I can think of he’s in the company of many others: the late John Burgess, Alasdair Gillies and Brian Donaldson jump to mind, too. 

The lightsome classics like, “Mrs MacPherson of Inveran“, “Cockerel in the Creel” and “John MacColl’s March to Kilbowie Cottage” were tailor-made for interpretation by the  light-fingered. 

Outside of a pipe band I never play “Mrs MacPherson of Inveran”.  “That just doesn’t suit you”, said John Walsh years ago.  And he was right.  My technique is “heavy”.  I’m more a “Sandy Cameron”, “Glengarry’s Gathering” kind of player - probably the product of John Wilson’s teaching in Ontario. 

John Wilson lost parts of his left/top hand in a WWI-era explosion and went on to become one of the 20th century’s greats.  He fought technique – and he won - his legacy is big, hyper-clean technique (listen to Bob Worrall or Bill Livingstone, for examples). 

“Heavy” usually means micro-larger gracenotes, more emphasis on low g in leumluath, taorluath and crunluath movements.       

I am not suggesting “heavy” or “light” fingered technicians have a set list of appropriate tunes – not at all. 

I am suggesting that we all should have a clear understanding of what kinds of compositions best suit our technical predispositions – and look to play tunes that make the most of our technical abilities. 

We’ll all be happier – including the listening public (such as it is).

 M.

A revised edition of Roderick Cannon’s classic work, this is a definitive and critically acclaimed history of the origins and music of Scotland’s most famous instrument. The eminently readable text will be of interst not only to pipers but to all music lovers. This book is the only comprehensive history of piping in print.

Price: $19.95

Click here to buy from Amazon

Premium Bagpipes Practice Chanter Reed. This reed has a narrow body and a slightly lower pitch than the Gibson practice chanter reeds.

Price:

Click here to buy from Amazon