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bagpipe-digest       Tuesday, September 28 1999       Volume 01 : Number 095




----------------------------------------------------------------------

Date: Mon, 27 Sep 1999 20:52:19 -0700
From: Don Robertson <[e-mail]>
Subject: (bagpipe) Re: Parents/Friends trying to play your pipes.

That's a good question. I have to admit that I have let people try them
in the past, but when a guy who insisted on trying them almost dropped
them off a stage. NO MORE !! Anyway, I found it's best to just say "
Sorry, No ! " That way there's no confusion about what your telling
them. I watch how they respond, and if they persist, I say " I won't let
you kiss my wife or play my pipes!" That usually does it and helps to
lighten it up a bit. I do think it's a bit odd that we get these kind of
requests. Would these same people go up to a member of an orchestra and
ask to play one of the violins, even though they don't know how.
Shheesh.
Cheers
Don

Matt Buckley wrote:

> This topic brings up an issue I've been thinking about of late.
> In allowing others to play my pipes, sometimes even for a short
> time, I frequently experience changes in my set-up due to
> different blowing styles, wetness, etc.  I've become very
> reluctant to let others play my pipes for this reason, but I am
> concerned a bit with the rudeness involved in turning down a
> request.  How do others approach this?  Is it standard, in
> Highland piping circles, to allow others to play your pipes?
>
> Matt


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------------------------------

Date: Sat, 25 Sep 1999 14:26:27 -0500
From: "Daniel Sheppard" <[e-mail]>
Subject: (bagpipe) 1st time to competition?

Greetings group,
    I live in Corpus Christi, Texas and in November am going to the Highland
Games in Salado. I've been learning the pipes for a little over a year and
have no knowledgd of how piping competitions are run. I do know that there
are different levels of piping. Can just anyone enter the competition and if
so what level would I enter? What do judges look for? I don't know if I
should just watch this first time or just jump right in. My instructor was
self taught and my fear is maybe he has some bad habit that I have learned
and when I compete the judges will have be drawn and quartered for such a
hidious offence. Bottom line, is there a level of competition that is for
very new pipers that are still learning? Any information would be greatly
appreciated.

Thanks in advance.

Dan Sheppard



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------------------------------

Date: Mon, 27 Sep 1999 17:57:31 +0100
From: "lsrapm" <[e-mail]>
Subject: (bagpipe) Re: water trap question

SENDMEMORESPAM wrote

[snip]
> But I'm not convinced a water trap would make much of a difference.

[snip]

Believe me, Bill. Get a decent water trap in there. Also, take your chanter
out of the pipes immediately after every session and cap it. I also have a
long zip fitted along the seam of my bag cover so that I can pull most of
the bag outside the cover for an hour as well to let the air get at it. And
I pull the mouth piece out of the stock to let the air get into the water
trap. My chanter reed nearly always last for months.

Chris Eyre




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------------------------------

Date: Sun, 26 Sep 1999 21:48:10 -0400
From: Chris Hamilton <[e-mail]>
Subject: (bagpipe) Re: Slogan: Piper's Spouse Shirt

On 25 Sep 1999 23:40:20 GMT, [e-mail] (Zudupiper) wrote:

>> Squeeze me,
>>        blow me,
>>        Double my D's
>>
>> Ooh, that's gonna hurt in the morning!
>
>Sorry, while tasteless, your slogan does not win the prize for bad taste.  That
>winner (and still champion) was...
>(front of shirt) Blow Tone
>(back of shirt) I'm Tone

Hey, I INVENTED that slogan about four years ago ... it was supposed
to go on a shirt for our P/M ...

Royalties may be directed to me ...  :-)

Chris
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Chris Hamilton -- [e-mail]
City of Washington Pipe Band
http://toneczar.freeservers.com/

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------------------------------

Date: Mon, 27 Sep 1999 20:43:28 -0400
From: Chris Hamilton <[e-mail]>
Subject: (bagpipe) Re: Pipe Chanter

On 27 Sep 1999 23:32:11 GMT, "Matthew Wood"
<[e-mail]> wrote:

>Chris,
>
>Although not on your level, our Grade 5 band uses the Mark III with the old
>style reeds and have had many compliments about our tone.  We had some of
>the best tone at Rockland and a few other contests (except for blowing
>issues) including some of the higher grades.  I am not using my ear to tell
>me this, but many a compliment from the judges and pm's etc... from both
>contests.  The 4 & 5 were running side by side.
>
>Maybe we are lucky or Joe McGoo can work wonders...who knows???

Of course the McGoo works wonders ...

I heard you gotta sink the hell out of the reed to get the top hand in
tune, then just tape the bottom as needed.

I'll say this -- Boghall and Shotts sure sounded good with the Mark
III's, but the pitch is stratospheric.

Chris
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Chris Hamilton -- [e-mail]
City of Washington Pipe Band
http://toneczar.freeservers.com/

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------------------------------

Date: 24 Sep 1999 22:44:56 GMT
From: [e-mail] (SENDMEMORESPAM)
Subject: (bagpipe) Re: What's it all about?

>If I may add just one thing here without pissing someone off.  In my opinion
>this question of respect has two parts.  One is respecting this person, or
>these peoples abilities and accomplishments, and the other is respecting the
>person themselves, as an individual.

This is a wise and wonderful post for the NG. One that's very hard to define.
Do you respect this person for what they've accomplished, or for who they are?
Until you meet them, this will continue to be a mystery.
Bill
Mar a bha, mar a tha,
mar a bhitheas gu brath,
ri tra'ghadh's ri lionadh.


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------------------------------

Date: 28 Sep 1999 13:10:20 GMT
From: [e-mail] (Ccc31807)
Subject: (bagpipe) Unruly bass drone

Help ---

I play Henderson reeds, and for about a year have had real good experiences
with them, in particular, have never experienced any sort of failure with them.

But last Saturday, during a band performance, the bass drone WOULD NOT COME TO
ITS PROPER PITCH.  It sounded an octave (or thereabouts) higher than it should.
 I tried overblowing it, underblowing it, flicking the tongue, moving the
tuning screw, and finially wound up using the cork.

Now that I have had some time to play with it, I find that if I pass my finger
over the top of the drone, not enough to cut if off but pretty close, it locks
into its proper pitch.

What causes this?

How do I cure it?

TIA.

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------------------------------

Date: 27 Sep 1999 11:50:51 GMT
From: [e-mail] (SENDMEMORESPAM)
Subject: (bagpipe) Re: Re. Pipe Chanter

>>>Iain Sherwood wrote:
>>>
>>>> only proves how useless Shepherd products are - or are they Shepherd?
>>>Who
>>
>>My apologies to Lindsay Kirkwood, it was Ian who made the remark.
>>I stand humbled, at least for a little while.
>>
>>Jim
>
>And I apologise for following up on it.
>
>I have an idea though, next time anyone posts anything chane the
>subject line from "Ontario Champions Supreme" or whatever nonsensical
>artifact remain there, to "Lindsay Slags Royce" or "Royce Slags Back"
>so it tends to relate to the actual content of the posts.
>
>Royce

Could be none of you are at fault here.
Our friend and local NG "rabble-rouser" John Mitchell has been using Lindsays
PC and posting messages without Lindsays knowing it. This caused a lot of
confusion in our private emails.
Bill
Mar a bha, mar a tha,
mar a bhitheas gu brath,
ri tra'ghadh's ri lionadh.


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------------------------------

Date: 25 Sep 1999 01:43:00 GMT
From: [e-mail] (Zudupiper)
Subject: (bagpipe) Re: Slogan: Piper's Spouse Shirt

>WHOA! Anyone who buys this one, should be ready for a pending divorce! ;?)

What size would you like?

; )

Zu

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------------------------------

Date: Mon, 27 Sep 1999 23:29:28 -0400
From: Chris Hamilton <[e-mail]>
Subject: (bagpipe) Re: What's the news from Estes Park?

On Tue, 28 Sep 1999 02:08:24 GMT, Fernetta <[e-mail]>
wrote:

>What news from Estes Park?
>
>Anyone Know the results?

All I heard was that Toronto Police nipped Alberta Caledonia, but it
was close.

Chris
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Chris Hamilton -- [e-mail]
City of Washington Pipe Band
http://toneczar.freeservers.com/

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------------------------------

Date: Sun, 26 Sep 1999 22:10:58 -0400
From: "Bill Burt" <[e-mail]>
Subject: (bagpipe) Re: Celtic Classic Results

Wish I could have been there for more than the 2 hours I gave myself.
Nevertheless, I heard the afternoon Gr II contest.  As I sat next to a
couple who were taking it all in, I listened to COW making their final
entrance of the day.  I recall saying something to that couple like "This is
the band that'll win it."  Although, I must say, that I loved what I heard
out of Niagara and don't wish to make any enemies out of either John or
Ringo.  The results did, however, turn out just as I thought they would.
I'm delighted to see that St. Columcille beat out Cyril Scott... must have
been a smoking Gr III contest for the two top bands.  Ah well, perhaps I'll
be back in better shape for next year.


Chris Hamilton wrote in message ...
>Great weekend at The Celtic Classic in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania.
>
>Scenario:  Four Grade 2 and four Grade 3 bands, each set to play four
>times (2 MSR, 2 Medley) on Saturday and Sunday.  Mucho prize money at
>stake.
>
>The contestants and the results:
>
>Grade 2 finished in a tie for 1st - ensemble was also tied, so the tie
>was broken on piping preference!
>1.  City of Washington  --  Washington, DC
>2.  Niagara Regional Police  --  St. Catherines, Ontario
>3.  Schenectady  --  Schenectady, New York
>4.  Saffron Kilts  --  Babylon, New York
>
>3rd place was also a tie, broken on ensemble preference.
>
>Grade 3:
>1.  DelMar & District  --  Havre De Grace, Maryland
>2.  St. Columcille United Gaelic  --  Kearny, New Jersey
>3.  Cyril Scott  --  Cincinnati, Ohio
>4.  County Monaghan  --  New York
>
>A GREAT weekend.  Ringo and Johnny Mitch. were in fine form, the bands
>were superb, and the tie couldn't have made it any better.  The party
>time was great, the beer flowed like wine ...
>
>I went through three bass drone reeds in one weekend, but it all
>worked out in the end ...
>
>Chris
>~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
>Chris Hamilton -- [e-mail]
>City of Washington Pipe Band
>http://toneczar.freeservers.com/



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------------------------------

Date: 28 Sep 1999 12:57:57 GMT
From: [e-mail] (Ccc31807)
Subject: (bagpipe) Re: Out of Chaos....

>What I am saying is - we are a very diverse group. And it's only through
>civil conversation and mutual respect (are you listening, R....?) that we
>will enrich our experience. Isn't that why we are here?
>
>Chris Eyre

To which I would add the following two observations:
1.  We are a "group" of individuals, with different interests, personalities,
goals, experiences, talents, etc., held together by the GHB (mostly).  No one
individual or sub-group is innately superior or inferior; each of us has equal
value as persons, whether we are a piping God or a wannabe.
2.  The ONLY reason we read these posts, and post our own messages, is that we
see the time spent as being spent better here than elsewhere.  For some people,
this is to help others and to be helped by others.  For some people, it is for
the pleasure(?) of hurting others and tearing them down.

But chaos is good.  If it weren't for chaos, we wouldn't have order.  After
all, it's better to make order out of chaos that to take order and turn it into
chaos.

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------------------------------

Date: 27 Sep 1999 19:10:18 GMT
From: [e-mail] (SENDMEMORESPAM)
Subject: (bagpipe) Re: HAPPY BIRTHDAY (ANGUS MACCRAPPAN PIOBAIREACHD VERSION)

>snip,
>
>Paul, I'm afraid there is an error in the MacCrappen manuscript.  Angus Mac
>Crappen never used a cruinnluath
>a amch- he used his signature "cruinnluath grot, amach leis'", which everyone
>who knows anything about
>ancient ceiol mor and gaelic song, means " a rotten cruinnluath- throw it
>out!".
>
>Oh, and lest we forget , none of the MacCrimmons ever stood in a Grade One
>Circle either.
>(had to be said)

Where? I've spent coutless hours pouring over this document without a clue
where the mistake is...
Is someone McCrapping me?
Bill
Mar a bha, mar a tha,
mar a bhitheas gu brath,
ri tra'ghadh's ri lionadh.


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------------------------------

Date: Sun, 26 Sep 1999 22:26:17 -0400
From: Chris Hamilton <[e-mail]>
Subject: (bagpipe) Re: Shepherd Chanters

On 25 Sep 1999 17:18:10 GMT, [e-mail] (JSLOANPR) wrote:

>> I would be suspect of anyone who slags Shepherd chanters.
>>> Whats your agenda??
>
>>Jim, I'm not really sure who this was directed at since you didn't quote the
>>offending remarks.
>
>Robert,
>The remark was directed at Kirkwood who in response to your post, said that
>Shepherd products, and I took him to mean chanters, were useless.

That was NOT Lindsay Kirkwood, that was Iain Sherwood !!!!

Chris
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Chris Hamilton -- [e-mail]
City of Washington Pipe Band
http://toneczar.freeservers.com/

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------------------------------

Date: Tue, 28 Sep 1999 00:12:16 GMT
From: John Mitchell <[e-mail]>
Subject: (bagpipe) Re: Celtic Classic Results

[e-mail] wrote:
>
> Grade 2 finished in a tie for 1st - ensemble was also tied, so the tie
> was broken on piping preference!

You know Chris, I'm getting really tired of
wearing these knee pads. But congratulations
and enjoy the money while you can get It, HeHeHE!

Here's my pathetic excuse for losing,
"the sun was in my eyes". Where's the rain
when ya need it.

And I noticed how you strategically placed those
3 gorgeous babes with the short kilts in front of us!
I think It was the "see thru" C.O.W. T-shirts,
that gave you away! LOL

It was a great Slug Fest, there should be more of
these competitions. NOT the 2 dayer thing, but
the 5 grand prize money.

Cheers

the very tired
John Mitchell







Sent via Deja.com http://www.deja.com/
Before you buy.

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------------------------------

Date: Mon, 27 Sep 1999 23:24:16 -0400
From: Chris Hamilton <[e-mail]>
Subject: (bagpipe) Re: Pipe Chanter

On 28 Sep 1999 00:48:08 GMT, [e-mail] (SENDMEMORESPAM) wrote:

>>We put those chanters to good
>>use  :-)
>
>Was it cold enough to need firewood???

No, it was absolutely perfect weather.

They were plastic uncarved virginal Shepherd Mark IIs that we used to
replace some over-zealously carved ones.

Chris
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Chris Hamilton -- [e-mail]
City of Washington Pipe Band
http://toneczar.freeservers.com/

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------------------------------

Date: 24 Sep 1999 23:43:52 GMT
From: [e-mail] (SENDMEMORESPAM)
Subject: (bagpipe) Re: new brand of pipes

>He said just heard about them and
>they supposedly sound better than the Paki pipes.

GEE, theres a surprise!!!! (consider the source!)

>Anyone out there ever hear these pipes?

No.

>Are they truly better than
>Paki pipes

Yes.


> and how much do they cost?

More than anyone can afford.

>What are they made of?
>

Ask the guy who makes them. But be sure to ask for the "literal" defenition of
the defenition. Because apparently they have their own glossary as to what kind
of wood they use is called.
Bill
Mar a bha, mar a tha,
mar a bhitheas gu brath,
ri tra'ghadh's ri lionadh.


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------------------------------

Date: Sun, 26 Sep 1999 00:09:35 GMT
From: Mark Szymanski <[e-mail]>
Subject: (bagpipe) Re: Out of Chaos....

- --------------D9D78F032EBDF7B12EDDCE32
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit

Hi,
My son,(8 years old going on 9 ) has been learning on the practice chanter - he
is ready for pipes and I am in the process of obtaining some for him.
Here is the deal that we had.  He got his practice chanter the day that he
turned 8 as one of his birthday presents. It is a child sized McLeod  poly penco
so that if he dropped it, it wouldn't break.  Sounds okay, although the High A
is off a little.  His grandma had purchased one of those paki things from that
Caledonia place (she meant well) but they were too big for his small hands.
Anyway here is what we did:
   Every night after we would let him play with his friends until 6:30pm then he
would come in and we would work on the scale for 15 minutes or so.   Being new
to it he was super interested and it was great for him to be with dad.(fun for
dad too)   I didn't press too hard, and when he would do something even half way
well I over praised him for it.  Extremely gentle with suggestions on how to
improve, always starting the suggestion with praise i.e. "you play Low A and Low
G so well, now when you play the B..." always encouraging never criticize
especially in the beginning.  Also keeping it short practices keeps dads sanity
too! Too long with the praise it sounds over done;plus it has the effect of
making a fun thing that he wants to come back to rather than oh, boy, I've got
to practice.  One other thing at this stage... at least my son part of the time
would do just silly stuff on the chanter pretending to be able to play songs.
I didn't try to steer him away for a minute or two that way he could fantasize
about what he would be able to do some day.  I thought that it was important to
keep that dream alive.
   About the time he was to learn his first doubling, I talked with the P/M of
our band and had him check his techniques over. (no faults thankfully) that
stage took about a month.  At that point I started bringing him to practice with
the rest of the band and he was in the lower level of students.  I sat in the
room with him while he learned the new doublings and grace notes; for one to
make him comfortable with the new adults in the room and secondly to hear how
they were teaching him so that I could continue the same sorts of exercises at
home.  Still kept encouraging him through his exercises telling him how well he
was doing and keeping the rhythm of the doublings correct.  We would play
through the exercises together so that he would learn to play with other band
members as well.  Practices now lasted between 20-25min a night 6 days a week.
I found as he learned more he would practice his stuff in the morning before
school of his own volition.  That was cool. He learned all the basic grace notes
and doublings from month 1 to month 3.
  From when his instructor decided he was ready, we started working on his first
song.  For the first 10 minutes we would go through all the doublings once or
twice making sure that he kept up on them all.  That first song took the longest
to learn.  About 2 1/2 months.  It was agonizing for me to watch him working so
hard at it.  His main problem was getting the rhythm of the damned thing.  He
would play his doublings and grace notes before the beat.  Finally it took
though and he took right off on the song.   When he was able to play it well
enough to impress our P/M  I thought he deserved a celebration.  That night
after practice we went to McDonalds and he was able to get anything at all on
the menu. ( he eats alot )
   Well we have continued that tradition up to today.  Every time he learns a
new song and has it down, we go to McDonalds and he can get anything he wants.
It is one of the things he really looks forward to.  A few months ago, as it
dawned on me that he had grown enough for a full sized chanter,  I changed his
practice chanter reed to a harder one to start toughing up his cheeks for
playing the pipes.  By the way he has the nicest D throws I've heard-it drives
me nuts!  Now our practices last about 30 minutes a night.  He has come a long
way  and is really proud of himself- he should be too.
 Well there it is.

Mark Szymanski
The White Pine Pipe and Drum Corps
   .

Mark Wygent wrote:

> This post is from Debbie Wygent, not Mark.
>
> Right -- this place is what we make it, and the piping
> world is going to be what we make it.  To that end, let's
> talk about the future.  As a piping mom, that's where I'm
> looking.
>
> Several years ago the EUSPBA Voice had an excellent
> editorial (written by Al McMullin?) titled "Where Have All
> the Children Gone?"  Since that time, the Voice staff has
> continued with that thread.
>
> So, what IS everyone here doing to encourage children to
> pipe?  Are there families out there who can share
> experiences and ideas?  What works in Australia?
> Scotland?  Canada?  Are children picking up the GHB or is
> the instrument largely an adult pasttime?
>
> Here's our experience.  When Son #1 was old enough, Dad
> asked him if he wanted to learn the pipes.  Sure
> Dad.....total disaster.  We've been told children should
> not take an instrument from their parents, and can see the
> point.  He now plays drums.
>
> When son #2 was 8, three local boys from piping families
> got together for lessons down at Roddy MacDonald's.  Great
> beginning and a great time.  Disaster #2 -- Roddy moves to
> Florida.  My husband took over instruction but we were
> really worried Son #2 would feel too much pressure from
> Dad.  That's there, but this time the thing that makes all
> the difference is that Tuesday night chanter lessons have
> become a social event, something to look forward to.  The
> parents and grandparents (some of whom drive an hour) have
> a visit and play time for the kids, who have become
> buddies, is part of the night.  The class has grown from 3
> to 6.  I know we've got the beginnings of a juvenile band
> down the road, and sure enough within the next year or so
> we're going to be rounding up pipes and I'll be stitching
> kilts.
>
> A few helpful hints to share.  Mark Cushing makes an
> excellent child's practice chanter, and we've also heard
> good child's chanters from the McConnells and Dunbar.
> Also, Scott Williams wrote a wonderful children's story for
> young piping students titled "Sandy Chisholm's Chanter
> Lessons."  Good incentive!
>
> Do any other piping families have experiences or tips to
> share?  What works?  What doesn't?  Are there parents
> successfully teaching their own children and what makes it
> work?
>
> Also, for some of you who already have children piping in
> competitions or playing in juvenile bands, why not use this
> NG to spark a piping exchange?  For example, if Juvenile
> Band A in Ontario was coming down to the Fair Hill Games,
> they could be hosted by Juvenile Band B from
> Delaware....and then vice versa at Maxville.  How about
> exchanges for pipe bands associated with schools?  Some
> life-long world-wide piping friendships could come out of
> this kind of exchange.
>
> There are many things competing for the attention of
> children -- sports, Scouts, TV, and I think parents these
> days who want their children to learn the pipes need to be
> smart enough to pull out all the stops.
>
> To the future........eh?  -- Debbie Wygent
>
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Hi,
<br>My son,(8 years old going on 9 ) has been learning on the practice
chanter - he is ready for pipes and I am in the process of obtaining some
for him.
<br>Here is the deal that we had.  He got his practice chanter the
day that he turned 8 as one of his birthday presents. It is a child sized
McLeod  poly penco so that if he dropped it, it wouldn't break.
Sounds okay, although the High A is off a little.  His grandma had
purchased one of those paki things from that Caledonia place (she meant
well) but they were too big for his small hands.  Anyway here is what
we did:
<br>   Every night after we would let him play with his friends
until 6:30pm then he would come in and we would work on the scale for 15
minutes or so.   Being new to it he was super interested and
it was great for him to be with dad.(fun for dad too)   I didn't
press too hard, and when he would do something even half way well I <u>over</u>
praised him for it.  Extremely gentle with suggestions on how to improve,
always starting the suggestion with praise i.e. "you play Low A and Low
G so well, now when you play the B..." always encouraging never criticize
especially in the beginning.  Also keeping it short practices keeps
dads sanity too! Too long with the praise it sounds over done;plus it has
the effect of making a fun thing that he wants to come back to rather than
oh, boy, I've got to practice.  One other thing at this stage... at
least my son part of the time would do just silly stuff on the chanter
pretending to be able to play songs.   I didn't try to steer
him away for a minute or two that way he could fantasize about what he
would be able to do some day.  I thought that it was important to
keep that dream alive.
<br>   About the time he was to learn his first doubling, I talked
with the P/M of our band and had him check his techniques over. (no faults
thankfully) that stage took about a month.  At that point I started
bringing him to practice with the rest of the band and he was in the lower
level of students.  I sat in the room with him while he learned the
new doublings and grace notes; for one to make him comfortable with the
new adults in the room and secondly to hear how they were teaching him
so that I could continue the same sorts of exercises at home.  Still
kept encouraging him through his exercises telling him how well he was
doing and keeping the rhythm of the doublings correct.  We would play
through the exercises together so that he would learn to play with other
band members as well.  Practices now lasted between 20-25min a night
6 days a week.   I found as he learned more he would practice
his stuff in the morning before school of his own volition.  That
was cool. He learned all the basic grace notes and doublings from month
1 to month 3.
<br>  From when his instructor decided he was ready, we started working
on his first song.  For the first 10 minutes we would go through all
the doublings once or twice making sure that he kept up on them all.
That first song took the longest to learn.  About 2 1/2 months.
It was agonizing for me to watch him working so hard at it.  His main
problem was getting the rhythm of the damned thing.  He would play
his doublings and grace notes before the beat.  Finally it took though
and he took right off on the song.   When he was able to play
it well enough to impress our P/M  I thought he deserved a celebration.
That night after practice we went to McDonalds and he was able to get anything
at all on the menu. ( he eats alot )
<br>   Well we have continued that tradition up to today.
Every time he learns a new song and has it down, we go to McDonalds and
he can get anything he wants.  It is one of the things he really looks
forward to.  A few months ago, as it dawned on me that he had grown
enough for a full sized chanter,  I changed his practice chanter reed
to a harder one to start toughing up his cheeks for playing the pipes.
By the way he has the nicest D throws I've heard-it drives me nuts!
Now our practices last about 30 minutes a night.  He has come a long
way  and is really proud of himself- he should be too.
<br> Well there it is.
<p>Mark Szymanski
<br>The White Pine Pipe and Drum Corps
<br>   .
<p>Mark Wygent wrote:
<blockquote TYPE=CITE>This post is from Debbie Wygent, not Mark.
<p>Right -- this place is what we make it, and the piping
<br>world is going to be what we make it.  To that end, let's
<br>talk about the future.  As a piping mom, that's where I'm
<br>looking.
<p>Several years ago the EUSPBA Voice had an excellent
<br>editorial (written by Al McMullin?) titled "Where Have All
<br>the Children Gone?"  Since that time, the Voice staff has
<br>continued with that thread.
<p>So, what IS everyone here doing to encourage children to
<br>pipe?  Are there families out there who can share
<br>experiences and ideas?  What works in Australia?
<br>Scotland?  Canada?  Are children picking up the GHB or is
<br>the instrument largely an adult pasttime?
<p>Here's our experience.  When Son #1 was old enough, Dad
<br>asked him if he wanted to learn the pipes.  Sure
<br>Dad.....total disaster.  We've been told children should
<br>not take an instrument from their parents, and can see the
<br>point.  He now plays drums.
<p>When son #2 was 8, three local boys from piping families
<br>got together for lessons down at Roddy MacDonald's.  Great
<br>beginning and a great time.  Disaster #2 -- Roddy moves to
<br>Florida.  My husband took over instruction but we were
<br>really worried Son #2 would feel too much pressure from
<br>Dad.  That's there, but this time the thing that makes all
<br>the difference is that Tuesday night chanter lessons have
<br>become a social event, something to look forward to.  The
<br>parents and grandparents (some of whom drive an hour) have
<br>a visit and play time for the kids, who have become
<br>buddies, is part of the night.  The class has grown from 3
<br>to 6.  I know we've got the beginnings of a juvenile band
<br>down the road, and sure enough within the next year or so
<br>we're going to be rounding up pipes and I'll be stitching
<br>kilts.
<p>A few helpful hints to share.  Mark Cushing makes an
<br>excellent child's practice chanter, and we've also heard
<br>good child's chanters from the McConnells and Dunbar.
<br>Also, Scott Williams wrote a wonderful children's story for
<br>young piping students titled "Sandy Chisholm's Chanter
<br>Lessons."  Good incentive!
<p>Do any other piping families have experiences or tips to
<br>share?  What works?  What doesn't?  Are there parents
<br>successfully teaching their own children and what makes it
<br>work?
<p>Also, for some of you who already have children piping in
<br>competitions or playing in juvenile bands, why not use this
<br>NG to spark a piping exchange?  For example, if Juvenile
<br>Band A in Ontario was coming down to the Fair Hill Games,
<br>they could be hosted by Juvenile Band B from
<br>Delaware....and then vice versa at Maxville.  How about
<br>exchanges for pipe bands associated with schools?  Some
<br>life-long world-wide piping friendships could come out of
<br>this kind of exchange.
<p>There are many things competing for the attention of
<br>children -- sports, Scouts, TV, and I think parents these
<br>days who want their children to learn the pipes need to be
<br>smart enough to pull out all the stops.
<p>To the future........eh?  -- Debbie Wygent
<p>* Sent from RemarQ <a href="http://www.remarq.com">http://www.remarq.com</a>
The Internet's Discussion Network *
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Date: Mon, 27 Sep 1999 16:14:35 +0100
From: "Peter Anderson" <[e-mail]>
Subject: (bagpipe) Re: Chanter Or Reeds?

> But there's no reason you shouldn't be able to find reeds that will work,
with
> some tape or fiddling.  I have a 1950's Robertson chanter that is really
hard
> to reed with a modern reed.  You can do it, but it takes a lot of tape.
>

There is no problem with the old Robertson.  At the Piob.Soc conference this
year I heard a number of people playing and Andrew Wright started up - WOW,
what a lovely sweet sound.  I asked him what read he was playing with his
Naill and he told it was an Andrew Frater reed.  I now have two 'med. to
weak' of Andrews' reeds and they are great.  Went straight into the Naill,
great full and loud sound, almost no blowing-in, almost no change in pitch
even after an hour or so of playing.  Anyway I digress, we were looking for
a suitable reed to go in an old Robertson, tried all the usual reeds in the
box, Apps, MacAllister (even tried a Hamish Moor reed he makes for 440hz
chanters) etc etc and low and behold the Frater went straight away, a bit of
tape on the top hand was all that was required.  The only thing I have
noticed that is different about these reeds to other modern reeds is that
the overall length is about 1/8" longer.   Andrews' address is 4 St.Andrews
Drive, Uphall, West Lothian, EH52 6BX, when I bought them in May they were
ú4 each.



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Date: 25 Sep 1999 00:23:41 GMT
From: [e-mail] (SENDMEMORESPAM)
Subject: (bagpipe) Re: What's it all about?

>Another great post...well said.
>

You must've meant mine of course! <wink>
Bill
Mar a bha, mar a tha,
mar a bhitheas gu brath,
ri tra'ghadh's ri lionadh.


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------------------------------

Date: Sat, 25 Sep 1999 22:38:08 -0700
From: "Iain Sherwood" <[e-mail]>
Subject: (bagpipe) Re: Pipe Chanter

yep. Older chanters usually are larger in the throat; the hole spacing is
also different due to the lower pitch. Most modern chanters are pretty close
in size, but prewar chanters are noticibly bigger.

IS
ramsey miller <[e-mail]> wrote in message
news:[e-mail]...
> I've run into something I haven't read about on the NG yet.  I have an
> old set of Lawries, for which I have both an old style Lawrie chanter
> and an even older Hardie chanter.  I'm hoping to begin competing in
> Grade 4  next year, so I recently bought a new blackwood Naill.  When I
> tried to play the new chanter, I found my fingering was all off.  I'm
> getting used to it now, but I compared the Naill to the two older ones,
> and discovered that it was narrower in circumference.  What is this?
> Are all modern chanters narrower than the old ones, or is the Naill just
> a somewhat narrow chanter?  Do the different makes of modern chanters
> vary in circumference?
>
> RM
>



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End of bagpipe-digest V1 #95
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