My friend stopped playing his Colin Kyo bagpipes long enough for me to have a crack at them for the blog. We were running all Canning (old worn out ones) but the bass reed fell in the bag like, I don’t remember how long ago at band practice, and I didn’t notice until I couldn’t blow up the bag that my friend hadn’t fished it out yet (tsk tsk, I can’t get the middle tenor out either, it’s spinning in the stock, tsk tsk). So the Canning carbon bass is not acting right (maybe got a bit of seasoning on it?) so I’ve got a Rocket bass in there now. Anyways, the Canning in the tenors are the important part. Good volume on the overtones but not harsh, which is nice. There are some crazy harmonics going on on B and especially low G, listen for it!
I am sorely out of practice, if you hear any spitting in the last track due to loss of lip seal, DANG IT, the microphone picked it up, lol. So, like the idiot I am, I figure I’m out of practice, so I should play fast tunes. Duh. The first set the drones start out all right but then go out a bit as I’m getting warmed up still, so I recorded it again but at the time I was trying to fix the D tuning and forgot about the drones. So…here’s the first set of tunes twice. The first one the drones are in tune (at least at the start); the second one the D is in tune (I think).
Me Clootch is Awee (x2, Mark Saul) and 1st Hype Cowboy Division (Murray Blair)
Me Clootch is Awee (Mark Saul) and 1st Hype Cowboy Division (Murray Blair)
Then I tuned my drones ;o) and played some jigs. I was digging through “Gordon Duncan’s Tunes” and ran across Rory Gallagher which is a neat tune; I don’t play it like it is written but how I remember hearing it on a World’s album from a while back. That’s followed by Rob’s Shower Shabang by Murray Blair, a tune I learned a long time ago and played with a fiddler friend and then again I played it with Lyon College as it was in our Medley at the World’s in 2001 (2nd grade 3B). Lastly, since these are my friend’s pipes, I played his favorite jig o’ the day, Leisa McCord by Ebert (better known as EJ) Jones.
Rory Gallagher (Gordon Duncan), Rob’s Shower Shabang (Murray Blair), and Leisa McCord (EJ Jones)
Lastly, I figured I better play some slow stuff so you can hear the drones better so here is a waltz that I learned off of EJ as he plays it on a Clandestine album (I think I have the title right?) followed by a waltz written by myself which really doesn’t go too well with the first one, and then I finish with a jig I wrote after I remember how it goes.
To conclude, below are three great books that you should definitely have in your collection from which a lot of the tunes I played in this post can be found.
To actually conclude, here are some pictures of the pipes I was playing. Drool away! Why yes, it is fully mounted in moose antler.
Ciao Patrick,
what a beautiful set (the second one) you are playing! Can you advise me an air or song to play before it?
Cheers
Paolo
I thought all were nice but I really did like the waltz’s that were played. The two you wrote were something I’d love to learn to play…they flow so nice almost like the way the folks do it on Dancing With the Stars ( that blasted show that I am forced to watch) although the dancers are excellent I must say.
Again sir, job well done 10 9 10 the score!
Mike
Hey. give me some slack on the loose drone reeds. I (like you) have 5 sets of pipes.. Mr. Moose isn’t in the rotation right now. :)
Hey Paolo,
You mean the jig set that starts with Rory Gallagher? I’m actually pretty slim in the slow airs department, I always play the same ones over and over again. A waltz might be a good one to choose because they are roughly the same time signature as the jigs, which would provide a smooth transition.
Hey Mike,
Glad you liked the waltzes. I played Calista once a long time ago and everyone loved. I have yet to make it sound that good again timing wise. Don’t know what I’m missing. Waltzes are very tempo sensitive pieces. Arghhh!
Well, Bryan….you not only have finger schmutz but schmutz in your bag too! Sometimes, I even amuse myself.