Pipehacker

Sounding the Part of the Piper

Folks love the pomp of the decked out piper in full regalia, don’t they. Sometimes the image of the performing piper looking the part in a well pressed kilt and flags on the drone cords is enough for an appreciative audience—even if it sounds like he/she is slaughtering goats on the bagpipe. The visuals seem to influence what is heard. If you scrape it down to the audience of knowledgeable bagpipers, what kind of visuals start making you think a performance is pretty darn good? Are there visuals that influence the way you hear the sound?

My recent video post of Evelyn Glennie’s TED talk got me thinking about perceptions and how what we see changes what we hear. We all know it’s important to “look professional” particularly when a pipe band marches to the competition line. A smartly dressed and deported band “means business” and is sure to deliver. Right? At least that’s the way it’s supposed to go.

I’ve wanted to play a smart set of gleaming silver mounted drones since I was a wee tadger. I grew up seeing the best pipers playing those “premium” sets and they delivered for sure. I wanted to be just like them. A top soloist looked the part with glistening silver and ivory. I have to admit, I used to be a little swayed by the solo piper who walked up with prime set of shiny pipes. I fully expected to be blown away or at least impressed by what I heard. A beautiful pipe means a beautiful sound, right? I know that logically, it is about the actual performance, but still. Maybe that’s because once upon a time, those sets were reserved as “prize pipes” for those who earned them. Today, anyone can acquire a pimped-out set of drones with the finest engraving if they’re willing to write the check.

But, as Glennie says, listening is a full experience and all your perceptions must come into play before you can judge a musical performance. I recently acquired a set of coveted David Atherton bagpipes from their original owner. They are as plain as plain can be—artificial ivory mounts and ferules that are not even antiqued! But boy, do they deliver. An immediate quality is that they make you listen. Whatever jewelry is on your shoulder is suddenly unimportant. My American consumerist avarice notwithstanding, I think I am being forced to see all that bling for what it is and focus on what really matters—making good music and “sounding the part.”

Treat your Bagpipe Like a Loved One – Part 2 – Chanter Reed Pinching Technique

Be sure you caught the first part of this series – the LICK, posted last week.

Next, we move on to the chanter-reed-pinch – possibly the most misunderstood reed-manipulation technique.

Remember, reed manipulation should only be used to achieve the SOUND that you want out of your reed; NOT the strength. In my experience, the vast majority of reed pinchers are pinching because their reed is too hard, and not because they are trying to achieve a certain change in sound.

Let’s have a look at what pinching does.

First and foremost, pinching raises the pitch of a reed. From what I can tell, the reason this increases the pitch is because a pinch flexes the fibers of the reed inwards, and because these fibers are loosened up (and loosened in the right direction), the blades of the reeds are able to vibrate faster, and thus higher-pitched. I would also add that, (for reasons I can’t figure out) the bottom hand notes tend to increase in pitch slightly more than the high-hand notes after a pinch.

This being said – the risk involved in pinching is high. Each pinch decreases the life-span of a reed. Heavy flexing of the reed blades will eventually cause the structure of the reed to become compromised.

Here are some possible results of over-pinching:

Decrease in volume, un-balancing of the tuning of notes, shrill and thin chanter tone.

My point here is that pinching can be useful, but it is very risky, and definitely decreases your reed’s life-span.

A Lower-risk Pinching Solution:

Lately, I have been utilizing the rubber bridal a lot. A rubber bridal is just an orthodontic rubber band (used for people with braces!) that can be wrapped around the bottom part of the blades of your chanter reed. This provides a gentle, constant pressure on your reed that’s a lot like a pinch. As long as you don’t bring the bridal up more than half-way up the reed, it tends not to decrease the life span of a reed.

Again, a pinch or rubber bridal will make the reed easier, but its purpose is to elevate the pitch of the reed.

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