Reed question

[JS Sanders]

<< One day I shall have mine...with those nice sexy chalice drones!! >>

I've had mine since '00. A tradesman is known by the quality of his tools and these are among the best.

Wide-bored & flat-out.

Slainte,
steve

[Nighthawk]

Nighthawk, do you have pipes at this time? If not, your pipes, when you buy them, will come with synthetic reeds, almost certainly. Use those. There are enough hurdles to jump when you start piping without adding in the frustration of reeds that will drive you batty.

After a year or so, spend the $20 on a set of good cane reeds. Try them out. If all goes well, you will get that sound that tells you what all the synthetics are trying to imitate. Odds are good that you will put the synthetics back into the pipes after you have tried the cane for a week or so. But it is worth messing with them a little, just to get to know the sound. If the reeds are going right, it is one of those "aha" sounds, where you understand what makes the bagpipes so magical. The world all makes sense. The music just flows out and the drones ring magically along with your chanter. The angels weep for joy and the dog stops howling.

Or, more likely, the darned things won't stay in tune long enough to let you experience the sound properly.

Start with what the pipe maker includes with your set, experiment later.

-Patrick

No I don't have a set yet. I'm just getting (re)started. I'm asking questions as they pop into my head. If I don't, I'll forget them and never get the answers!!

Thanks for all the responses, folks!!

[JS Sanders]

Nighthawk -
For your own safety, I wouldn't be too keen on telling your instructor about the information you've accumulated.

A beginning piper often asks questions of established pipers. Regularly you'll hear the seemingly worn out answer, "You should ask your instructor." If you're a subscriber of the Dunsire Forums, you'll read it often.

There is a reason - and it's not always attributable to arrogance. The info may run counter to what the instructor would have you do. The instructor gets to teach as he sees proper. If you don't care for it, quit or find another.

Role reversal... How would you like to be the tutor and have a student who's learning things too early or improperly, or buys a set of pipes before he's ready to play them?

I can tell you from experience that he won't be pleased and may drop you like a cheap prom dress as a student.

For the most part you're getting the straight dope here, but exercise caution. Learning the pipes is difficult as it is, don't complicate matters.

Slainte,
steve

[Nighthawk]

Nighthawk -
For your own safety, I wouldn't be too keen on telling your instructor about the information you've accumulated.

A beginning piper often asks questions of established pipers. Regularly you'll hear the seemingly worn out answer, "You should ask your instructor." If you're a subscriber of the Dunsire Forums, you'll read it often.

There is a reason - and it's not always attributable to arrogance. The info may run counter to what the instructor would have you do. The instructor gets to teach as he sees proper. If you don't care for it, quit or find another.

Role reversal... How would you like to be the tutor and have a student who's learning things too early or improperly, or buys a set of pipes before he's ready to play them?

I can tell you from experience that he won't be pleased and may drop you like a cheap prom dress as a student.

For the most part you're getting the straight dope here, but exercise caution. Learning the pipes is difficult as it is, don't complicate matters.

Slainte,
steve

Role reversal? Personally, I love it when I teach someone with a genuine desire to learn. I have absolutely no intention of buying anything before I'm ready for it. That's just plain stupid. So are you saying that it's preferable that I not ask, and just wait for the information to be given to me? (I'm not asking this to be argumentative- it's how I read your post and I want to make sure I'm clear on this point.)

[JS Sanders]

So are you saying that it's preferable that I not ask, and just wait for the information to be given to me?

Perhaps. Just exercise a reasonable degree of caution. As an example, at your initial stages of learning - now's really not the time to be trying to decide which maker of pipes you should purchase.

Of course it's obvious that I'm not in charge and you can do whatever you choose.

Any good piping teacher/performer is gonna have a healthy ego. If he sees you as someone who may circumvent his 'authority' as an instructor, you may feel his wrath, however that may manifest itself. He may even instruct you to cease reading piping related forums. I don't know him.

The hour of practice you're doing daily should be enough to keep you occupied for the time being. The answers to your questions aren't going to evaporate.

steve

[Prester John]

I love piping, but waste a cubic millimeter of 'the water of life' on a reed?

A cold chill just went down my spine!

[highlander_Daz]

most PMs will "strongly advice" what reeds to use, some pipers use a different set up for "solo" stuff, my own suggestions are, cleartone drone reeds (www.cleartonereeds.co.uk) ideal for beginners , i use OMEGA drone reeds which are strictly not recomended for new pipers, as for chanter reeds, we use David Chesney reeds, which are used by a few grade one bands, St Laurence oToole being one as David plays for them, the Chesney ones often come with an unstable F until blown in, and the way i do it is to cork off the drones and blow the chanter reed until it comes good i try and avoid scraping as it ultimatly shortens the life of the reed, but i find blowing the reed with corked off drones is the most effective, i normally have one blown in im using right now, one Im blowing in and a unblown one so i always have at least 3 reeds,
soeone does do synthetic chanter reedsbut ive not heard good reports and there is no way to alter the strength

http://www.hotpipes.com/clanrye.html

[JS Sanders]

Correct.

Clanrye chanter reeds haven't been perfected - not even sure if they're trying to do so.

They really should be avoided by beginners. For that matter, I've never seen a serious player use them.

Wish someone would develop a workable synthetic chanter reed. I've heard stories, but to date, nothing's on the market.

Slainte yall,
steve

[Jack Daw]

I love piping, but waste a cubic millimeter of 'the water of life' on a reed?

A cold chill just went down my spine!

Hey, I still drink the whisky.

[george7]

Synthetic Drone Reeds, Shepherd/Warnock/Apps/EzDrone Chanter Reeds, and a gortex bag will take you a long way. Be sure to keep extra chanter reeds around. If your pipes kick your butt you are not practicing enough and your reeds are almost certainly too hard. And remember this saying... 'It takes seven days to make a drummer and seven years to make a piper' Don't be in a hurry. (and no, you won't actually be a grade 2 drummer in 7 days)