Frugal Corner Pipes (review)

[PiobBear]

Apparently, I'm not welcome to post a reply.

[Erisianmonkey]

Apparently, I'm not welcome to post a reply.

Certainly you are welcome to post a reply.

[Erisianmonkey]

As far as not getting the noise out of the chanter, yes it was the reed. I looked at a few different things, and it was definitely the reed. While I don't have a lot of experience with pipes, I am able to troubleshoot pretty well. Mark is shipping me a new chanter reed.

Edit to add:

I am dying to get my hands on an electronic chanter. I have always wanted to play the pipes, but don't have the lungs. Uillean pipes might be an option eventually, but one thing I really like about the electronic pipes is that some of them have midi capability.

[wgority]

As far as not getting the noise out of the chanter, yes it was the reed. I looked at a few different things, and it was definitely the reed. While I don't have a lot of experience with pipes, I am able to troubleshoot pretty well. Mark is shipping me a new chanter reed.

Are you absolutely sure it was the reed? While that is a possibility, there are other possible issues, particularly with pipes and chanters manufactured in the Indian sub-continent. Other possible issues include too narrow a throat, an inaccurately bored and centered reed-seat, or others. Additionally, in Pakistani-manufactured pipes, you will find you'll never be able to properly tune the chanter short of sealing some of the fingerholes completely and re-milling them.

As a project a couple years ago, I tried putting one of these chanters right and it took the best part of a summer. The efforts involved completely resurfacing the bore to remove marks left by the original "craftsman", filling and re-milling 4 fingerholes, filling and re-milling the low-G vent holes, and re-milling the reed-seat to put it properly in line with the bore of the chanter (this had previously been over 5 degrees off true). Despite all this, the chanter is still flat compared to any other I have and no matter what reed goes into it, it will not play a true key, but rather only in tune with itself. Luckily the drones are able to tune to this particular and peculiar key.

I have extensive experience with bagpipes of numerous sorts acquired over the last 25 years, as well as other woodwinds going back 40 years, and I would have advised you to avoid this instrument.

As to lacking lung power, in my youth I knew some fine pipers who smoked cigarettes like chimneys, and one in particular who was a veteran of WWII who only had one lung.

Good luck with this instrument of yours, but you would have been better served to save a bit longer and buy a Dunbar P-1 or similar instrument.

Finally, as to including this topic in the "Accessories" forum, I would disagree with you most wholeheartedly in this. The bagpipe is not an accessory. It is a musical instrument! You don't need one to wear a kilt and you don't need to wear a kilt to play one. I played pipes for years before wearing a kilt. If bagpipes are reduced to a mere accoutrement for kilt-wearers, then we are, as a culture, far poorer for it.

If you allow popular thought or the preconceptions of the ignorant dictate anything to you regarding bagpipes (or kilts for that matter), then I might respectfully suggest that you put down the bagpipes and walk away from them entirely. You're playing them for the wrong reason. The only reason to take up any instrument is to play them because you love the music that comes from them! There is no other reason.

See? That's what happens when you get me started.

[haukehaien]

If you want pipes to hang on the wall, Asian pipes are great.

If you want to play, then something else is better.

Also, there seems to be this idea that someone who's thinking about learning the pipes needs a set of pipes to mess around with. I can think of no better way to ensure that you will never be a piper than to attempt to learn on a set of pipes rather than the PC. It is not possible for a novice to pick up a set of pipes and start playing. Breathing and arm pressure, the proper strike in, dealing with the drones - you can't do these things and learn the fingerings at the same time. There's a reason pipers start on the PC - by the time you get to the full set of pipes, the chanter play needs to be in muscle memory, so that you hardly even think about it. Davidlpope is exactly right when he suggests starting with a PC and the tutor (and hopefully an instructor). It will cost less than even a set of Asian pipes, and it will be more productive. The steps wgority listed are typical for what's required to make a cheap set of pipes even remotely playable, and are also often beyond the beginning player. I started out with a set of Asian pipes; one of the things that amazed me when I got my Dunbars was how easy they were to play. That's the sort of thing that makes a good "learner's pipes", not the price.

Finally, as to including this topic in the "Accessories" forum, I would disagree with you most wholeheartedly in this. the bagpipe is not an accessory. It is a musical instrument! You don't need one to wear a kilt and you don't need to wear a kilt to play one. I played pipes for years before wearing a kilt. If bagpipes are reduced to a mere accoutrement for kilt-wearers, then we are, as a culture, far poorer for it.

If you allow popular thought or the preconceptions of the ignorant dictate anything to you regarding bagpipes, then I might respectfully suggest that you put down the bagpipes and walk away from them entirely. You're playing them for the wrong reason. The only reason to take up any instrument is to play them because you love the music that comes from them. There is no other reason. - wgority

Absolutely. And I would add, that if you love the music that comes from an instrument and wish to be part of making that music, it is a good idea to follow the steps that have been proven to make musicians. Pipers don't tell everyone who wants to be a piper that they have to start on the PC because it's some sort of bizarre fraternity initiation; we do it because we've seen, either in our own piping journey or in others', what the result is for people who thought they could just pick up the pipes and start playing. It's not pretty.

[wgority]

Don't even get me started on this one.........

[gangreenfootball]

Sounds like a bang for the buck thanks for giving us the review

[Kiltedfirepiper]

I will say that having the pakistani pipes taught me alot about maintenance!!!

I learned to tie in a bag, how to season a bag, how to get cheap cane reeds playable. and the cost of not researching other possible instruments!

and I did it all without an instructor.....i'm not saying its the way to go, but its the route I went.
I picked up all 3 College Of Piping books and was OCD about learning everything as close as possible w/o/ an instructor.....7 years later I have been told by a few PM's and a few PS's that i would rate about a grade 3...
and if I would only learn to read music( for some reason i can READ the music, then PLAY the music, but I cant read and play at the same time.... a little dyslexic in that respect ) i would probably be a borderline 3/2

my loss.....but I plan on getting the rest right soon.

if I could do it over again I would get an instructor from day one......
BUT!!! I did have JUST a practice chanter for the first 4 months

kfp

[Erisianmonkey]

An addendum to my earlier review of these pipes. Mark sent me out a new chanter reed. I installed said reed, and immediately got sound out of the chanter. Once I got the right pressure, I was able to play a few notes of the scale. (Not too many, I really don't know how to play yet. I went by a fingering chart I found online. But I do mean musical notes. Not squeals like frightened canaries being hit with a tennis racket- although I got some of those too.)

I've heard tell about how inexpensive pipes turn people off the idea of learning the pipes- I may be an exception to the rule. I had no intention of really ever learning to play the pipes before I got these. They were going to be wall hangers. Mark gave them to me because he wanted someone to review the pipes, and I pretty much won the coin toss. After finding out that I could indeed make a beautiful sound with these (as well as, I will admit, sounds that sound like a sick cow or a distressed duck- but that is due to my inexperience, not the pipes.) I want to learn to play. Will I want to get a set of good pipes? Sure, I'd love to. As soon as I can pony up $700 plus for some plastic pipes, yeah, I might go that route. But then again, I might wait longer to get some African blackwood pipes. But for the foreseeable future, my interest will be to get a practice chanter, and learn how to play. Then I've got a set of pipes that will tide me over until I can get an expensive set.

I'm going to respond to a few of the comments thrown my way as well.

1. I may not be an expert on playing the pipes, but that doesn't mean that I don't know what they sound like. I have listened to and enjoyed pipes all of my life.

2. The idea of this going in kilt accessories was an in-joke to those of us who do not play the pipes who often get asked where our pipes are. If it bothers you that much, I have no objection to the mods moving it to wherever they see fit.

3. As far as having an experienced piper evaluate them- I don't know any around here. Yet. I'll probably see about getting whatever instructor I find to check them out. I'd love to hear what an experienced piper would make these sound like, since in between the squeals and moos of my inexperienced piping I have got some wonderful sound out of these.

[LadyGriffin]

My man is a Shriner and a piper, and knows many of the best pipers in the MPLS area. If you want to trust me with a set, I will send them with him to a practice and let them do a critique. I'll even cover return postage.

I took a good look at them at the fair and I thought that they looked pretty good! I have a set of the cheepo ones from "THE PLACE WE WILL NOT NAME" and sure know what crap looks like. Poor wood turning, splits, ROUGH bores, etc.

Anyhow, I thought I would toss in my hat to help.

Julie