EU to pipers - Pipe down

[Ozman1944]

Outrageous! Bunch of Phillistines!!!
How can we hear those stirring strains if the piper turns that little secret dial to kill the volume?
And of course puffing lightly instead of blowing will cause dizziness and we'll have poor Pipers passing out all over the place.

[thanmuwa]

Outrageous! Bunch of Phillistines!!!
How can we hear those stirring strains if the piper turns that little secret dial to kill the volume?
And of course puffing lightly instead of blowing will cause dizziness and we'll have poor Pipers passing out all over the place.

"We have a piper doon, I repeat, a piper is doon!"
- Mike Myers as Stuart Mackenzie : "So I married an Axe Murderer"

[Coemgen]

As Milton Friedman said, “The government solution to a problem is usually as bad as the problem.”

[Arlen]

I have to agree with Daz, here.
I've seen the actual legislation itself and it isn't very clear about anything.
Distances, whether or not this counts in public places or private, whether or not it is intended for the protection of compelled staff or just for people in general.

This kind of legislation really needs to be more balanced.
I make a point of not reading any papers or articles which do too much complaining and not enough honest investigation, but the legislation itself is as bad as the article makes out.

As far as I'm concerned, the average person isn't going to get any hearing damage by listening to a piper.
And if they CHOOSE to be in a job where they are exposed to loud pipes often, they can CHOOSE to wear earplugs.

[beloitpiper]

Legislation like this is upsetting. Seat belts, earplugs, unhealthy food etc. are a personal choices and do not affect others. I mean, I wear my seat belt, use ear plugs, and avoid unhealthy food, but I should still have the choice. Now, I agree with smoking regulation, because that affects people around you, but if a piper wants to play w/o earplugs and ruin his own ears who's to stop him?

Keep your laws off my body.

[JS Sanders]

Beertigger,
If you're using the all-purpose foam earplug, then tuning can indeed be difficult. Those really cut into the high hand range. They have a very high Noise Reduction Rating, but higher frequencies really get muffled.

At this site, http://earplugstore.stores.yahoo.net/gennoisprot1.html , I've bought their SilentEar. It has wonderful attenuation at all the pipes' frequencies. And their NRR is 32 decibels, equivalent to foam plugs.

And far easier to shove into your ear holes. I have some that are over two years old too, with no signs of wear.

Also, the Hearos Rock 'n Roll series are rated at 26 decibels, comfortable, and have very good attenuation. Less expensive too.

Be wary of plugs made by Etymotic. They claim 20 decibels, but they arrive at that with some sorta convoluted formula. The actual NRR is 12, which really isn't sufficient for the GHB. The Etymotics do have excellent sound attenuation and are far better than nothing. Compare side-by-side with any ear plug actually rated NRR 20 and the difference is staggering.

I find its easier to tune my pipes with either of these plugs - seems to negate extraneous noise. For me there was no learning or adjustment curve.

Slainte yall,
steve

[Coemgen]

The government is the best argument against having a government

[ccga3359]

Okay now you guys are having me on surely you can't tune pipes! Like the old joke; "How do you get two pipers in tune? Shoot one of them".

Seriously I see my favourite Celtic band Hunting McLeod in small venues, pups of 50 - 100 person capacities. True I don't have a decibel meter now is the establishment built for sound transmission but there's times I can't hear the pipes over the other instruments and after three hours my ears aren't ringing and defiantly quieter than a jet taking off or a gasoline powered lawn mower or just about any Harley Davidson (with non stock pipes) you'd hear on the street.

If I'm going to an establishment that is going to be loud, rock concert, auto race or whatever, I'm not an idiot I taking ear plugs I use common sense. I opposed to legislation that is perceived to protect those few idiots. Am I to believe that any piper is going risk damaging their hearing, shortening their career needlessly. What's next? Pipe and drum bands marching all that distance with all that heavy gear should be legislated to do so on electric scooters?

[JerseyLawyer]

What's next? Pipe and drum bands marching all that distance with all that heavy gear should be legislated to do so on electric scooters?

Actually, I have often thought we should be carried on the back of flatbed trucks, like those string bands...

But around the middle of the parade season, I would fully support such legislation!

[Jack Daw]

I usually only wear my earplugs to practice or if I have a performance in a small, indoor venue. After one such performance, the master of ceremonies came up on stage to fill time and asked me what I thought about people who don't like the sound of bagpipes. I responded by removing my earplugs and saying, "What did you say?", and got a good laugh.