Border Pipes

IN THIS ISSUE Letters(3): Mouth Blown Pipes(4): North Hero 2003(7): Summer School 2003(8): Hamish Moore Concert(12): Interview - Robbie Greensitt Ann Sessoms(15): Dance to Your Daddy tune (23): Washingtons march(24): "Bagpipes and Border Pipers"(26): Jackie Latin(32): Harmonic Proportion(34): Collogue 2003(38): Reviews(52): Letters appropriate key were again made. From Peter Aitchison Sets pitched in D with Highland Dunbar, Scotland fingering had actually been made in the mid-19 t century by the Glasgow Looking back into the Common Stock maker William Gunn. Sets fitted with issue of Dec 2002 [Vol 17 No.2], practice chanters exist but they suffer Nigel Bridges writes about the from the poor intonation and tone of strathspey "The Gruagach" by P/M the miniature pipes. D.R.MacLeennan on page three. On In my opinion the revival of any page fourteen Iain Maclnnes mentions instrument or tradition depends upon D.R.MacLellan. Maybe it should be several factors. There must be an D.R.MacLennan? P.S. I knew him. interest or demand for the particular instrument, there must be music appropriate to the instrument, and From Robbie Greensitt there must be instruments available. Monkseaton Northumberland This implies that there must be EDITORIAL hit the streets and, judging by the [abridged - Ed] makers, players and music publishers, The cover picture of a musette was orders and comments, has been well I was surprised by Colin Ross and as well as other enthusiasts like purchasd by Ian Mackay in Bombay! The received. assertion in the June issue of Common historians, working together to promote the revival. All of these have musette is considered by many to have Border pipes continue to grow in Stock that he alone was responsible for influenced the development of the the revival of the Scottish small pipes, contributed to the success of the popularity as the reports on the modern Scottish small pipes. It cannot Scottish and Northumbrian smallpipes.... North which he claims originated in Hamish Moore concert and Northumberland. My perception is be laid at the feet of one man. Those who attended the AGM in Hero meeting illustrate. And all four totally at variance with his. If you have anything to add November will be aware of changes to trophies from Border pipe Over the past few weeks I have concerning the revival of the Lowland the committee - some of which appear at competitions in 2003 (LBPS, NPS, made a nuisance of myself by phoning tradition and the early days of the the top of this page. Changes have also Rothbury TMF, Moth Gathering) and talking to many of the leading Society, please pass it on to me or been made to the web site to try and deal are at the moment held by one piper - lights of the Scottish traditional music Jeannie Campbell so that we can with enquiries more effectively. Those Matt Seattle. Surely a first? field. What has been confirmed is that produce a more definitive history. seeking assistance with their pipes are the original interest in the small pipes Now the LBPS Summer School has a occurred in Scotland in the early pointed towards the new Technical new venue (again!). Auchincruide From Colin Ross Advisers - Jon Swayne, Richard and seventies when several traditional near Ayr. Although the move to the bands were looking for an alternative Monkseaton Northumberland Anita Evans and Julian Goodacre. And Glasgow University Campus (see p.8) , to the Great Pipes in their line up. The withquestionnaire this edition theres a received the thumbs up from all the miniature pipes suffer from poor tone Can I make it clear that in my letter to committee designed to help the LBPS , participants, the University decided to and intonation and, whilst the Common Stock in June regarding the judge more accurately w you, the up the hire charge to an unacceptable Northumbrian small pipes found a revival of the Scottish small pipes I members, want from your Society. Delay level. Now it will be held with the limited acceptance for some styles of was not claiming that I was entirely not a moment, but fill it in and post it off. already established "Common Scottish traditional music, they were responsible for the revival of the As most readers will know, the Manua! Ground Scotland". inappropriate to the Highland style. instrument. I may have started it, but other local Northumbrian makers soon at last This was when attention was first and CD-ROM (review p.54) have Jock Agnew jockagnew@n,aol.com focused on the Scottish small pipes. put to use their skills in making the Existing examples in museums Northumbrian small pipes into differed only slightly in detail from developing the Scottish small pipe that the early Northumbrian small pipes - was then taken up later by the makers i.e. very small chanter and an North of the Border. inconvenient pitch. This was when sets with larger chanters in a more The recent Session pipe [see CS 18.1 p.42 - Ed] structurally is like a modified - MOUTH BLOWN SMALLPIPES AND Border pipe with volume of tone somewhere between that of the piob mhor and GARVIE SESSION PIPES a Border pipe. It is made of Mopane wood [though blackwood is an altrnative], with boxwood mounts and gold plated tuning pins. Bag seems to be elkhide. the David Kennedy shares his experience of playing mouth-blown pipes in Drones fully combed and beaded. The chanter holes have been sited to allow for climate extremes of California, and some of the problems found and solved semi-tones [cross-fingered accidentals] - along with the usual Highland when using cane and plastic reeds. fingering [for the standard scale]. The chanter has a conical bore and the reed is scraped to allow a small amount of moisture only on the blades and to be blown The [mouth-blown] Shepherd smallpipe which I play has tonic note D 293.66 lightly. Moisture control is achieved by a rather elaborate water trap - long cps ETS. Its structure is essentially African blackwood: drones, tuning pins and plastic tube with a chamber at the end filled with hygroscopic small particles, slides, and chanter. Drone reeds are single beating plastic tongues affixed at base and thin walled sponge below that chamber. I have experimented with this of tongue by a glue spot with an "0" ring tuning bridle. The bass drone is single apparatus and for me, at any rate, a removal of about 1 cm of particles and the jointed and all drones (bass, baritone and tenor) are in a common stock. Chanter use of the sponge, I can play the pipe continuously for about 35 minutes. Nigel reeds are double reeds made of a white plastic and wrapped with Teflon tape - [Richard], the maker, says that if all the water trap devices are left in, it should presumably to stop leaks and to tune the reeds. Their tone is almost as good as a play for about an hour - and then to remove the water trap and put in the comparable arundo donax reed. The bag appears to be Gortex or a similar alternate trap. However I find that leaving everything in the trap makes for material. Some chanter reeds sent to me by Gordon Shepherd have a brash rather hard blowing - so possibly my removal of the particles in the catch coarse tone, so I smooth them out by wrapping an orthodontic rubber band chamber has limited the continuity of playing. At first I removed the green around the blades just above the top Teflon windings. The tone of those reeds is sponge, but now have decided that it is a necessary feature if the chanter reed is more plastic than comparable arundo donax reeds, and, like many plastic chanter not to be wetted too much. Evidence of too much moisture on the reed blades is reeds they tend to sgriach 1) if fingers do not quite close a hole and 2) if blowing that bottom A goes flat, as does C#, and top A goes too sharp. Nigel warns the pressure is too slack. Tuning drones to chanter is tricky because occasionally piper not to fool around with the chanter reeds. And that is good advice; but with `sympathetic overtones occur when the bottom D is played; but minute the vagaries of our climate here the piper will have to continually watch the adjustments of the tuning slides on the drones can correct that. Once the pipe is "setting" of the reed and ensure it is snug in its reed seat and not set too far out. tuned and is playing well, I leave everything as it was set up, and store the But unless you have made chanter reeds, Id say that squeezing the brass tuning instrument in a long enough box so that I dont have to move the tuning slides. bridle on the chanter reed to open it up is inadvisable, and will absolutely wreck The drone reeds have lasted many hours of playing and still have a good tone the modal scale. and "come in" readily. The chanter reeds last longer than arundo donax ones but eventually do conk out. All plastic reeds are susceptible to changes in moisture On my Session pipe Ive had a quirky difficulty in tuning the bass drone. The and temperature but much less than wed expect from arundo reeds. And all drone reeds are modified Easy Drone plastics. If you move the rubber tuning reeds are difficult in our hot, dry climate here in the interior valleys of bridle up even a smidgen, the drone will come in at the same note as the two California.

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