Hi Richard, Excuse me while I mount my hobby-horse.
The size of the bag relative to the body shape of the player can have a crucial effect on the perceived difficulty of playing the pipes. I observed the posture of many players in piping meetings and I came to the conclusion that those who had the bag tucked well up into their armpit leaving the forearm detached seemed to have the greatest freedom in playing the pipes, so I resolved to adopt this position.
When playing, my bag rests in the crook of my elbow and 2/3 to 3/4 of my forearm is not in contact with the bag. The problem with adopting this stance is having the confidence that the bag will stay where it is put. It took me several years to get my pipes and my stance comfortable, but now I find that I can play almost any non-leaking pipes with relative ease.
For a long time, the corner of my bellows was rubbing on my right wrist and causing an abrasion. Now there is 3 inch separation between the wrist and the corner. I dont remeber how I got rid of that problem.
I am currently considering taking an inch off the neck of my bag to bring the chanter to a more comfortable position.
I experimented with playing with the bag more in front of the body, but I found that this required active pressure from the arm to squeeze the bag, whereas with a standard bag I feel as though it is the weight of my arm which is compressing the bag.
Does this help? Barry Richard York wrote:
I'd welcome comments/advice on nsp bag shape, please.
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