[NSP] Re: TOTM/shameless plug
At least it's not a Wii studio! Alec In a message dated 7/29/2011 2:37:15 A.M. Pacific Daylight Time, d...@daveshaw.co.uk writes: Anthony Robb said > I've been reluctant to vote on this since our house is fighting back > whilst we put in a new kitchen, downstairs loo and new wee studio. Anthony, I know older men can become obsessed with the toilet, but a wee studio? Dave To get on or off this list see list information at http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html --
[NSP] Re: Rants again
Having danced for years, and played for dancing (albeit in California) perhaps I can help. First, you do need to see the rant step to understand it. That said, the easiest way to learn the step is to do it to the rhythm "Potato chips, potato chips." Yes, I know you call them crisps, but that's ever so much harder to say. (It can also be done to "The cactus plants are hard on pants," but that's harder to remember and a bit culturally . . . outside). If you want to see it, look here: [1]www.youtube.com/watch?v=hk2u3J-G9YI As somebody else said, a rant can be danced to a good many styles of tune. Honestly, most dancing can be done to any style of tune, so long as it's the correct tempo. All dancers really need is a strong down beat. (The true Scottish strathspey is one dance that comes to mind that is actually enhanced by the music. Also Morris). Never really had a dancer say, "I can't dance this dance to that tune." Alec MacLean In a message dated 7/11/2011 6:00:56 A.M. Pacific Daylight Time, tim.ro...@btconnect.com writes: ..and from FARNE http://www.folknortheast.com/learn/social-dance/dance-technique The single most striking factor which sets Northumbrian traditional dance aside from those traditional dances known in Southern England, Scotland and other parts of the British Isles is the number of dances which feature vigorous stepping throughout, or as their main feature. The most common step being the rant step, this being found in such dances as The Morpeth Rant, The Quaker's Wife, The Rifleman, Roxburgh Castle, Soldier's Joy and The Triumph. It is not an easy thing to describe dance in text form, there really is no substitute for watching other dancers and copying what they do. To learn the rant step you start by doing "Hop, hop, change (pause), hop, hop, change (pause)". That's two hops on (say) the right foot, one on the left foot and hold it there, then do the same starting on the left foot. Make sure you can do that before moving on to stage two. When it seems to be coming naturally, between the two hops on the same foot you just tap the ground gently with your spare foot. So the rhythm becomes "Hop-tap, hop, change (pause), hop-tap, hop, change (pause)". It is important to note that when stepping on the spot you're not putting your weight on the front foot - it just happens to touch the ground. Some people make a big thing of crossing the front foot over, but really that's not important. You're bound to lose the step occasionally while you're learning it, but just drop back to the "hop, hop, change" until you've got the rhythm back and then try it again. The step can be varied to make a traveling step and for use in dancing round figures. So, come on you guys who play for dances, what's the key to playing a Rant? Tim On 11 Jul 2011, at 13:05, Gibbons, John wrote: > Why has this rant thread gone so quiet all last week? > > What makes a tune sound like a rant, rather than a reel or hornpipe? > If I take a (4 in a bar) hornpipe without triplets, speed it up a bit, but not as much as a reel, > smooth out the dotting a bit, and emphasise the odd beats at the expense of the even ones, > will I get a rant? How essential are those 3-crotchet cadences? > > Are there any essential stylistic features that this attempt at a description misses? > > > > John > > > > > To get on or off this list see list information at > http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html -- -- References 1. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hk2u3J-G9YI
[NSP] Re: Ending tunes traditionally
Having done a lot of dancing and playing for dancing, allow me to suggest that the decision might depend on whether or not there are a bunch of sweaty people out there in front of you saying, "That didn't sound like the end of the tune. Should I bow/curtsie? Or keep dancing?" If there are dancers, end on a tonic whenever possible. Alec MacLean In a message dated 6/18/2011 1:43:28 A.M. Pacific Daylight Time, rich...@lizards.force9.co.uk writes: There are many tunes, especially slip jigs, and quite a few Peacocks, which as written, end on a note that implies we're about to go back to the beginning and start again, but isn't really in itself an endi- ... Many players stop there on the last time through, and don't play the note which seems to want to come and end it, pointing out that it ain't in the script so you don't play it. It's a matter of taste whether you like a hanging in the air, imperfect/interrupted/whatever cadence, type of ending, or whether you like to add the extra back-home note on the last time. Since I've only got dots and some recordings, mostly of modern players, to go on, I have no hard evidence as to how it was really done back in the day. Some tunes I like that way, with others my instinct is to add the implied final note, especially if playing for dancers. (It doesn't have to be a Jimmy Shand type "Taraaa", of course!) So I wonder if it's done that way because it really was traditional, or because people who, like me, only have what was written down, are slavishly not playing un-written dots, despite the fact that we happily accept that dots are necessarily an imperfect shorthand, (Cf hornpipe rhythms, non-notated grace notes in many traditions, and so forth); so we stop because the person notating it didn't bother making an extra "last time bar". Or did the traditional musicians who'd learned it from their great-uncle who had it from - and so on, actually play it that way? Please could those of you, like Anthony and others, who have played with the survival of the "living tradition" (whichever one!) offer any help? Thanks and best wishes, Richard. -- To get on or off this list see list information at http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html --
[NSP] Re: Wishful thinking or feasible science?
Why do you think "Mythbusters" is such a popular show? Because there's such a vast pile of pseudo-science out there. Assuming we're talking about dry-blown pipes, there's next to nothing to create a difference in lifespan between playing them and keeping them in the box. Yes, sound is an acoustic wave, and causes some force against the wood, but nothing strong enough to alter the structure or chemistry of it. What will cause degradation of the wood (other than dropping it--more later) is either thermal or moisture cycling. You'll note that flutes, shawms, sackbutts (gotta love that name) and other instruments that are directly mouth-blown are far more prone to cracking, even when the user is meticulous about keeping them oiled. But unless you platoon semiannually from Guam to Helsinki, atmospheric moisture isn't too much of a problem, especially with the tight, close-grained woods we use in pipes. (Some stringed instrument players like guitarists and fiddlers keep a gadget in their case to keep the humidity up. Recall, however, that their soundboards are very, very thin, and under a great deal of mechanical stress). Temperature cycling isn't usually too much of a problem--we tend to like to live in a very narrow temperature range. But most of us know at least one sad story of a musician who's left a wooden instrument in the trunk of a car (or boot) and found it warped and/or cracked. But any temperature you can stand--or be willing to pipe in--is not going to be much of a problem for your instrument. I mentioned dropping. Other than fumbling your whole kit, the biggest dropping risk is having a drone or--gasp, chanter--slip out and hit the floor. Obviously, the way to avoid this is proper wrapping. Here I'd say the wet-blowers are more meticulous than the bellows-blowers. That's because wet-blown instruments need far more tuning as the moisture of the reeds changes during a session. Keep your wrapping neat and tidy. And then grease it. I leave it to others to argue about the best lube, but a slide that is too tight invites the use of more force when tuning. And the combination of the awkward position we adopt while tuning and too much force often leaves a sad piper holding the drone top with the slide broken off inside it. Anyway, that's a bit off-topic. In a message dated 5/12/2011 4:03:12 A.M. Pacific Daylight Time, cliff...@universalist.ednet.co.uk writes: Maybe not totally relevant, but in my (much) younger days when carrying around a sliderule as a student, it was claimed that the best sliderules were made of bamboo coz they didn't expand like metal ones and were self-lubricating. Indeed, to smoothly ease into small gradations a prior pumping of the middle movable band was useful. John Clifford On 12 May 2011, at 10:12, Richard York wrote: >Hello all. >I've just enjoyed re-reading Francis Woods' excellent article, "In >Praise of Old Pipes", in the 2010 Vol 31 NPS Journal. > There he refers to the "myth [which] holds that instruments > inevitably >deteriorate if they are not used. [...] what really wears them > out is >using them ". >I quite see that the mechanical use of moving keys, sliding tunable >parts, etc. causes wear, but would welcome comments on a > probably very >unscientific thought on the actual wood in instruments. >(By the by, I realise mouth-blown woodwind deteriorates through the >warming, wetting and drying and cooling effect, but feel that's > not so >relevant here.) >I watched a demonstration recently of how the form of vibrations >through an instrument can clearly be seen, by using sand on the >soundboard of a rebec held horizontally, which neatly slid into >patterns. >Since all matter is made of particles, is it possible that the > regular >patterns of vibration may somehow arrange these particles in a way >relating to these regular movements? >Which in turn would affect its acoustic character, I assume. >Best wishes, >Richard. > To get on or off this list see list information at http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html --
[NSP] Re: a key question for NSPipers
Allow me to offer a totally different perspective on how to answer this question: Can you already play all the tunes you want to play with the chanter you have now? Are there no tunes that you've set aside for when you thought you had improved to the point where you could actually play them? Been through all the tunes in all the books you have? Don't misunderstand me--I thouroughly empathize with "key lust." (I believe it's related to "tune book lust.") But if you were asking for were answers to your root question, this might help. Alec -Original Message- From: John Dally To: NSP group Sent: Tue, Dec 14, 2010 9:01 am Subject: [NSP] a key question for NSPipers When do you qualify to really "need" more keys? When I ordered my set number of years ago I was convinced that the desire for 17 keys was eally too much, so I ordered a thirteen key set instead. Now I find yself reaching for the two "missing" Bb's and C#'s. Is there such a hing as "key-envy"? Is it presumptuous or perhaps a failure of magination to want more keys? How many keys is enough? I hear tell f twenty five key chanters now. Is this obsession a pipemaker's ightmare? heers, ohn To get on or off this list see list information at ttp://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html --
[NSP] Re: Where hast though been all the night?
My vote is that such conversations continue in front of the whole group. If anyone is uninterested, it takes only a moment to click "next." And there are a lot of lurkers out here who are silent but interested, and are grateful for being allowed to eavesdrop on informed discussions. Thx, Alec In a message dated 11/4/2010 9:58:25 A.M. Pacific Daylight Time, theborderpi...@googlemail.com writes: Before you read on - is anyone besides John Gibbons, Julia Say and myself interested in this? Seriously, please say so, I'd like to know, because if not, we can carry on the discussion privately. If anyone thinks the three of us are crazy, I would like to point out that I have been crazy for longer than them. I have refrained from reading Julia's and John's versions till I made mine public. I was very taken with this tune at the time of the second Bewick edition (1998) and used to play it a lot. I am pleased that (two) others also enjoy it. I note that it received zero attention until Richard York's hurdy-gurdy query, which is a sobering thought regarding the benefits of publication. You may need to add line breaks, I have just pasted my text as is. X:1 T:Where Hast Thou Been All The Night? C:R Reavely ms (strs 1-3) C:M Seattle (strs 5-8) Aug 1998 M:6/8 R:Air K:G e|d/c/B/A/B/G/ B>cd|dgB c2e|d/c/B/A/B/G/ B>cd|dgf d2:|] [|:e|dgf dgB|dgB c2e|dgf dgB|dgf d2e| dgf dgB|dgB c2e|d/c/B/A/B/G/ B>cd|dgf d2:|] [|:e|dB/c/d/B/ gB/c/d/B/|dB/c/d/B/ c3/2d/e/c/|dB/c/d/B/ gB/c/d/B/|dgf d2e| dB/c/d/B/ gB/c/d/B/|dB/c/d/B/ c3/2d/e/c/|d/c/B/A/B/G/ B>cd|dgf d2:|] [|:e|dGe/f/ gGB/c/|dGA/B/ c3/2d/e/c/|dGe/f/ gGB/c/|dgf d2e| dGe/f/ gGB/c/|dGA/B/ c3/2d/e/c/|d/c/B/A/B/G/ B>cd|dgf d2:|] [|:e|d/c/B/A/B/G/ B/A/B/c/d/G/|d/c/B/A/B/G/ c/B/c/d/e/G/|d/c/B/A/B/G/ B/A/B/c/d/G/|dgf d2:|] [|:e|d/G/g/G/f/G/ d/e/d/c/B/c/|d/G/g/f/d/B/ c/B/c/d/e/G/|d/G/g/G/f/G/ d/e/d/c/B/c/|d/G/g/f/d/c/ d2e| d/G/g/G/f/G/ d/e/d/c/B/c/|d/G/g/f/d/B/ c/B/c/d/e/G/|d/c/B/A/B/G/ B/A/B/c/d/G/|dgf d2:|] [|:e|d/B/G/B/d/B/ g/B/G/B/d/B/|d/B/G/B/d/B/ cG/c/e/c/|d/B/G/B/d/B/ g/B/G/B/d/B/|dgf d2e| d/B/G/B/d/B/ g/B/G/B/d/B/|d/B/G/B/d/B/ cG/c/e/c/|d/c/B/A/B/G/ B/A/B/c/d/G/|dgf d2:|] [|:e/|d/G/A/B/c/d/ g/f/d/c/B/c/|d/G/A/B/c/d/ =f/e/c/d/e/c/|d/G/A/B/c/d/ g/f/d/c/B/c/|d/G/g/f/d/c/ d2e| d/G/A/B/c/d/ g/f/d/c/B/c/|d/G/A/B/c/d/ =f/e/c/d/e/c/|d/c/B/A/B/G/ B/A/B/c/d/G/|dgf d2:|] -- To get on or off this list see list information at http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html --
[NSP] Re: Bag cloth
It would be interesting having to explain why the calendar was called, "The Seven-Keyed Monty." Alec In a message dated 8/12/2010 2:07:10 A.M. Pacific Daylight Time, oatenp...@googlemail.com writes: On 12 Aug 2010, at 09:55, Richard York wrote: > a new sub-group within the > NPS, the naturist section. H . . . one step nearer to the NPS nude calendar, I fear. Francis To get on or off this list see list information at http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html --
[NSP] Re: Bag cloth
Richard Consider corduroy. It gives at least as good a grip as velvet, doesn't wear thin patches as readily, and is a heck of a lot cheaper. I actually prefer it to velvet. Going without a cover is ok until you start to sweat. Then it can feel really icky. Alec In a message dated 8/11/2010 1:39:01 P.M. Pacific Daylight Time, rich...@lizards.force9.co.uk writes: Greetings. I'm replacing the cover for my bag, due to replacing the leather bag with a longer necked one, which would otherwise poke out in an undignified way. I've only ever seen velvet used on bag covers so far. Is it just a fine tradition, or is there some reason why other cloths may be inappropriate? Has anyone out there any experience of other cloths and their potential drawbacks? If I do end up with a different cloth, do I get excommunicated, or burnt, or anything like that? Best wishes, Richard. To get on or off this list see list information at http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html --
[NSP] Re: la Grande Chaine
Oh, thanks Richard! Now we'll have to figure out what the heck "confitures" (confections, candies, jams, etc) have to do with a quadrille! Big dogs weren't bad enough! Alec MacLean -Original Message- From: Richard Shuttleworth To: nsp@cs.dartmouth.edu; bri...@aol.com Sent: Thu, Jul 8, 2010 2:25 pm Subject: [NSP] Re: la Grande Chaine Hi Sheila, Being neither a dancer nor a fiddler, I hesitate to answer your question. Having made that disclaimer I will jump in with both feet. Many Quebec traditional dances are in the form of a quadrille and are made up of several parts. The Grande Chaîne is one such part. For example, the Quadrille de Rimouski is made up of six parts: la Chaîne, le Changement de compagnie, le Salut par le main, la Grand Chaîne, la Galope and finally les Confitures. The tune we know as The Grand Chain is the tune that is played to the 4th part of the dance. The tunes played to the other parts of the dance also take the name of their particular part. In case anyone is impressed by this show of knowledge, all this information comes from a book entitled "La Dance traditionnelle dans l'est du Québec" written by Simonne Voyer and published by l'Université Laval. Our tune The Grand Chain appears in a recognizable form on page 275 as l'air de quadrille (4ième partie): La Grande Chaîne. When did it become popular? I've no idea but it is still being danced today. Cheers, Richard ps Sheila, you haven't registered for the Pipers' Gathering yet - are we going to have the pleasure of your company this year? www.pipersgathering.org - Original Message - From: To: ; Sent: Thursday, July 08, 2010 4:23 PM Subject: [NSP] la Grande Chaine > > La Grande Chaine seems to be a very popular tune on both east and west > > sides of the Atlantic, so I was most surprised, when looking through "The > > Fiddler's Fake Book" , published in 1983, which lists almost 500 of the > > most played tunes, not to find it there. Does anyone have any idea when > it > became popular? Richard, living in Quebec, maybe you can throw some > light > on this? I had always assumed that it was an old, very > traditionally French > Canadian. > > Sheila > > > > > -- > > To get on or off this list see list information at > http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html > --
[NSP] The Grand Chain
I've just gotten my copy of the Northumbrian Pipers' Third Tune Book, 2nd edition. There's a tune whose title is given as "THE GRAND CHAIN (Le Grand Chien)." Now, since this is a second edition, I'm assuming that it wasn't just a typo, so I'm curious about this title. Was it just translated by somebody who was more interested in daydreaming about pipe tunes than paying attention during French class, or does the mistranslation actually have some interesting history behind it? I'm not meaning to be arch, but I do find this interesting. Alec MacLean -- To get on or off this list see list information at http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
[NSP] Books
I'd like to obtain the Billy Pigg book. My NPS membership lapsed ages ago (guilty, guilty!) so I can't order that way. The website says I can order from the Museum, but to contact Ms. Moore first; note that I am on the other side of the ocean. I've attempted to do so, but haven't heard back. Any suggestions? Alec MacLean -- To get on or off this list see list information at http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
[NSP] Transposing
Here's a question I don't recall seeing discussed here: I played concertina for English Country Dancing for years, and have a lot of wonderful tunes in my head. I'd love to be able to play them on my NSP, but they are often in keys that I can't play in--and perhaps my pipes even can't. So my question is this: Does everyone transpose tunes so they can play them? Or is that considered bad karma, and I'll be given the stank eye by "real" players if I'm caught doing that? Thx Alec -- To get on or off this list see list information at http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
[NSP] Re: NSP Facebook group
Yes, Bill, that URL does work. And allow me to say that you may win some sort of award for "Most peculiar profile photo"! Alec In a message dated 2/7/2010 8:32:02 A.M. Pacific Standard Time, james...@online.no writes: SighSorry about this.. I think this URL actually works. http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=291889707722&ref=search&sid=69 5896937.2624794321..1 Bill - Original Message - From: "Bill Carr" To: Sent: Sunday, February 07, 2010 11:58 AM Subject: Re: [NSP] NSP Facebook group > > ... And let Bill Carr learn how to cut and paste URL's. Having trouble > getting the correct link. > > http://www.facebook.com/home.php#!/group.php?gid=291889707722 > > > > Bill > To get on or off this list see list information at http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html --
[NSP] Re: Pipe making
Malcolm " . . . blackwood or ebony . . . "? I may live in California, but my genes are still Scottish! I work everything in maple until I'm absolutely sure of the dimensions, and only then does the expensive wood come out! BTW, I don't know of the availability of maple where you are, but it is just fine for pipemaking in terms of tone and workability. Alec In a message dated 2/2/2010 10:17:44 A.M. Pacific Standard Time, malcolm.sargea...@ntlworld.com writes: Looks like you have a D and F set. It's the new style Drill and Fill so common when a good reed is found for a crappy chanter. A mixture of powdered blackwood or ebony with super glue works wonders after filing then wet+dry then finnish off with a green scouring pad (nick the one from the kitchen sink) glue remover will free your hands from the chanter when finnished, have fun! Malcolm.-- CalecM wrote : I have just renamed the pipes I'm making. Only one drone, drone and chanter of different wood, chanter holes clearly moved by filling and re-drilling. May never be done. Only one thing they could be called: "Scottish half-dones" Alec MacLean -- To get on or off this list see list information at http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html -- This message was sent on behalf of malcolm.sargea...@ntlworld.com at openSubscriber.com http://www.opensubscriber.com/message/nsp@cs.dartmouth.edu/13365874. html --
[NSP] Pipe making
I have just renamed the pipes I'm making. Only one drone, drone and chanter of different wood, chanter holes clearly moved by filling and re-drilling. May never be done. Only one thing they could be called: "Scottish half-dones" Alec MacLean -- To get on or off this list see list information at http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
[NSP] Re: Mr. Bewick, Rats and Inverted Bags
This video also shows the universal aspect of piping: No matter what type of pipes, the faster the music, the more we flail away at the bellows! Alec In a message dated 1/28/2010 1:59:51 P.M. Pacific Standard Time, an...@evansweb.co.uk writes: Julia Say wrote: > Why have I suddenly (and inexplicably?) become even more grateful to Jackie > Boyce.. > and to those fates that decreed I was going to play a different type!! > indeed - at least with the 'standard' bag you can pretend it was never an animal... I picked this at random on youtube, but it illustrates the bag origins very nicely I think http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Eob8pDcXhV4 -- Anita Evans To get on or off this list see list information at http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html --
[NSP] Re: bag shape
And what's more interesting is that in Old Norse, the word "blathra" not only means "blather" but also "bladder," which takes us right back to pipe bags!! Alec In a message dated 1/27/2010 2:27:28 A.M. Pacific Standard Time, tim.ro...@btconnect.com writes: ..and isn't the language fascinating in its own right. "To blether on" in my experience is to talk at length/nonsense, such as you might expect from a wind-bag I'd presumed it came from the same root as bladder, but Chambers just goes back to Old Norse blathra - talk foolishly, which is where I come in Oxter is also given as a verb, to take under the arm. I had only heard the noun usage before. Tim - Original Message - From: "Anthony Robb" To: ; "Francis Wood" Cc: "Nsplist NPS" Sent: Wednesday, January 27, 2010 8:46 AM Subject: [NSP] Re: bag shape > > What a fascinating thread! > The problem I see with an inverted bag is getting the chanter stock > airtight in what amounts to a ridgy hole. It's bad enough with a nice > soft bag with the seam on the outside and the usual leather wedges. > I hate to admit it but the slightly deeper, shorter Northumbrian style > bag is far less comfortable the GHB style. The narrower profile and > sloped front of the latter makes hardly any left arm contact with seam > (which is what used to cause me discomfort). > Barry's comment that the majority of his forearm is not in bag contact > at all makes me puzzled. I suppose if the bag neck was long enough the > forearm could be well below the bag and not in contact but adopting > such a position would surely make the wrists bend in two planes at > once. Is this not tiring after a while? > Barry's other comment about getting the bag well up towards the armpit > is good advice but not a new idea. There is even a dialect saying for > this process, "oxter yor blether" (oxter being armpit and blether > being bag)! > All perhaps another example of Bill Hedworth's gem , "Each has to find > their own salvation with this instrument!" > --- On Wed, 27/1/10, Francis Wood wrote: > > From: Francis Wood > > Hello Alex and all, > You seem to suggest that turning the bag inside out is unlikely. > I have two reasons for disagreeing, firstly because I have done so > myself and secondly because I have seen many early bags constructed in > this way. You will find that this was the usual method if you look at > the available iconography or examine old examples. There has to be a > good reason why this was adopted for many different kinds of pipes in > different centuries and different countries. > > -- > > > To get on or off this list see list information at > http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html > --
[NSP] Re: bag shape
Allow me to offer two possible/likely explanations for leaving the seam facing outward: 1) To sew the whole bag and then turn it inside out sounds like a (Warning: Americanism Alert!) tin-plated bitch. I don't see either the chanter stock hole nor the drone stock hole being big enough to do this readily, if at all. 2) The bag seasoning is more likely to flow into the seam if the seam is left on the outside. Think of what the two versions look like from the inside: An outside-seam bag has a groove into which the goo will flow. If you were to invert the bag, then the seam would stick up from the inside surface of the bag, making it much harder to get the goo into the actual junction. In other words, I'd think an outside-seam bag would take seasoning better, and be a bit less leaky. One Man's Opinion--Your Mileage May Vary Alec MacLean In a message dated 1/26/2010 2:16:51 P.M. Pacific Standard Time, oatenp...@googlemail.com writes: Hello Richard and Barry, I agree entirely with the comments here. Comfort and the avoidance of stress are essential for the effective use of any instrument, and consequently for musicality. One aspect of this puzzles me. I have studied a large number of paintings and engravings showing pipes bags of the past. I have also examined many examples in museums. Whether they are from Breughel, Praetorius or any other picture showing a bag without a fabric cover, they are invariably inverted bags, i.e. with the seam inside the bag which has been turned inside out after sewing. An extra folded strip of leather is sewn between the cheeks of the bag but this does not project.Musettes are always constructed in this fashion and so are early bags from the time of the Reids and Dunn. In contrast modern bags have the sewn seam projecting as a narrow edge. This is not necessarily more uncomfortable than an internal seam but it has infinitely more potential to be so if the bag is an awkward shape or held in an inconvenient position. I wonder when and why this older and better method was discontinued. Examples here: Praetorius: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/3d/Syntagma07.png Duerer (click to enlarge - 150%?: http://www.wga.hu/frames-e.html?/html/d/durer/2/13/4/076.html And of course, here! : http://www.richard-york.co.uk/past/bagpipicsmod.html Francis Francis On 26 Jan 2010, at 21:27, Barry Say wrote: > 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. > > > > To get on or off this list see list information at > http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html --
[NSP] Re: NSP oil for pipes and key pads
I'm partial to almond oil. Very light and easy to apply and wipe off the excess. Never gets rancid or makes clots. Alec MacLean In a message dated 1/12/2010 9:56:52 A.M. Pacific Standard Time, tomspip...@hotmail.com writes: Hi all, I know this question has probably been asked before, but what oil should I use to oil the wood and the key pads on my NSP? Also, how does one obtain the little nail polish bottle with the cap/brush that I've seen professional use when oiling their pipes? Thank you. To get on or off this list see list information at http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html --
[NSP] Re: ivory pipe tone
Besides saving on elephants--a highly worthy goal--it would also allow you to travel with your pipes. Get caught at an international border with your ivory chanter and life becomes very complicated. Highland pipers struggle with this quite often. Alec MacLean In a message dated 9/27/2009 8:54:49 A.M. Pacific Daylight Time, rosspi...@aol.com writes: Dear John, Julia has responded re a blind test I carried out with blackwood and ivory which was inconclusive but depended on treating the blackwood or any other hardwood with impregnated oil to increase the density to match as far as possible the density of the ivory. It never has the same effect as the ivory has on the tone which is rich in harmonics that have been absorbed by the softer wood even if it has been impregnated. The nearest equivalent in tone to ivory is acetal which seems to have the same effect in not absorbing high harmonics so giving a rich clear and loud tone. Having said that it is worthwhile trying various woods (the sorts that would make good xylophones) that have been treated with oil to see what effect is produced that may match the ivory or be preferred. That would save on elephants. Colin R -- To get on or off this list see list information at http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
[NSP] Maintenance
You know it's time to do a bit of pipe maintenance when you're playing merrily along, and one of the stoppered drones pops out and flies a few feet onto the carpet! I guess the good news is the implication that I couldn't be leaking air anywhere, or I wouldn't have had the pressure to do that! Rgds, Alec MacLean California -- To get on or off this list see list information at http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
