Tuning A Bagpipe

Tuning? It's not easy. You've got 3 drone reeds. Those are the easy ones. Then you have a chanter reed, which is composed of two cane blades pressed and tied together with a small space between them. It's sort of the same concept as when you take a blade of grass and stretch it between your thumbs and blow. Air passing over the flexible surfaces causes them to vibrate, which creates sound. Once you have the sound, then you have to adjust it for each note on the chanter. Covering a hole on the chanter makes the chanter "longer", or at least lengthens the distance that the sound must travel before escaping into the environment. The farther the distance, the deeper/lower the tone. Cover all the holes and you have the lowest note, Low G. Since chanter reeds are made from wood/heavy grass (cane is sort of like bamboo) the surface is absorbent and reacts to heat and moisture. Your pipes might be in tune in the shade, but as soon as you walk into the sun all the notes go sharp on you.

Next, put 30 pipers together in a band and you've got a problem that sometimes takes weeks to solve. Some bands never solve it. But when it's right, it's great.

Wedding Plans and Bagpipes

Now is the time to make those wedding plans, which is part of the fun of getting married (hopefully). Some brides and grooms have very specific ideas about how they want the bagpipes incorporated into the celebration. Some have just a general idea. By far the most common use of a piper is to have the piping occur while guests arrive and when the ceremony concludes. Piping at the reception is often requested, too. Piping during a wedding ceremony is a little more complicated, but easily accommodated. In any event, the important thing is that the pipes are there.

January Funerals Hartford County and Middlesex County

January has been a big month for funerals, which means cold weather piping. Luckily, the temperature has hovered around 32 F., which isn't too bad if there is no wind. If it gets much below that, the valves on the pipes can freeze shut. We sometimes use hand warmer bags to apply heat to key areas of the pipes and the face. I once played at a funeral in New London during the winter. The temperature was 5 degrees, and there was a horrible wind slashing across the cemetary. Everything froze shut. It was a military funeral with a bugler. The bugler was supposed to play taps, but he couldn't make a note. It was painful.

Bagpipes Bagpiper Hartford Glastonbury Manchester Farmington Avon Simsbury Rocky Hill Middletown Portland Hampton Haddam

Because of the increase in gasoline prices and crude per barrel, I have had to increase my prices. I was recently asked for an explanation of my charges. In general I charge $200 to $250 per event, whether it's a wedding or a funeral. I may charge more if there is a lengthy trip involved. While it's true that a funeral performance may only require a few tunes, there is more time required for tuning and preparation that may not be immediately apparent to the client. Unlike a guitar, which tunes in a few minutes, or a piano, which is always in tune, the bagpipes require careful preparation and the tuning for an important performance should begin days in advance. While pipes are becoming easier to care for, they still require a lot of special attention. They're not cheap, either, a new chanter reed costs about 8 dollars.

So when it comes time to pay the piper, fear not, it is money well spent and well earned.

Happy New Year Goodbye 2007, Hello 2008

2007 was a good year for piping. I purchased a new set of pipes: David Naill DN4. I can't say enough about these pipes. Their tone and quality of sound are miles beyond most of the other pipes out there. As I've stated elsewhere, and I've heard other people say it too, the sound of pipes goes right through you. These pipes go through you and reverberate in ways that sets your soul to singing. After playing them you feel changed, realigned, expanded, invigorated and calm. I'm keeping the pipes my father gave me, but I can't see going back to them.

Bagpipes Hartford New Years Party

Busking is not common in Hartford. It may be due to a lack of impoverished musicians. It may be due to municipal hostility. It may be due to lack of tradition. It may be due to lack of generous, willing, giving and knowledgeable audience. It may be due to lack of readership and information. I once saw an elderly man sitting on an amp, playing guitar on the street corner between Max Downtown and the Goodwin. He also had a voice microphone. He played blues. I was surprised he was there. Then I was disappointed by the number of people making a show of ignoring him. Most walked past looking at the sky or something far ahead. The thousand mile stare. Meanwhile, all these songs about bad luck, bad habits, crummy insights, hollow wishes, fractured embraces, decaying remembrances and bad relationships poured out over the streets. I gave him all the cash I had in my wallet: fourteen bucks. He looked at me like I was a dead man.

If you enjoyed the movie Bedknobs and Broomsticks, you probably have a soft spot in your heart for buskers. I plan on attending the 6pm fireworks in Bushnell Park. Wouldn't it be wonderful if the park were covered with buskers. Or a crowd of them in front of the statue of the guy who invented anesthesia.

Connecticut Bagpiper Glastonbury Bagpipes

Connecticut has its own Poet Laureate. It has a State flower and a State insect. Should the subject ever come up at the Legislative Office Building, I'd like to put my name in the hopper for State Piper. I've written several tunes commemorating the State: The Witch Hazel Jig, I-84 Lament, and Twain's Reel.

If not me, then someone. Please! The State needs a Piper!

Should someone else occupy the State position, I'll attempt a town appointment in Glastonbury, which sorely needs good piping and cheaper coffee.