I've thought about learning pipes, and because of my friendship with Piper George I'm learning more about them......ask him about his new set of Border Pipes sometime, or beg for photographs....

but I've held off for a number of reasons. One is the time issue. That's a biggie. But the other is more complicated. Now, this might come off sounding really condescending or snippy, and I honestly do not mean it to sound like that. I really do not, so please bear with me. This is an honest question.

I'm a clarinetist. ....and I play whistles and bodhran and saxophones (not so much sax any more). I've played in symphonies for years, have played jazz and Brazilian music mostly on clarinet. In the last couple of years I've been playing a lot of Klezmer. I've added Irish/Scottish stuff on the bodhran and whistles. The draw for me is the variety. The clarinet is a very versatile instrument with a large range and a tremendous variety of styles and tonal colors. From Mozart to Dixieland to Modern Jazz to Klezmer...

Klezmer....on e-flat sopranino (maybe a D, actually. I own an e-flat.)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZpqVYvPIv1s

Klezmer, again but TOTALLY different feel.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-IogA4TcHLM

Bit o' dixieland, with Pete Fountain, Jazz Me Blues!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5hoaw...eature=related

Big Band Era...."Concerto for Clarinet" by Artie Shaw (I've performed this. BTW, it' s not that hard, it just SOUNDS flashy)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LN9xU...eature=related

Modern Jazz meets Bang on a Can, Don Byron
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=szu8P5a9yyw

Mozart Clarinet Quintet with Sabine Meyer.. (I've performed this 2-3 times)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0wKMx6tOJUs

Gerald Finzi clarinet concerto, the slow movement....I've never performed this 20th century English piece, but I would sure love to. It's my favorite concerto for the instrument
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kONmn...eature=related


I could go on and on. I hope you see my point. There's a huge amount of variety in style and range and sound.

Pipers, I'm afraid I would put a whole, whole lot of work into learning the pipes and taking care of thepipes and get bored with it....there are eleven notes, the instrument doesn't have much range. Pipe bands are fun, but the range of music they can play is severely limited, or so it seems to me. There are several hundred tunes to learn, and you can always play in a celtic dance band, or possibly a rock-type band like Tempest. But.........

What say you, ladies and gentlemen? What level of musical satisfaction do you get out of the pipes? What would you say to this clarinet player and whistle player?