Bagpiping anyone?

[Mr. Woolery]

Okay, sorry to be the voice of dissent. A cheapie practice chanter can be fairly decent. You will eventually upgrade, but I will say I would not buy one without trying it first. I've had a couple, played a few more. All of my (small) sampling were acceptably close to in-tune. Many of those who simply dismiss them have never tried one. But they have never been as good or as consistent as the first-world manufacturers turn out.

I play a Walsh standard practice chanter. I don't find the difference in scale length to be a problem with transition to the pipes. There is a much bigger culture shock with the hole size! Instead of 3/32", the holes can be over 1/4" and that's a big difference.

Chase- if you actually want to play the pipes, do it. Even among the kids who start out at age 6 and play all their lives, most don't become world class pipers. There's no point in putting it off if you want to do it. Find an instructor, though. Imagine trying to learn anything that requires a fairly precise level of coordination. Would you learn better from a teacher? Of course!

As to practice, I don't think it takes an hour a day for years on end to become decent. It takes focus in your practice (how many guys go to a gym for long sessions and don't get as much from it as someone who knows how to train can get in half the time?) and your teacher should be able to get you going in the right direction.

Anyway, Andrew's site is always required reading material for new and intermediate pipers. I don't always agree with everything there (I scrape my reeds mercilessly, no matter what his article on that says), but almost all of it I think is spot-on and all of it is valuable, without exception or disclaimer.

A practice chanter from a good maker will cost under $80 (mine was $65) and I know it is easy to drop that much on a dinner for two. I think everyone in the family gets more from my piping than we've put in monetarily. Just today, I played for my son's second-grade class. Again. They are all disappointed when they see me without a kilt. Fun kids. Several cheered when they saw me in my kilt today because they know it means bagpipes.

-Patrick

[highlander_Daz]

Patrick, the debate wasnt about "cheapie" practice chanters, it was about P@kistani practice chanters, which as most half serious pipers know are rubbish.

Im all for "cheapie" chanters, subject to them playing the scale in tune and having a reed that doesnt squeal like a pig in a slaughterhouse . I cant see the point in paying a fortune for a PC, and Ive never tried a Walsh but ill take your word and id love to try one based on your reccomendation.

[AndrewLenzJr]

Anyway, Andrew's site is always required reading material for new and intermediate pipers. I don't always agree with everything there (I scrape my reeds mercilessly, no matter what his article on that says), but almost all of it I think is spot-on and all of it is valuable, without exception or disclaimer.

Thank you, Mr. Woolery.
And don't feel bad about scraping, I scrape my own reeds as well!
(If it says on my site somewhere not to scrape, let me know and I'll fix that . . . I do know that I give voice to those who refuse to scrape, but I also give voice to the scraping advocates as well. I do my best to present both sides of any schools of thought and let the reader make up his or her mind.)


Andrew