I put them in the Kitchen Pipes and tuned up. Probably 50 percent louder and the increased volume and pressure make the chanter much more responsive to embelishments. I'd feel comfortable playing faster tunes on them now, as the chanter doesn't have the little bit of dullness or sluggishness in it anymore. In short, the embellishments pop now instead of thudding along at low pressure.

If I were to use them in just a PC, I'd probably consider it a waste of air and too loud to be usefull. In a set of small pipes, I like them.

Now as far as reading score, my humble opinion is that it's an indispensable tool to any musician. Yes, I know the old guys did it by ear and song, but I'm not quite that talented and we can all afford paper now. If you spend five to ten minutes a day reading some random score, you'll have it in two weeks, tops. Lay off for a while and you get a little rusty, but won't forget. A good goal is to sight read and play melody notes (no embellishments) at half speed, minimum. Of course half speed for a reel is still 3X for A.G.!