Worst piper in the band

[OC Richard]

I'll bet they cut off the tops of the corks so the are low profile

You don't stick a cork in the end; that would show, even if the cork were trimmed down.

You do it internally, a cork or inverted cane drone reed or wad of paper or whatever shoved in the reed seat, or a foam earplug in the top of the tuning pin.

I myself for years, when I'm only playing a single set of pipes, because the bands I've played in usually have the middle tenor plugged, have the outside tenor set up for the band chanter (a strong loud sharp 482+ thing) and the inside/middle tenor set up for my gig chanter (a mellow concert-pitch 466 thing). I switch a foam earplug from tuning pin to tuning pin according to which chanter I'm using.

There are a number of advantages to only using the inside/middle tenor during gigs:

1) you can tune on the go, while you're still playing a tune but when only the upper hand is needed. I always tune my drones when the entire pipe is sounding anyhow (it drives me crazy to watch pipers waste so much time shutting off and restarting drones to tune them) and with only one tenor and one bass to listen to, my ear can easily distinguish which drone, the bass or the tenor, needs adjustment.

2) tuning the inside tenor requires less of a reach than tuning the outside tenor, so my tuning on the go doesn't stand out as much visually.

3) just as with pipe band pipers, a solo piper using two drones has 33% less to go wrong, 33% less chance for a squeal or whatever.

Amazing Grace is the ideal "tuning on the go" tune, the ideal tune to play after your pipes have been sitting for an hour unplayed (when there's no place to go tune up) and you have to play at the end of a funeral or whatever on cue:

LA D D (take off your bottom hand and start touching up the drones)

F E D F

F E D (now your bottom hand little finger needs to find its spot to get ready for the next note)

B LA

etc. On Amazing Grace you only need your bottom hand on the chanter a few times so there's plenty of time to tune. Tunes with long held D's are the piper's friend! Highland Cathedral has some decent D's, as does For Ireland I'd Not Tell Her Name.