Quick March

This one is short and sweet.

Thank you to Brian & Mary at Greater Richmond for swaying us to the MacCallum chanters. Holy Smokes! What a difference they make. The lower pitch we desired is there and I’ve played on some nice chanters, but these so far take the cake for a band set up. Hardly no taping compared to the older ones, and I love the balance. The holes feel great and the F is true! We got three more in this week and it’s making a big difference. No wonder Fay King said MacCallum tents dominated the scene at the Worlds in Scotland last week while she was over.

Both Ross and Warnocks  chanter reeds work very well. With Ross becoming a royal pain in the %$# on supply, it’s great to know reed makers out there like Warnock are there. I understand Harris out of Australia , makes a nice reed too, that works well with the MacCallums.

For now, I’m using the new MacCallum on my Naill pipes, and I put the old chanter on my Pettigrews.

Anyone out there tried the Harris reeds in their MacCallum yet?

Bookmark It

Hide Sites

Here’s a report I received from Brian Erbe of Greater Richmond Pipes & Drums. It’s great that our area has representation at Maxville Ontario Games. The general public and novices probably do not know this, but Maxville is  the biggest Pipe band competition in North America, and GRPD did pretty darn well if you ask me. As for Brian’s last statement in the following article “we are everywhere- LOL”

< Brian Erbe wrote> Well the band has returned for our first trip to the North American Championships.  The pipe corp did well taking 6th out of 14.  The drum corp didn’t fair so well.  Considering the competition I’m very pleased (at least in piping).  One of the bands we beat in piping we heard warming up and thought they were their grade 3 band until I remembered that group doesn’t have a grade 3 band.  Those guys won overall on Sunday at Montreal.  Anyway, I know Greater Richmond has appeared and acted a little arrogant in the past.  Wow, we got a reality check.  Those boys and girls up there in the great white north take this stuff seriously.  

For those in your band that have never been to Maxville I HIGHLY recommend a trip.  It’s like a mini trip to pipe band mecca.  Fifty bands, over 200 pipers competing solo including Gold Medalists.  Over 60,000 people.  Richmond games in comparison brings in about 20,000 over two days.  The talent level of the bands is amazing.  The top six in each grade would probably crush most of the bands in the next grade up down here.  They are also definitely pipe band centric.  Very few vendors.  Almost no clans.  Well run (and short) massed bands.  And almost everyone there has come to watch the bands and not the “entertainers”, clans or atheletes, not that there weren’t any.

Lastly, if you pass this on to your band mates. Guys please wrap some duct tape around Tim’s head before it explodes.  There was someone there wearing a St Andrew’s Legion t-shirt!

Brian

Bookmark It

Hide Sites

 SALPD is now making the transition to the MacCallum Band Chanter from the Naill’s, that the group has played on for the last four years.  Several reasons have brought the group to the change. Though the Naill is a great chanter, it has some drawbacks, such as being very tempermental on the high hand with reeds such as Ross, unless you set the pitch higher, which brings on the second problem.

 The vast majority of quality pipe bands across the globe are playing and aiming for the lower pitch, leaving the high pitch fot the grade 1 bands to have. Personally, I love the lower pitch for the “rumble” and it is the sound of the old days. With SALPD now interacting with other pipe bands in Virginia and the east coast, it’s a logical choice to try and match with each other. Our band shares members with another pipe band in the area, and it makes it easier for everyone to play on the same chanter.

Maintenance-

One of the things I find just as tasking as making sure students and corps members keeping a constant regiment of playing and practicing is the maintenance of their instruments. Over the years, if I had a quarter for everytime a piper or student came up to me and complained their pipes just aren’t doing what it’s supposed to do, I’d be living on a yacht.

First thing one has to determine, is it operator error, or is it the instrument itself. Many times, it’s a combination of both. Once the operational part is ruled out or corrected, then comes the instrument. Thankfully due to my years of playing on various makes of pipes and bags, I can usually make a quick assesment. Here’s something all Pipers should do routinely, especially when you observed a “Stop” in your chanter while playing:

Remove that fancy nice bag cover and put the pipes back together w/o the cover. Play it and try playing for 15-20 minutes and watch for “stops” in the chanter or a rise in pressure required from your breathing to keep the bag going. If you sense you’re leaking, pour about 1-2 ounce of water in the bag and play it again. (Make sure you keep the pipes up and level, not allowing water to run down into the chanter stock or drone stocks) Play the pipes wearing a short sleeve shirt. Most times, doing this process will show where the leak is. You’ll see a wet spot develop or in my case, think the bag just flatuated against your arm or side. On some bags, you can also douse some soapy water on suspected areas, but read the paperwork that came with the bag first on water exposure. If your bag is made of hide—-DO NOT EVER IMMERSE THE ENTIRE BAG IN A TANK OF WATER. The bag is treated for moisture inside, but the outside is not.

Though syntetic bags are supposed to “breathe” some, they should at least hold air for 5 minutes if corked up and blown up to full pressure.

Remember those car advertisements of the latest and greatest autombile to hit the road? You went out and bought one and after 25,000 miles, you’re cursing and screaming. The same thing happens in the piping world with new great inventions or versions. I recently purchased Ross’s newest pipe bag, and just after 3 weeks of playing, I found the bag had some defects in the very wall of the bag itself. Thankfully, Ross has a warranty on their bags and a new one came in. That bag is going on my Naills since I went back to my old Gannaway. I’ll give a report on the new Ross once it’s on my Naills, but I’m very skeptical.

Anyone in the piping world already knows, I prefer hide bags. Though they need more attention than their synthetic counter parts, I love the “heft” of a hide bag.

My Gannaway bag, being 4 years old began giving me fits a few months ago, and what I discovered was that the bag was still good, but the zipper assembly itself was seperating from the leather. When this problem arises, you may find yourself doing some patch work more than once with a tube of gorilla glue and clamps. The degraded seam seal can works its way up after the first repair, so constant inspection should be done. Basically, it’s the portions of the bag were rubber meets leather that can have the original glues deteriorate over time, so one needs to be quite thrifty at repair.

Joints can be another issue. Many beginners fail to realize that if the bag is supposed to be airtight, does it not make sense that non moving joints need to be also?? If you can pull the drone, blowstick or chanter out of the stock with just very little pressure applied, chances are you’re loosing several pounds of air that you’re not aware of. Re-hemp and make sure it’s good and snug.

Another biggie that some may not realize, is if you’re raising the chanter reed to lower your pitch, and it’s not seated properly (having a good seal) in the reed seat, that’s another place you can be loosing air because it’s flowing around the reed stem and into the chanter. Often, a gurgling low A note or squealing B is a good indicator.

The same rule applies to drone reeds. Always check your drone reeds prior to playing. A drone reed can appear snug in it’s seat, but can actually be loose enough for air to pass by into the drone itself.

Enjoy,

PM MacLeod

Bookmark It

Hide Sites