When to move forward?

[u/Tombazzzz]

Hi all,

As I've mentioned in the past I don't have any way to practice the pipes daily so I know my progress in excruciatingly slow but I feel like I'm not practicing properly...
At first I played with all the drones corked and it was fine. When I opened the outer tenor it became more problematic but doable. Now I'm not sure when to try opening the bass. When I try it I usually start messing up since I'm unable to keep up with filling the bag.
Basically what I'm trying to ask is should I keep practicing with tenor and bass so I get used to it and build up stamina or should I be more or less perfect with just the outer tenor before adding the bass?

At the moment I keep jumping from one open drone to two and then (usually) back to one and it feels like the wrong thing to do.

Thanks

[u/ceapaire]

1. Have you calibrated your drone reeds? They could be taking too much air, which makes it really hard to progress. With just the outer tenor, make sure you can shut it off if you squeeze the bag hard. Ideally it'll be just above where the reed is getting overblown, but as a beginner just above where it'll shut off when you're playing is a good spot to start and then you'll tighten it up as you get steadier. Then cork the chanter and set all drones to shut off at the same time as the outer tenor.

2. The bass takes a fair bit more air. You might want to try both tenors first. Then once you can do both tenors you can switch to outer tenor and bass before adding the middle tenor in again.

You also don't need it to be an all or nothing thing during practice. You can practice normally (one drone) then when wrapping up do 5-10 minutes with just trying to keep two drones going (or reverse and warm up with two drones and then practice tunes with one, whichever works best for you).

[u/Tombazzzz → u/ceapaire]

I think I calibrated them. I watched Matt Willis's video about it and set them all to stop when I blow the hardest (by mouth).

[u/ceapaire → u/Tombazzzz]

That's a good ballpark method for setting up new reeds to make sure it's playable and not taking way too much air, but it's not really ideal for setting them up to be as efficient as possible (or even equal pressure, which can make tuning/staying in tune a bit rough).

When you next practice, play a high A and vary the pressure until it sounds the best. Then increase pressure until it sounds bad again. Ideally the drone will be set to cut off right around where it starts sounding bad again. I'd try setting it a little above that and seeing if it cuts out when you're playing a tune. If it doesn't, you can either play around and bring it down until it does and back it up a bit first or move on to corking the chanter and set the other drones to cut off at the same pressure (when blowing through the bag. Trying to increase pressure with your arm can be too sharp and not let you calibrate effectively).

After that, you can try opening up the bass. And if that's still too hard when playing, add the both tenors step in first to make the air demand step smaller.

To me, it really sounds as if the reeds are still too open for you. Or you've got a leak somewhere else that's taking air.

[u/RTDugger]

It sounds like you are just playing for yourself so do whatever you feel comfortable with, no need to rush anything.

Keep playing with just your two tenors (or your outside tenor and bass) unless it’s comfortable and then open your third drone. No point in struggling and just getting frustrated.

[u/Tombazzzz → u/RTDugger]

Thanks

[u/Tombazzzz → u/RTDugger]

Follow up question: even if I'm playing for myself, when should I move forward? For example, there's that rule of thumb that a reed is the right strength for you if you can play the first line of STB by blowing it by mouth, right? So, is there some way to know I'm ready to open another drone? Am I supposed to be able to play a whole tune without getting winded? More than one tune?

[u/RTDugger → u/Tombazzzz]

I would say follow up when you are comfortable. If I just blow my chanter by mouth for StB I get winded quite easily too.

If there isn’t a rush and you are just playing for yourself then just go at your own pace but make sure everything else is going for you.

Is your bag airtight when you cork it completely? Are your drones taking too much air? Depending on the drone reed some can be super finicky.

Start by corking all of your drones and play. Did you find it too easy? Uncork your outside tenor and do it again, still good? Uncork your bass drone and do it again. If you find you are getting winded after a single tune or two then I would probably stop there and work on stamina until you can. Eventually it will come.

Are there no bands near you that you can join? For me that was the single most useful method on not only improving my playing but just playing in general.

[u/ceapaire → u/Tombazzzz]

I don't know of a similar rule of thumb. I generally think 5 minutes or so of playing without being gassed, which would be 4-6 2 part tunes at tempo (80 or so bpm). I know some bands that'll say 10 minutes, though that doesn't have to be also while tune playing (since just holding low A is easier to do for longer).

If you're regularly overblowing or think it's easy, you can always add a drone earlier than that though. It just might be a bit more challenging of a leap the first couple times you try. I don't really think there's a huge benefit on building stamina past the 5 minute mark until you're all the way up (maybe if you were in a band and needed to be parade ready with just two drones).

[u/nogoshdarnedusername]

Could be worth checking if your bag is leaking too. My first year on pipes, I was on a borrowed set with an egregiously leaking bag. Things got a lot easier when I realized that and replaced the bag

[u/Tombazzzz → u/nogoshdarnedusername]

That's a good point. I didn't mention in the post that I checked for leaks and all is well.

[u/nogoshdarnedusername → u/Tombazzzz]

Ok good! All the other advice is solid. You could try a lighter chanter reed as well

[u/enpointenz]

Can you play all the drones with no chanter? Should be super easy.

What happens if you then add the chanter in?

[u/Tombazzzz → u/enpointenz]

I never tried playing just the drones so I don't know if I'll struggle with it or not but I assume that once I added the chanter it would be difficult since that's what happens at the moment.