I always wanted to be a professional balloonist. That, or a lumberjack.
Wind
Woodwind
Brass
Could we settle on “People that Blow?”
Cecil’s take on a different type of Wind Instrument
Two definitions necessary for the scholarly discussion of music.
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Oboe - An ill wind that nobody blows good.
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Gentleman - A man who can play the saxophone, but doesn’t.
Just FYI -
Although some diedhards still insist on “glycerine and honey”, things have changed.
First, the blowstick is fitted with a one-way valve that, if working properly, greatly reduces the chances of sucking any germ-laden air into your lungs. Proper breathing technique also helps with this. Air and spit goes in, it does not come out.
Second, players are advised not to eat food or drink anything sugary prior to playing to prevent microbial havoc in the instrument. Proper hygiene of this sort also reduces the risk of illness
Third, several companies in the 20th Century started producing commercially made bagpipe seasoning, a.k.a. “Glasgow snot”, that tended to reduce the critters living in the bag rather than provide food for them, as the old fashioned honey-based mixtures did. This also greatly reduce the bacterial and fungul populations in the instrument.
Fourth, pipers using traditional leather bags with seasoning are advised to wash out the instrument twice a year. This is gross beyond belief, but it is necessary from a health-and-hygiene point of view.
Fifth, if you’re playing regularly you will be replacing a leather bag on a regular basis. Competition players may strap on a new one every six months - this, too, keeps exposure to nasty stuff to a minimum
Sixth, the new, modern synthetic bags made of substances like Kevlar do not require seasoning, stay drier, and have much less crud in them, making them even healthier.
Basically, whenever some wonk trots out something like the above statement regarding “lung infections” he’s using as an example some slovenly person of questionable personal hygiene. It’s like saying refrigerators cause food poisoning because some dipstick in New Jersey let something rot in the back of one for 3 months then ate it for dinner.
With or without the instrument?
Speaking of oboes, how do you get two oboists to play in tune?
Shoot one of them.
[/qb]
I’ve actually never heard anything other than a “bass tuba” ever referred to as a tuba. Bugles (e.g. mellophone, fluglehorn) are always called bugles, even though there conical bored as well. Even the contrabassoon bugle (which is for all intents and purposes a tuba), is referred to as a bugle.
But they’re all conical bored throuhout (as opposed to baritone, trombone, and trumpet), so it ends up being little more than nitpicking over semantics.
Why do I have this feeling you are or were in a DCI corps…
Drachillix = Freelancers 87-89 Contrabass Bugle section Hmm IL for location…Phantom Regiment maybe?
Actually, I never was in corps, though, I was in Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia (men’s music fraternity) in college, and a number of them did DCI. (We had members in the Cavaliers, Cadets, Scouts, and one other corps that escapes my memory at this time.)
I did play trombone in college marching band, though.
(And I just noticed I mistakenly typed contrabassoon in instead of contrabass in my previous message. I now have a bizarre image of what a contrabassoon bugle would look like stuck in my mind.)
Shortly after I started this thread I developed a bad case of tendonitis that severely cut down on both Doping and piping for a couple of months, so I wasn’t able to respond. It just popped into my head today for some reason so I checked it out. Belated thanks to all for the interesting responses.
Broomstick: you pipe?
Oh my God! After all these years, I’ve finally found another Drum Corps nut on the SDMB?
drachillix, pleased to meet you. I marched with the Madison Scouts, 1967 through 1974, and am currently marching with the Chicago Royal Airs Alumni Corps 2002 through 2004.
Our Royal Airs drill instructor is an ex-Freelancers drum major.
Whoops. Just now noticed that this is a bumped thread. I missed it the first time around. Oh well. drachillix, I see you’re a Charter Member so I know you’re still around. My happy surprise still stands. 
And to add to that, when I saw QED, I read Qadgop. Which made me wonder why someone had bagpipe horror stories and needed a doctor. :eek:
I used to - in fact, it’s how I met my husband.
After about 10 years, though, I picked up a new hobby that ate up lots of time and money, called “flying”.
And just for free - my husband is G. H. Boyd, maker of the G. H. Boyd electronic bagpipe and the first guy to build a MIDI interface for them. I don’t know if you’ve heard of them or not. The neighbors loved them, since they had volume control.
Since this old thread has been bumped…
I think my Pops might be interestd in trying to learn bagpipes when he retires in a couple of years. He’s very musical - He used to play keyboards of any type, guitar, banjo, drums, maybe a couple of brass instruments. He also tuned and rebuilt pianos for awhile.
So my questions are these then.
How much would a good quality starter bag cost? I’d like to get him one for a present.
How much difficulty should he expect in learning to play one. Is it difficult to start later in life? How much would some lessons cost. (In Portland, OR area if that will matter)
One other thing, speaking of Drum and Bugle Corps. I remember in maybe 90-91 (my brother almost toured with one) a corps did a piece which contained part of the Phantom of the Opera - which was extremely cool. Anyone else remember that and know where I can get a tape copy?
You actually start on something called a practice chanter, which looks something like a recorder. These range in price from (if I recall) about $10 to over $100. You want something mid-range, one that is in tune but not extravagant. After you become somewhat proficient on that, you then move onto the “pig”, which is the bag, the blowpipe, and the chanter - which is the part you finger to make the notes. During this phase you’re learning to control the bag, your breathing, and building up your wind. After you get decent at that you add the drones - those are the “pipe” parts that stick up and rest on your shoulder - one at a time. Again, this part of it involves developing control and endurance (there’s a sporting aspect to this instrument).
The husband used to take people from complete beginner to performing on the street in parades in 6 months to a year, depending more on willingness to practice diligently rather than innate talent. You do have to commit to practicing these things. It’s like jogging - you have to do a minimum amount a day if you expect to do a 5k or 10k on the weekend. Likewise, with bagpipes you really do need to practice everyday to keep your wind in shape as well as your fingering. You don’t need to play hours a day, but you do need to get them out of the box.
Back in the 1980’s a decent set of pipes were running $800-$1200 for the full set. I presume the price has gone up somewhat. I’d advise you stay away from pipes made in Pakistan - they’re tempting because they’re dirt cheap, but they sound like crap, can’t be tuned, and are best suited to hanging on your wall.
It is more difficult to learn later in life. This will be offset somewhat by his musical background. My husband’s oldest student started in his late 60’s.
One of his former students who started in his mid-40’s, with no musical background, actually went to Scotland last year to compete in the world championships. His band came in 12 in a field of 36 (lowest level of the competition) which is quite respectable. Motivation counts for a lot with this instrument - diligent regular practice can trump raw talent that doesn’t bother to try.
One of the biggest obstacles older beginners have, though is finding a teacher willing to teach them - at least in the Chicago area, there are a number of folks running around the bagpipe scene who flat-out refuse to take a student older than 12, and a lot of myths that you have to learn as a kid. None of it true. My husband had no upper age limit for his students, gave everyone a chance, and while the older beginners didn’t advance as quickly as the kids they still did well
I’ve been out of the scene too long to advise you much on that - at a guess I’d say $20-50 per hour for private instruction. Group classes - IF you can find them - should be less expensive.
Most folks wind up getting involved in a band at some point or another, which can be a good thing, or a bad thing, depending on the group.
How does keeping your feet together prevent hernias ???
A professional bassoonist? I feel like I just spied a Yeti.
“We have a Piper down! I repeat, we have a Piper down!”
no resisting, sorry
I know this is a bumped thread, but I’ll still add a comment.
I’ll take others’ word for it that you need to avoid keeping your legs spread to keep from getting a hernia. Just make sure you that in your zeal to avoid getting a hernia that you don’t press your legs together too tight, and lock your knees. That can result in fainting. (We had a trombone player who demonstrated this at the beginning of each marching season in high school.)
YWalker
(who competed in the World Pipe Band Championships in Glasgow in 1986, as a drummer for the NC State University Pipes & Drums)
whatami - for more information about piping than you could ever use, go here: Bob Dunsire’s Bagpipe Web Directory. It has links to bands, instructors, shops, everything. (Click on the link for “businesses” - there’s plenty of suppliers in California, and one in Washington - didn’t see any for Oregon.) I’d agree with Broomstick’s estimates for prices.
And for personal inspiration for your dad, here’s a web-page of a self-confessed “old fart” who took up piping when he retired: Nimmo.
If you want more info, feel free to e-mail me. (I don’t always check it regularly, but I do respond eventually!)
Check the DCI webpage. It is generally possible to buy CDs and videos for quite a while back, either through DCI itself or an individual corps, though I think the full 21 corps world championship collections stop at 1997. My brother, for instance, has all of the 1990s and 2000s Cavaliers’ world championship competition shows on VHS. Also, especially for the older stuff, if the corps that did it placed high (note that we’re talking strictly Division I here) there is a much better chance of finding it.