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Subject: Re: that flat high A Author: John Mitchell [ Next Thread | Previous Thread | Next Message | Previous Message ] Date Posted: 03:07:23 05/19/03 Mon In reply to: Scot Kortegaard 's message, "that flat high A" on 21:22:39 05/18/03 Sun I'll admit I sometimes have a hard time hearing that perfect H-A, but it's not a real note and more of a blend. That's why it's easier to flatten this undefined note to please the ear! Listening to a video tape of scottish instructors playing at a recital at a summer school, I couldn't believe how flat those Hi-A's were. Is this a common thing? [ Next Thread | Previous Thread | Next Message | Previous Message ]

Replies:

[> [> Subject: Re: that flat high A Author: Scot Kortegaard [ Edit | View ] Date Posted: 12:03:42 05/19/03 Mon *SNIP* >Listening to a video tape of scottish instructors >playing at a recital at a summer school, I couldn't >believe how flat those Hi-A's were. > >Is this a common thing? As a young lad, I know we used to play with much more of a craw than we do nowadays. Hide bags, cane reeds, home made seasoning, leather flapper valves, and slopping all over those chanter reeds.... no dry bags, no moisture control, no water traps etc etc. The goal now is to have that clear ringing h-a, with power. Your comment John, that h-a is a "blend" intrigues me. I gather you mean it's a blend of two other notes, with a reference to the odd scale that the pipes are in. Is that what you mean, and if so, a blend of which notes? It's easy to tune one's h-a to low-a, but when I do, it sounds sharp on the whole!!!! And my ear won't let me leave it there. EVEN THEN!!!! It still sounds flat against my drones. It's an interesting problem! I'd be curious to know what a judge might think if I tuned my h-a perfectly with a tuner, and competed that way. Worse yet, I could tune my whole band that way!!!!! Cheers, Scot Kortegaard P.S. I'm outa here, gotta go play a band engagement, then go run a practice for Scotland. The sun's shinin', my pipes are ready, I've had a good sleep, and life is good!!!! [ Post a Reply to This Message ]

[> [> [> Subject: Re: that flat high A Author: Brian MacColl [ Edit | View ] Date Posted: 13:28:54 05/19/03 Mon The one thing that always brings me down is hearing lower grade pipers UNDERBLOWING their HiA to get what they think is that scratchy ring we all try to perfect. All they wind up doing is falling way short of the mark into a horrible crackly HiA and steady blowing is out the window. Just a tip for the lower grade pipers, and this is not a dig by any means. If you want your HiA to have that scratchy balanced ring, you have to play hide and you have blow steady. REAL STEADY. Waver either way, that ring is gone! Brian >*SNIP* >>Listening to a video tape of scottish instructors >>playing at a recital at a summer school, I couldn't >>believe how flat those Hi-A's were. >> >>Is this a common thing? > >As a young lad, I know we used to play with much more >of a craw than we do nowadays. Hide bags, cane reeds, >home made seasoning, leather flapper valves, and >slopping all over those chanter reeds.... no dry bags, >no moisture control, no water traps etc etc. The goal >now is to have that clear ringing h-a, with power. > >Your comment John, that h-a is a "blend" intrigues me. >I gather you mean it's a blend of two other notes, >with a reference to the odd scale that the pipes are >in. Is that what you mean, and if so, a blend of which >notes? > >It's easy to tune one's h-a to low-a, but when I do, >it sounds sharp on the whole!!!! And my ear won't let >me leave it there. EVEN THEN!!!! It still sounds flat >against my drones. > >It's an interesting problem! I'd be curious to know >what a judge might think if I tuned my h-a perfectly >with a tuner, and competed that way. Worse yet, I >could tune my whole band that way!!!!! > >Cheers, >Scot Kortegaard > >P.S. I'm outa here, gotta go play a band engagement, >then go run a practice for Scotland. The sun's >shinin', my pipes are ready, I've had a good sleep, >and life is good!!!! [ Post a Reply to This Message ]

[> [> [> [> Subject: Re: that flat high A Author: Scot Kortegaard [ Edit | View ] Date Posted: 19:52:49 05/21/03 Wed If >you want your HiA to have that scratchy balanced ring, >you have to play hide and you have blow steady. REAL >STEADY. Waver either way, that ring is gone! > >Brian *SNIP* Hello Brian..... Good point about the steady blowing. I'm curious though as to what you mean by needing a hide bag to blow that ringing HI-A. I play a Gannaway, and I get it. A good friend of mine plays a Ross, and he definitely gets the ring. So.....whatcha mean???? Cheers, Scot. [ Post a Reply to This Message ]

[> [> [> [> [> Subject: Re: that flat high A Author: Brian MacColl [ Edit | View ] Date Posted: 20:17:11 05/21/03 Wed I have only found that hide players are able to get that "ring" to the high A because more moisture is able to get to the chanter reed. More so, players of sheepskin almost have this "ring" built in! :) At least, this is what I have found in my travels. Does your friend with the Ross have the chanter hose attached? Brian > If >>you want your HiA to have that scratchy balanced ring, >>you have to play hide and you have blow steady. REAL >>STEADY. Waver either way, that ring is gone! >> >>Brian >*SNIP* > >Hello Brian..... > Good point about the steady blowing. > > I'm curious though as to what you mean by needing a >hide bag to blow that ringing HI-A. I play a Gannaway, >and I get it. A good friend of mine plays a Ross, and >he definitely gets the ring. > > So.....whatcha mean???? > >Cheers, > Scot. [ Post a Reply to This Message ]

[> [> [> [> [> [> Subject: Re: that flat high A Author: Scot Kortegaard [ Edit | View ] Date Posted: 12:52:04 05/23/03 Fri *SNIP* Does >your friend with the Ross have the chanter hose >attached? > >Brian *SNIP* Hi Brian, I'm not sure ....... but I do remember him setting it up at first, and I do know that for a while he had the hose attached, with the chamber for the chanter only about half full of kitty litter. I'm not sure how he's playing it these days. He played the open class at the Vancouver indoor contest, and the sound of his pipe the week before he left was just amazing. Cheers, Scot. [ Post a Reply to This Message ]

[> [> [> [> [> [> [> Subject: Re: that flat high A Author: Brian MacColl [ Edit | View ] Date Posted: 20:53:48 05/23/03 Fri All right Scot, knock off the funny business! You never mentioned he was an Open piper! LOL They can ring the HiA like a dinner bell with anything. It all comes down to steady blowing, in my opinion. There is such a small sliver of the HiA that will bring out that ring. An open piper will find it and keep it, an amateur will find it, lose it, find it again, lose it...most times. But to me there is no shortcut, STEADY BLOWING. And in my experience, having played both hide and the Ross, I find that using more of a wet setup like hide allowed me to settle into that "ring zone" more reliably. Then again, it also depends on the chanter reeds. Brian >*SNIP* > Does >>your friend with the Ross have the chanter hose >>attached? >> >>Brian >*SNIP* > >Hi Brian, > I'm not sure ....... but I do remember him setting >it up at first, and I do know that for a while he had >the hose attached, with the chamber for the chanter >only about half full of kitty litter. I'm not sure how >he's playing it these days. He played the open class >at the Vancouver indoor contest, and the sound of his >pipe the week before he left was just amazing. > >Cheers, >Scot. [ Post a Reply to This Message ]