Chiff and Fipple Forums

Hya lewis,I'm blaming Amerikay for spawning twinkle toes aka Flatley(and Barbie).Ye cannot deny they are yours can ye?The costumes started to change after that dramatic drivel Lord of the Dance hit the stage. It's true that Riverdance became a pop culture phenomenon that drew people to the dance wh...

Actually, for championship dancers the speeds are like this: Reels 113 b.p.m. Hornpipes 113 Slip Jigs 113 Light Jigs 116 Heavy Jigs 73 Set Dances - variable. I was not quoting the modern kick the ceiling barbie doll dancing that passes for Irish Dancing today but dancing for the sets!Which is a com...

Actually, for championship dancers the speeds are like this:

Reels 113 b.p.m.
Hornpipes 113
Slip Jigs 113
Light Jigs 116
Heavy Jigs 73

Set Dances - variable.

Interesting, Lorenzo: Isn't that tune the Harvest Home hornpipe? Typically for a championship hormpipe at a feis it would be way slow (like 113 at 2/4) - half the speed of a reel. He must have really shoveled on the coal - played it like a reel. Flatley was probably doing his own hybrid kind of step...

I have had a bit of luck inserting a sleeve into the bore of the drone. This can be plastic drinking straw or rolled paper. You probably want to work from the reed end to ensure that the drone will still maintain a tapered bore. On the bass drone, better glue a little piece of thread or something on...

NJ eh? Sounds like classic dry air syndrome. If the air in your home causes the reed to become dryer than it is accustomed to being, it will weaken the reed and cause problems similar to what you have described. I would not adjust the reed for now but instead would try leaving the chanter for a day ...

"Regulator" is short for regulate-you-later, which is why most go unused and out of tune.

I use a trombone gig bag. This bag is very heavily padded and is much lighter than a hard case. It has a long side compartment for the trombone slide in which I usually stash the end piece from the bass drone, whistles, etc. I think that the bass reg piece would also fit in there if I had one. Every...

Hello, Sorry if this has been discussed before .. The drone reeds in my new drones are what I would call the inverted variety. That is, the blade points toward the drones rather than toward the air source. Maybe that's not unusual for some but I was wondering what people thought of this setup compar...

I have new drones. Great sound and everything but they want to play at a higher pressure than my chanter. Certain notes on the chanter can't be played in tune at the pressure that the drone reeds want. When the note is played in tune, the tenor and baritone drones tend to break. Does anyone have a w...

I like Spillane's playing too but the tutor has nothing but the most basic information about the pipes. Many people seem to agree that the Heather Clarke tutor is the best.