Chiff and Fipple Forums

I'll give you a few ideas, then, if you like. There are two nice ones on this video of my young friend Caradog at the end of our Swansea session a few months back So these are Morfa'r Frenhines (The Queen's Marsh) and Bryniau Iwerddon (The Hills of Ireland), both played in EMinor here, and both emin...

Hey Luife, thanks for the information. I like the old photograph of the gaitero. How common was it for gaitas to be blown using bellows? Does anybody use bellows today with their gaitas?

Et voila...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eKdGO8OeaZI

Ecoutez ses bourdons, indeed

Michael, that looks like the one! I seem to remember it had four chanters on the video, but that could be my poor memory.

Jack, that'd have been an experience, I bet.

Does anyone remember a video showing a massive multi-chantered cornemuse, which was essentially a whole cowskin blown by an electric compressor? I thought the link apppeared on this forum, but can't find it.

Ta

There are two that I know of - John Tose and John Glennydd. I'm not sure how much pipemaking John T is doing at the moment - his website seems to be down again. I'll ask him for you if you like. I can get you Glennydd's details, or more likely pass yours on to him. I don't think he's keen on having ...

Hi there. I got a set of Jon Swayne Low C's from Ian Clabburn (of the Bagpipe Society) in the summer. These are his 'Anglo-French' border pipes, and play 1.5 octaves, with accidentals. They're in a fruitwood - plum, I think - with black plastic mounts, drone and chanter stop switches. Bellows blown,...

Shwmae. I got a set of Jon Swayne Low C's from Ian Clabburn (of the Bagpipe Society) in the summer. These are his 'Anglo-French' border pipes, and play 1.5 octaves, with accidentals. They're in a fruitwood - plum, I think - with black plastic mounts, drone and chanter stop switches. Bellows blown, w...

For a cheap(ish), tuneable whistle that'll carry, I'd suggest a Susato. Mind you, they're not that cheap any more, by the looks of it - nearly £50 in Hobgoblin, in Britain. For that, you can get a Dixon plastic/metal tuneable - you might prefer the tone, but they ain't as loud. The all-plastic Dixon...

Hello all. Clera, the Welsh Traditional instrument organisation, is holding a workshop near Pontypridd the weekend after next - Saturday 21 May. There's an advanced melody workshop with Gerard Kilbride, the fiddler, suitable for all melody instruments. There's harp workshops - including one for tota...

Hello all. I've got a 'spare' gaita which I'm thinking of moving on. It's made by Anton Varela of Ferrol, Galicia. It's in Do (C) made of boxwood, with bright metal rings. Chanter remains un-banana'ed, possibly because of the benign climate in South Wales (and before that, in Somerset) It has a seco...

Hello all. I've got a 'spare' gaita which I'm thinking of moving on. It's made by Anton Varela of Ferrol, Galicia. It's in Do (C) made of boxwood, with bright metal rings. Chanter remains un-banana'ed, possibly because of the benign climate in South Wales (and before that, in Somerset) It has a seco...

I know this isn't what you're after... but Jon Swayne's Low F's are fantastic. Not inexpensive, though. As has been noted before in this parish, he's perhaps not that well-known amongst ITM players, as he largely moves in what you might call Angol-French circles He makes great whistles. And pipes :D

For years, I've tended to teach a simple tune which those that attend workshops are unlikely to know (Y Crwtyn Llwyd, since you ask) but I've come to think it can be useful to go with an already familiar tune or song-tune as a start. As has been noted above, you might go with a tune they already kno...

If a biniou plays in a forest and no-one hears it, does it make a sound?