Animals and piping

[islander]

Hello all. I just thought to start a light topic on the reactions of different animals to the sound of the uilleann pipes. Once I was playing the pipes in a house with an open window next to a meadow full of cows. The cows went completely nuts and started running around and mooing like something was seriously wrong. The people outside who saw this happening had no idea what was going on, and it was only later that the two things were connected. Dogs and rabbits on the other hand seem to enjoy my piping a lot. When we were looking after a friend's dog it always wanted to come under my chair when I was piping. It lay on the floor, started yawning and closed its eyes and seemed to fall asleep. When I stopped, it woke up and stared at me until I continued, and then it fell asleep again. It always ran to me from another room when it heard me start playing, and did this. Recently we took a 3-year-old pet bunny and she is now doing the same. Comes in front of me, stretches out and just seems to be enjoying the music. It would be fun to hear some more stories with animals and piping so please share them if you've got any to tell!

[KAD]

When I first started piping, my dog would lie on the sofa in the adjoining room and moan as I practiced. I knew my tone was improving when she (eventually) stopped moaning.

[tommykleen]

Dogs raised in our home have gotten used to the noise. Visiting dogs always give the look of "why are you doing this to me?" before slinking away. My cats (who were raised with the racket since they were pups ) never seemed to mind. My big ol' Maine Coon's ears used to twitch whenever I held sustained notes in the upper octave, but that was about it. My wife's cats (raised not with pipes, but accordion...go figure ) would slink out of the room whenever the pipes came out of the case.

Had I a bag cover that crinkled, like the plastic bag the timothy hay comes in, I'm sure I could get the guinea pigs to sing along with my piping

t

[rorybbellows]

When ever I play outside, thrushes and blackbirds come and sit on my shoulder .

RORY

[pudinka]

I used to have a very smart black cat named Pudinka, who (as other cats often do) used to play "fetch" with plastic drinking straws. I would toss them and he'd bring them back - he was never trained to do so. He'd played with the straws alone, knocking them around as if they were prey and then started bringing them to me. I started tossing them for him, he'd fetch them, etc. - it became his favorite play and he would often bring the straw to me to start things off without my prompting him.

One fine day when one of my pipering friends was over I started strapping on the pipes and had only played a few notes to have Pudinka bring a drinking straw up to me and drop it at my feet. My friend saw this and amazed, said something like - "don't tell me he wants to play fetch !? ". I stopped the pipes and picked up the straw to toss it and said - "no, he just wants me to stop playing." My friend watched as the cat repeated the action while I tried to play the pipes, stopping each time as he brought the straw back to me.

This cat did this nearly every time I got my pipes out and if there was no straw to be found he'd find some other way to distract me - to get me to stop, I believe. Once I put the pipes away he usually went about his business - that was the proof to me that playing with me was secondary in these cases.

It was his kind way of saying to me "dude, just give up now - or maybe get a flat-pitched set."

[Jäger]

Most animals I've played around mostly seem intrigued by the heap of wooden and metal tubes poking down towards the ground going "bzzzzzzzzzzzzz". When I play the nyckelharpa (the thing in my picture) my cat tries to catch the bow and dogs tend to tilt their head to one side, seemingly just enjoying the music.

[CHasR]

When ever I play outside, thrushes and blackbirds come and sit on my shoulder .

RORY

hope youve designed a new improved "pipers apron"

My piping only attracts Canadian geese... I believe they think of me as some sort of..I dunno...advanced, evolved alien goose.

I will no longer pipe leading a horse & carriage...much prefer to follow there.

My dogs have long since given up trying to do anything about the piping. They just lie down & wait till it ceases. French pipes seem to be particularly unsettling to them.

Cats could care less about any of this, of course.

[rorybbellows]

When ever I play outside, thrushes and blackbirds come and sit on my shoulder .

RORY

hope youve designed a new improved "pipers apron" .

Yes! where most pipers use a popping apron, I use a pooping apron.

RORY

[tommykleen]

When ever I play outside, thrushes and blackbirds come and sit on my shoulder .

RORY

Typo there Rory: you forgot the 'h' in 'sit'.

Helpfully,
T

[rorybbellows]

Typo there Rory: you forgot the 'h' in 'sit'.

Helpfully,
T

Good one Mr T, geeez , you cant get away with anything on this forum.

RORY

[Richard Katz]

Whenever I practice my uilleann pipes at home, my faithful Boston Terrier, Bosco, sits at my feet and listens the whole time. He has always done this and I am not sure why. I guess he's a big fan of Irish Trad.
Whenever I practice my highland pipes he runs and hides.
I have played highland pipes in the vicinity of ducks and peacocks as well. Ducks fly away and the peacocks screech loudly.

[Dave R]

Hi all,

I used to play with another musician. We would record our practices for the purpose of arranging, and spotting mistakes.

One day i was listening to a recording, and our dog came in, and looked around for the other guy. It had heard and recognised the particular music/sound we made. Who says they're just dumb animals?

Dave

[Cathy Wilde]

I live on a farm so yeah, I got stories .... My chickens don't much care for the pipes but the cats and dogs are OK with the C# chanter. No one's crazy about the drones, but they tolerate them, especially the old deaf dog. When I play with the windows open, the cows next door seem to end up standing in the corner of the pasture closest to the house. There used to be an Angus bull back there who seemed particularly fond of the music; pity I didn't learn any Scottish tunes but there you go. My horses seem unimpressed although I think their opinions would change if they actually saw me playing -- I'd probably scare them to death!

But the best story involves wildlife ...

So my first chanter (a used "mystery" stick with no name) had a cracked reed. Being a lonely beginner in the provinces I didn't realize it. Anything above back D was near-impossible to reach, and the whole assemblage was quite out of tune. I kept working at it for about a six months, thinking the pipes were just that beastly hard to play.

About a month after I got this practice set, I noticed that a large mixed flock of black and turkey vultures (buzzards) had begun roosting in a big tree in my front yard. Whenever I played with the windows open I'd see their big shadows skimming across the grass ... anyway, they were peaceable enough company, so I didn't mind and given that I live in a sort of creepy old farmhouse actually found them kind of amusing additions to the landscape.

The next spring, I went to the St. Louis Tionól. Michael Cooney took one listen to my chanter and took me to Jim Wenham who, God love him, fixed up a reed for this chanter. Jim's reed made it much easier to play though the tone was still plenty bright (the stick is also short -- BTW, do people ever saw the ends off chanters in misguided attempts to make them high-pitch?). While I was there I got to play one of Jim's chanters and was so amazed at the night-and-day difference I ordered one up for myself. The next spring he brought it to that year's St. Louis Tionól. Within a month of the new chanter's arrival, I noticed the vultures had moved on.

Could have just been coincidence, but me, I think they were just waiting for me to finish killing whatever I was killing in the house and throw it out the back door. Poor guys; hope they weren't too hungry!

Oddly enough my cat would curl up and sleep on my left knee while I played that old practice set. I assume it was because I used to play in a nice sunny corner, but ... ???? Maybe cats and vultures have more in common than we know.

[jqpublick]

Two stories;

In the summers I sometimes practice in a small park not far from my place, off in one corner. It's isolated yet near enough a main street and a river that no-one can really hear me. Except for the crows. I'd play a few tunes then stop as we musicians are wont to do and there'd be about a four second silence and then the crows would burst out cawing. They'd fall silent when I started back up, and hated the screech of a bad bottom D. They'd leave when I started packing up. It took me a few repetitions to figure out that it wasn't coincidence but it makes me happy when it happens.


I sometimes house-sit for one of my aunts who lives in the country. Her house and land are lovely so I assure you this is no burden. She had an older dog that I got along with really well. I came in on the first night of one of these times and he and I reintroduced ourselves and I pulled out the pipes. He stood there, interested and curious until I started tuning. Within ten seconds or so, his demeanour went from "Hey, a new game! Cool! You're great, food guy!" to "Are you sure this is fun?" to "Okay, not funny. You can stop now." to "You're actually serious. You're not going to stop making that noise. Right." and he snorted, turned quickly and walked to the door and turned pointedly back to meet my eye. One of the funniest things I've seen an animal do. Needless to say, I let him out.

[uilleannfinlander]

I have deaf Jack Russel terrier ....but he likes lots of my pipes , becouse ferrules made of reindeer antler