[img]http://www.bbc.co.uk/london/content/images/2006/04/26/marathon2006bagpipes_440x330.jpg[/img]
These are bagpipes!
Boring stuff:
[quote]Bagpipes are a class of musical instrument, aerophones, using enclosed reeds fed from a constant reservoir of air in the form of a bag. Though the Scottish Great Highland Bagpipe and Irish uilleann pipes have the greatest international visibility, bagpipes of many different types come from different regions throughout Europe, Northern Africa, the Persian Gulf, and the Caucasus.
The term is equally correct in the singular or plural, although in the English language, pipers most commonly talk of "pipes."[/quote]
[quote]A set of bagpipes minimally consists of an air supply, a bag, a chanter, and usually a drone. Most bagpipes also have additional drones (and sometimes chanters) in various combinations, held in place in stocks—connectors that fasten the various pipes to the bag.
[b]Air supply[/b]
The most common method of supplying air to the bag is by blowing into a blowpipe, or blowstick. In some pipes the player must cover the tip of the blowpipe with his tongue while inhaling, but modern blowpipes have a non-return valve that eliminates this need.
An innovation, dating from the 16th or 17th centuries, is the use of a bellows to supply air. In these pipes, sometimes called cauld wind pipes, air is not heated or moistened by the player's breathing, so bellows-driven bagpipes can use more refined and/or delicate reeds. The most famous of these pipes are the Irish uilleann pipes, the Northumbrian smallpipes in Britain, and the Musette de cour in France.
[b]Bag[/b]
The bag is an airtight reservoir that can hold air and regulate its flow while the player keeps the bag inflated by blowing into it or pumping with a bellows, enabling the player to maintain continuous sound for some time. Materials used for bags vary widely, but the most common are the skins of local animals such as goats, dogs, sheep, and cows. More recently, bags made of synthetic materials including Gore-Tex have become common.
Bags cut from larger materials are usually saddle-stitched with an extra strip folded over the seam and stitched (for skin bags) or glued (for synthetic bags) to reduce leaks. Holes are cut to accommodate the stocks. In the case of bags made from largely-intact animal skins the stocks are typically tied into the points where limbs and the head joined the body of the living animal, a construction technique common in Central and Eastern Europe.
[b]Chanter[/b]
Main article: Chanter
The chanter is the melody pipe, played by two hands. A chanter can be bored internally so that the inside walls are parallel for its full length, or it can be bored in the shape of a cone. Additionally, the reed can be a single or a double reed. Double reeds are used with both conical- and parallel-bored chanters while single reeds are generally (although not exclusively) limited to parallel-bored chanters. In general double-reed chanters are found in pipes of Western Europe with single-reed chanters found elsewhere.
[b]The Practice Chanter[/b]
The chanter is usually open-ended; thus, there is no easy way for the player to stop the pipe from sounding. This means that most bagpipes share a legato sound where there are no rests in the music. Primarily because of this inability to stop playing, grace notes (which vary between types of bagpipe) are used to break up notes and to create the illusion of articulation and accents. Because of their importance, these embellishments (or ornaments) are often highly technical systems specific to each bagpipe, and take much study to master.
A few bagpipes (the musette de cour, the uilleann pipes, the Northumbrian smallpipe, and the left chanter of the surdulina, a type of Calabrian zampogna) have closed ends or stop the end on the player's leg, so that when the player covers all the holes (known as closing the chanter) it becomes silent.
[b]Drone[/b]
Most bagpipes have at least one drone. A drone is most commonly a cylindrical tube with a single reed, although drones with double reeds exist. The drone is generally designed in two or more parts, with a sliding joint ("'bridle'") so that the pitch of the drone can be manipulated.
Depending on the type of pipes, the drones may lay over the shoulder, across the arm opposite the bag, or may run parallel to the chanter. Some drones have a tuning screw, which effectively alters the length of the drone by opening a hole, allowing the drone to be tuned to two or more distinct pitches. The tuning screw may also shut off the drone altogether. In most type of pipes, where there is one drone it is pitched two octaves below the tonic of the chanter, and further additions often add the octave below and then a drone consonant with the fifth of the chanter.[/quote]
I won't post any more, because quoting Wikipedia makes me cringe, but here's the link!
[url]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bagpipes[/url]
The charity I'm doing it for is the Royal British Legion, a charity which strives to keep alive the remembrance of those who fought not just in WWI/WWII, but in all conflicts where Britons are fighting/fought for freedom. I have relatives who fought in both the first and the second world wars. I didn't know my uncle who fought in WW1, but I knew my great-grandfather (Who fought in the WWII [b]SAS[/b]), due to being born into a young family. He was the most honourable man I knew, and met his wife (My great-grandmother) (Catarina (was) Hammendorp) when he was stationed in the Netherlands. They met when she threw a bucket of water over his head (She was a house-maid), and it was only uphill from there. He brought her back to England, and they had to marry quickly so that she would be allowed to stay. They were married 'til death, had 4 children, and now have many many grandchildren. I won't go into his story, but it is truly inspirational. So I'm doing this (mostly) to honour him.
Here's the charity website:
[url]http://www.britishlegion.org.uk/[/url]
Here's my branch:
[url]http://www.britishlegion.org.uk/branches/rishton[/url]
The second reason I'm doing it, is for my love and passion of Music and Musical Instruments.
When I first walked into practice yesterday, one of my (two) instructors began playing this:
[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vBKBI7DOLHA[/media]
It sent chills down my spine, and it is doing now as I'm listening to the media. It was amazing, astounding, and phenomenal. Truly inspirational.
The aim of what I'm doing is to participate in a March through my home town (Which my Grandfather (a living relative) is responsible for. He raised the money up himself and paid for everything). If I can get ahold of the newspaper article he has, I'll post it!
I will be wearing this:
[img]http://www.usscots.com/uploadedImages/article/Art%20of%20Highland%20Dress.jpg[/img]
[i]How is it to play?[/i] - Harder than you'll think! It must've taken me an hour to just get my fingers in the right position to efficiently cover the holes. (I've never played a wind instrument before). I've just learnt the scale (I asked him "Which scale is that?" (Thinking it would be something like Am Pentatonic), but apparantly there is just one scale for it (A major). "Ok then!" I thought. It would make things a lot easier. Well, it does...but only to a degree. I thought it would just be a simple case of "Close all holes and lift one finger up at a time". Wrong, completely and utterly wrong.
[img]http://www.abdn.ac.uk/scottskinner/images/JSS0550.jpg[/img]
I wasn't allowed to leave until I had the finger technique perfected, and could successfully move up the scale, and back down on a single breath. (I was there until ~11.15 PM). I would tell him "I'm burnt out", "No you're not, keep going" He would reply. He's a great teacher.
It was a remarkable experience, definitely worth doing! I'd recommend it to anybody with a love for music, culture, heritage, or anybody willing to try new things!
I also learnt 2 breathing exercises off a martial-arts expert. (This guy's story is fascinating! He was in the army, and learned about 10 martial-arts afterwards as a way to relieve his built-up aggression after seeing some extreme things). Now he abstains from fighting, and says learning martial-arts has, in a way, saved his life. I love meeting people like this, people with a story to tell.
So that's Violin, Guitar, Drums, Bass, Piano, Glockenspiel :v: and now Bagpipes. :keke:
Hope I haven't waffled too much!
Thanks for reading. :smile:
[quote=Cypher_09]So that's Violin, Guitar, Drums, Bass, Piano, Glockenspiel and now Bagpipes.[/quote]
You're a jack-of-all-instruments then. :smile: Bagpipes are badass.
[quote]I also learnt 2 breathing exercises off a martial-arts expert.[/quote]
You'll become a kung-fu bagpiper.
<3 the bagpipes
More bagpipe music <:
[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TZnVyiwFZ0U[/media]
I prefer Uilleann pipes to Highland pipes, but good job anyway :neckbeard:
[QUOTE=Echidna666;29946789]I prefer Uilleann pipes to Highland pipes, but good job anyway :neckbeard:[/QUOTE]
What's the difference between the two?
Thanks. :keke:
Learn to play Paranoid, since there will always be someone there yelling for you to play it.
I love the song you posted. It reminds me of Dead Poets Society.
Good job cypher!
[QUOTE=mynames2long;29946959]I love the song you posted. It reminds me of Dead Poets Society.[/QUOTE]
We are watching that movie on English classes :v:
[QUOTE=Hakita;29946944]Learn to play Paranoid, since there will always be someone there yelling for you to play it.[/QUOTE]
Is that the Black Sabbath one?
I remember telling the instructor to play Sweet Child O' Mine. :v: (He didn't)
[QUOTE=Cypher_09;29947194]Is that the Black Sabbath one?
I remember telling the instructor to play Sweet Child O' Mine. :v: (He didn't)[/QUOTE]
Yeah, Black Sabbath.
Bagpipes, very cool.
I can't imagine how awesome an orchestra of bagpipes would sound.
[QUOTE=The Maestro;29948408]Bagpipes, very cool.
I can't imagine how awesome an orchestra of bagpipes would sound.[/QUOTE]
Oh, what Scottish holiday is it?! I watched it on TV. It was held in Edinburgh, and was absolutely massive! They had a whole army of bagpipes and marchers. It was a spectacular show.
[QUOTE=Cypher_09;29946841]What's the difference between the two?
Thanks. :keke:[/QUOTE]
I'm not really sure :frown:
I can't describe the difference in sound, but you can tell them apart.
[MEDIA]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Ofb7ss23Nc[/MEDIA]
Sounds great, Cypher, but at reading the title I couldn't stop myself from thinking about this:
[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IFk9zJNX0Lk[/media]
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