53 lines
1.7 KiB
Markdown
53 lines
1.7 KiB
Markdown
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---
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title: "New Uilleann Pipes"
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date: 2024-11-27
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tags:
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- bagpipes
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---
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A few weeks ago, my Uilleann pipes arrived.
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I ordered them a bit over a year ago, in fall or winter 2023,
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from David Daye.
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He makes pipes from readily-available materials in the United States:
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mostly plumbing equipment.
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I think the only wood on this thing is the bellows.
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The set was sent as a kit.
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He suggested putting the kit together,
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since the assembly represents a lot of maintenance tasks.
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I'm a fan of this approach:
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it's how the 3D printer came,
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and indeed it helped me understand how everything went together,
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and has made it easier to understand what might need adjusting.
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Unfortunately, I didn't get any kit assembly instructions,
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so I've had to work everything out from the instructions that were sent.
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That's okay!
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I like a challenge!
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In the last two weeks,
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I've put the bellows together,
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put the chanter together,
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inserted the feed tubes into the bag (one cut was involved),
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tied everything up,
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and spent about 10 days chasing down leaks.
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Today I gave up trying to find the leaks,
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and dunked the whole bag under water,
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to find it's leaking all over the place.
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That's okay!
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It means I need to season the bag with something called
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"Hardie's Airtight Hide Bag Seasoning",
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which is some sort of sticky goo that fills in holes.
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So that will be next.
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In the meantime,
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I've been learning how to maintain the right amount of bag pressure,
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and how to fill it back up,
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by just playing a held A for minutes at a time.
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When I get bored with that, I'll play a G,
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or sometimes a scale.
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The C♯ is a bit flat,
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and the low D is a bit sharp,
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and the E keeps jumping octaves.
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But I'm already much better than I was when I first started!
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