Today was my first day really playing the Naills (e.g., not just drones alone). Fantastic. With Ezee Drones, they sound (and play) just like I remember my teacher's pipes (his everyday pipes were DN1s; these are DN3s). Very nice blended sound with good volume, but lighter and crisper than my McCallums. They're also noticeably steadier and easier to tune while creating more interesting and complex harmonics. I need to figure out a moisture control rig, since the plastic replacement stock that came with the pipes won't work with a Trap-Dri bottle. The stock seems to be made specifically to fit a tube trap. However, I think I might be able to fit the bottle on on using a short piece of plastic tubing.
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Two quick updates.
Good news! I'm apparently registered with the EUSPBA! I'll be starting to register for competitions this week. Right now, the plan is to try and do one per month starting in March.
I dragged everything out to my practice spot on Monday with the intention of doing a chanter shootout to figure out what I want to use for competition this year. Long story short, the shootout was over before it began. I brought all four of my current wooden chanters with me, but the only one I played was the new (old) Naill. I picked up a plastic Naill solo chanter back around 2003, at the behest of my teacher. Unfortunately, while I liked the sound, neither he nor I could get it to tune. In retrospect, it probably needed a little carving. However, I didn't have enough experience to know that. A few weeks ago I lucked out, and ended up with a 2007-ish wooden Naill (e.g., the newer version tweaked by Jack and Terry Lee) for a little less than half the going rate for a brand-new Naill. As soon as I got it reeded up, I knew it was the one. Even mouth-blown, it was easy to tell that it was more harmonic than any of my other chanters. I spent about two hours playing the Naill with a MacPhee reed and - like my Kron - it just seems to work for me. However, the Naill balances with my drones better, and interacts with them more, than the Kron does. The Naill is now #1, the Kron (at #2) is my backup chanter, and the McC2 is relegated to 3rd place, with the McCallum Mk. 1 at a distant 4th. I may end up selling the McC2 and Mk. 1 sometime this year. I'm still getting going - waiting for the EUSPA to send me a member number so I can start signing up for competitions. As I wait, I've been working on my pipes. I've moved from my older Ross canister bag to a Bannatyne hybrid. I like the feel, but need to find something stronger than Bannatyne's bottle trap for moisture control. I've switched my drone reeds from Croziers to a Henderson deluxe bass and Ezeedrone tenors. They're a bit finicky compared to the Croziers, but sound good. I'm still figuring out the chanter.
I have four contenders (my wooden chanters): a McCallum band chanter, a McCallum McC2, a Naill, and a Kron Medallist. I see a shootout in my future. Right now, I'm leaning towards the Kron. It has a nice, sweet sound and, while it's not as harmonic as the Naill or McC2, it's the easiest of the three to work with. Since I'm just getting myself going, I'm thinking that will be a plus. Wow, a lot has happened over the past two years - none of which is related it piping. I'm teaching at a university, while working full time. I have a friend trying to set up a competition group, and am waiting to see if he gets enough people to make it happen (in which case I'm back to band work). I'm back to getting ready to jump into solo competition again, this time with a 70-80 year-old set of Lawrie pipes in addition to my McCallums. Hopefully I'll get into the habit of updating this blog regularly.
At the end of last week "easy" tongues for my Kinnaird Evolution reeds arrived in the mail. I immediately switched out the "regular" tongues and gave them a whirl. Not much of a real difference in sound, but a little quieter and a little more air efficient - which is good, since I'm playing a medium soft chanter reed. That being said, while I still really like the sound of the Kinnairds, the Crozier reeds are just a bit steadier, and I really like the sparkling quality of the Crozier tenors. I decided to try the Crozier tenors with the Kinnaird Evolution bass to see how they'd sound together. Sweet mother of god! The drones leapt to life. I don't think I've ever heard my McCallums sound that vibrant before. Although the bass is slightly sensitive to pressure changes, as a whole that combination of reeds is pretty much rock steady, easy to tune and puts off an amazingly rich, harmonic sound that interacts really well with the chanter. I think I've found my gold standard for my McCallums.
That being said, in the long run the McCallums are going to be relegated to a backup set. I've talked with Dave Atherton, and am currently putting the funds together for a set of his MacDougall pipes - I really like the seamless, refined sound that they produce. I expect I'll have those in hand by late 2016 or early 2017, and they'll become my main instrument for competitions and solo playing, with the McCallums being used for backup and on the (now somewhat rare) occasions that I play with groups. I'm currently rearranging my pipe setup a bit. Since 2007 I've been playing on a set of McCallum drones with McCallum chanters (starting with a poly "standard" chanter in 2007 then moving to a blackwood McC2 solo chanter in 2008). When I first set those pipes up, I chose Canning drone reeds. I've been using those reeds for eight years, and I've been quite happy with them. They produce a mellow-ish, refined sound in my McCallums that is just soft enough to stay out of the way of my chanter without feeling underpowered. Unfortunately, the reeds are finally wearing out. The tenors are getting unstable, and one of the reeds is not longer able to hold tuning for any length of time. Seeing as it's been years since I've played anything other that the Canning reeds, I figured it was high time to try out some other makes of reeds in my pipes. I chose Kinnaird Evolution and Crozier Carbon Fiber reeds to start, and will likely pick up a few other sets from other manufacturers later this year.
My initial thoughts? Both the Croziers and Kinniards are significantly bolder than the Cannings. That's not a bad thing, it's just different. It'll take a little getting used to. They're also a bit more air efficient (although the Cannings were a significant improvement over my old Ezee Drones). The Kinnaird Evolution reeds have a very slight bit of buzz that the Cannings lack, and have significantly brighter tenors. They also produce strong, easily audible harmonics which I really like, and have a slighty greater depth of sound compared to the Crozier reeds. The Croziers are also quite bright, but with a bit more buzz. Like the Kinnaird Evolutions, they also produce strong harmonics. They have a sparkling quality to them, which may be slightly accentuated by a slightly weak bass. I'm still waiting for "easy" tongues for the Kinnaird reeds to come in, since I prefer my pipes with a fairly soft chanter reed. When my new batch of chanter reeds come in I'll repeat the process of fiddling with each set of drone reeds, but for the moment I'm keeping the Croziers in my pipes. |
AuthorI've been playing since 2001, and am based in central Maine. Archives
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