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Post by rick on Mar 9, 2012 14:26:18 GMT
Wow, starting over is difficult to do. I purchased some property and building the homestead meant not having time and energy to pipe - so I put them away for a couple years. Things have stabilized a bit, so I am trying to start up again. Man, I have sure lost a lot of ground... Don't remember tunes, no wind, stiff fingers, etc. Kinda depressing really. Giving myself an hour each weekday when I get home from work. Not going to be able to commit any time on Sat/Sun. No bands or competition - just for me. I need to set up a plan on how to approach re-learning again. Maybe I can fix some bad habits I may have picked up the first go round I am sure I need to work fingering drills, re-memorize tunes, maybe learn a new tune to keep it interesting? Lips lasted about 10 min on Monday, but Thursday I was able to get thru 3-4 tunes, so it is coming back...slowly. Crossing noise is rampant, but I hope the drills will help there. Gotta remember to go slow for now. My mind remembers how I used to play, but the body is not up to the challenge at the moment.
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Post by greginlondon on Apr 10, 2012 14:43:28 GMT
It might be best to concentrate on the practice chanter for a couple of weeks then so you do things right on the pipes. Mind you, you posted a month ago, so it's probably all flooded back by now.
After years doing mostly solo or playing with friends, I've been in a band recently - quite a different experience, but they're easy going, so we get along just fine.
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Post by rick on Apr 13, 2012 20:44:57 GMT
Hi Greg - good to hear from you.
I started on the PC to get my fingers working a bit, then started building up some air on the pipes.
Was very rocky for a few weeks, but then things started to sound better, and I could play for more than 10 min...
Blew out my reed, so now I am working on breaking in a new one.
Still going slow, but at least making progress.
Good luck with the band.
rick
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Post by greginlondon on Apr 18, 2012 19:52:15 GMT
I've been having success with Keltic Reeds who sell through their own website or on Ebay. Tell them what chanter you have and ask for a medium reed and you'll get something that for me has been plug and play. Just be VERY careful how you put the chanter back in - the lips of the reeds are very fragile.
It does feel great when they start to sing though, doesn't it ;-)
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