AlanHo Posted February 20, 2008 Report Share Posted February 20, 2008 How do they know when it’s time to tune their bagpipes? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ɹəuəllıʍ ʇɐb Posted February 21, 2008 Report Share Posted February 21, 2008 :lol: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Watchful Posted February 21, 2008 Report Share Posted February 21, 2008 When the 'Flower of Scotland' begins to droop? :( Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andsome Posted February 21, 2008 Report Share Posted February 21, 2008 From the sound they make, I didn't know they ever did tune them. :lol: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
catgate Posted February 21, 2008 Report Share Posted February 21, 2008 This place is indeed educational. I did not know they tuned them. I thought they just gave them a bowl of milk every so often. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Irene Posted February 21, 2008 Report Share Posted February 21, 2008 :lol: :lol: Just came across this on the internet......Few things are as obnoxious as an out-of-tune Great Highland Bagpipe (GHB), or for that matter any untuned bagpipe. Bagpipes heard out-of-tune are the major reason why many people dislike the instrument. Out-of-tune pipes may lead to social unrest, dog bites, high gasoline prices and shortages of Prozac. Divorce lawyers consider badly tuned pipes money in the bank. If politicians were not categorically deaf, they long ago would have made it a felony to inflate a bagpipe in public without at least intending to tune it. An in-tune bagpipe, on the other hand, is a sweet-sounding thing indeed, and therein lies a secret: Even a fledgling piper, who perhaps hasn't yet developed the swiftest of fingers, can make nice music that will please not only himself but others as well, if the pipe is but played in tune. In its most basic form, a bagpipe consists of a melody pipe, called the chanter, which produces a series of different notes depending on which of its fingerholes are open and closed, and at least one drone pipe, which produces a single constantly-sounding note. The notes of the melody pipe must be in tune with each other, just as the notes of a piano or any other instrument must be in tune with one another, and additionally the note produced by the drone must be in tune with the chanter's notes. If the bagpipe has more than one drone, then obviously the additional drones must likewise be in tune both with one another and with the chanter. The interplay between the melody notes sounding against the steady tones of the drone(s) creates an effect that is the defining characteristic of a bagpipe. It's a case of the sum being greater than the parts - a drone heard alone is hardly impressive, and most chanters played alone don't sound like much either. But put them together and all sorts of fabulous fireworks ensue - if they are in tune. This is because the sounds of an in-tune chanter and the drones reinforce one another in complex and dramatic ways. If they're not in tune, not only is this effect lost but a discordant noise, rather than music, is generated. It's a huge, huge difference.But what does "in tune" mean? That simple term is loaded with all sorts of different meanings. In a very basic sense, it means that when individual musical tones are played in a sequence, one at a time as in a melody, they are perceived by the ear as having a pleasing or at least a logical relationship to one another. Likewise, when two or more tones are played simultaneously, as when strumming a chord on a guitar or when playing a bagpipe with its drones and chanter sounding, "in tune" again means that the tones have a pleasing effect together. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
catgate Posted February 21, 2008 Report Share Posted February 21, 2008 What I found interesting in that piece was the lumping together of politicians, lawyers, chanters and drones. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Watchful Posted February 21, 2008 Report Share Posted February 21, 2008 I like the sound, when in tune, and it mirrors the melancholy and grandeur of the wild Scottish scenery B) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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