Brace Yourselves

First posted Jun 18th, 2012 by newpiper

So, it’s a whole week, just about, since Morag saw the light of day. The poor thing has been shut in her case, except for a brief airing on Saturday, since last weekend. The fan is away this week, so I have nothing to do in the evenings except sit and feel sorry for myself. It’s not been the best of days, and what with that, the fan’s absence, and the layer of dust on Morag, I started mentally drafting the inevitable tale of woe for this blog.

And do you know what? I got the pipes out and we ran through the Schottische, once, twice, three times. No problems. I stopped to listen to the Archers. I played some more tunes. I did the Vintage Pipes set. No problems. I phoned my mother. I played Vintage Pipes a few more times. No problem. I played the Rowan Tree and Atholl Highlanders. Still need a lot more work on the Highlanders but moving in the right direction. I played My Home Town. The fan rang. I played Mull of the Mountain and Crossing the Minch. I tried Battle of Waterloo and Troy’s Wedding.

All going well, but in the end I gave up because of my drones. They sound abysmal – really awful. It’s so difficult to tune because I can’t play a note and fiddle with drones at the same time. As I tune one I knock another out, or the pegs slip out, which throws me. The more I tune the worse it sounds. Plugging the drones off affects the pressure, which I don’t want to do. Ear plugs, maybe?