No women or heroes in Magersfontein

Those pesky women still hadn't reappeared by this evening so I flushed them out with the help of the dots. B part still needs work to get it into my musical memory.

Since they were there I tried to introduce them to Magersfontein or Heroes, but no mattter which way  I tried I couldn't make a pairing, far less a threesome. I even threw in Flett, but that was a non-starter as well, so after my initial flurry of excitement around sets I am back to a pile of stubborn singletons.

After that Bonnie Galloway, Loch Bee, Braemar. I am trying to take this last nice and slow to check I have notes and timings all in the right place. It sounds, at a slower pace, rather naked without much gracing.

It was one of those evenings where the chanter literally buzzed in my hands, always a really good feeling. I have no idea whether it's to do with temperature or humidity, or is just my imagination, nor do I know what, if any, effect it has on the sound.

I had to stop mid way to rearrange various items in and out of the oven. When I came back the buzz was still there but the bellows jammed themselves on my wrist, my right thumb seized up, and Troy came out as a bit of a mess.

Adjusting

The neighbours have gone again. They only pass through for a week or so a couple of times a year. They know we are musicians. We've asked and asked and they are quite clear. Mostly they can't hear us at all, and when they can they enjoy it. Still, when I am playing and I know they are there I always imaging throwing down the TV remote and stamping downstairs to demand that I take my pipes and stick them... I have to remember that they have gone, that creaks are the floorboards settling, not the precursor to a confrontation.

I've lost a few pounds at some stage, and maybe the leather of the straps has loosened, too, but I have to take care when strapping myself in. Today it was all too loose and I ended up with a sore thumb because I was tensing fingers on the chanter to support the drooping bellows. I can fidget things round a bit while I play, but sometimes really need to stop and sort things properly before I go on.

I'm enjoying the Pickle Tow and the Cudgel, although I am having to call out "one-two-three, one-two-three" as I play to get the timing right. I've settled on the version of the Pickle with more notes, but rather missed the high A's in the opening bard of the B part. So I decided to play the B as written first time round, and second time to swap the low A's for high A's. It's sounding good. Recording to follow soon, sometime, eventually.

A you're adorable

I've gone back to A today, after a brief farewell fling with D. I've got 9 whole days without work and I'm hoping to get to know the A again over that time.

It took about a tune and half to remember where my fingers went. My bottom hand isn't sitting totally clean on the holes, especially that low G. My right thumb got a bit tense - sometimes I worry that I will snap the chanter in half - but I made a conscious effort to relax my hands and slid my thumb down the chanter and inch or two, which helped.

I'm finding that if things aren't quite comfortable I am actually able to make some adjustments while I am playing. One thing that has to be right before I play is the bellows - I can't get away with a loose strap with A as I don't get enough air through. It is the air pressure that's the challenge. Bag and bellows seem to be rubbing the insides of my arms raw. My shoulders feel tense. I'm hunching a little, and also pressing the bellows down on my hip bones.

But I'll get there, back into the swing of A. And its worth it - that big, deep, rich sound, full and rounded. Adorable.

More of the same

Time played: 30 minutes (just)

Tunes played: Alick, Whaling Song, King, Highlanders, Teribus, Galloway

Instrument: Monkey in A

Foot tapping: some spontaneous during the King.

Recording: nope.

Notes: again without drones. Again feeling it's too much air and the chanter squawks from time to time, but just not enough energy, somehow, to get the drones going (I went for a long walk after work and didn't get home until after 8pm). Slightly too much right thumb pressure. Playing with dots a lot at present: consolidating what I know, hopefully. King dotless, however, once again. Noting today the tiny difference in thumb movement between the AFA (thumb tap) and the AAFE (thumb swipe) in the Whaling Song.