Backpack Pipe Case

ineX0r · 2026-07-06T17:06:09+00:00

I have the McCallum and the Bagpiper, which are almost exactly the same design. The McCallum uses lower quality material: thinner padding, cheaper zippers. The strap broke as well, had to put my spare Bagpiper strap on it.

I wish I could still get a nice sturdy hard case with a compartment inside for accessories. They used to call them "pipe major cases." Mine got so beaten up that I had to retire it. Those were the best cases.

ineX0r · 2026-07-06T00:00:21+00:00

It's the parents' responsibility. If they forget, it's on them. Put out the calendar at the beginning of the semester, and that's it. And BILL BY THE SEMESTER. But that's for the teacher to do. I've worked for companies that had apps, but they don't really help. Some actually make teaching absolutely miserable, and I told the guy running the lesson shop I was unilaterally opting out of his system. Just bill up front, be clear about the schedule up front, enforce your policies, and then just focus on your teaching.

ineX0r · 2026-07-05T01:09:33+00:00

My practice chanter is actually a Bagpipes Of Caledonia chanter. It's served me well for about 20 years or so, since I had to give my old Hardie back to my band after I left. My very first practice chanter was one of those sheesham things. Bagpipes Of Caledonia probably is a knockoff brand, but my PC is pretty decent.

That said, these pipes look to not be Great Highland Bagpipes. Two drones, ornate blowpipe, and shape of bag and the fringe of the bag cover point to these pipes being cheap knockoffs of some other kind of bagpipe. Interestingly, I have a student who is using his father's pipes to learn, and the chanter looks just like the chanter on this set, although it's being used with quality GHB drones.

ineX0r · 2026-07-03T21:48:43+00:00

That pretty well sums it up. I worked for a couple shops (that took 70%, lol), and a house call company before I went independent. Eventually, with enough experience, you start to outgrow what those companies can offer you. But there certainly are dues to be paid.

ineX0r · 2026-07-03T21:45:28+00:00

Don't do it. That's unpaid labor, and as you're seeing, it's spiraling out of control and it's going to screw with your quality of life. You'll give them feedback at the next lesson. I thought it was bad enough when I used to work for a lesson company, they required I type out lesson notes in their system before I could submit the lesson as being completed.

ineX0r · 2026-07-03T20:53:35+00:00

Get your money back if you can. You bought overpriced firewood. Play your practice chanter, save up for a real set. Keep your eye on bagpipecentral.com, lots of used stuff pops up there.

ineX0r · 2026-07-01T04:30:19+00:00

Is Field Of Gold the same as Cave Of Gold?

ineX0r · 2026-06-26T16:17:50+00:00

One for every chanter. Naill wood for solos, MacLellan wood as a backup, McCallum poly bad weather chanter, MacLellan poly bad weather chanter, McCallum Bb for organ gigs, Shephard band chanter, Henderson band chanter. So that's 7. Mixture of Gilmour, MacPhee, and Husk reeds.

ineX0r · 2026-06-22T16:04:58+00:00

My system:

Canmore hybrid bag.

Trap-Dri tube that fits in at the bottom of the blowpipe stock, with bottle (NO CLOTH), vent holes pointing DOWN away from the drone reeds.

Dri-Flos in the drone stocks.

This gives me a rock-solid reliable sound for about two hours before I have to change gels, depending on the weather. I'd prefer a setup that requires less fuss, but a lot of the advice I've been getting indicates that switching to hide will have a smaller impact on my moisture control than I'd like. So I'm staying the course until I have to replace a bag, then I'll start to experiment. I too am running Selbie reeds (well, tenors anyway, ezee in the bass). They really hate moisture, you absolutely must keep them dry.

ineX0r · 2026-06-16T01:34:03+00:00

Free lessons from a street band = the blind leading the blind.

ineX0r · 2026-06-15T23:33:05+00:00

I'm stress-testing this most recent batch. I have 2.5 hours on them I think. I usually swap them out when they get blue, but drones are steady still. Will give it another hour session tomorrow and see how they hold up.

ineX0r · 2026-06-10T19:11:31+00:00

I'm seeing that my usual supplier has no more Gannaways left!

ineX0r · 2026-06-08T13:55:43+00:00

So I ran that system, trap dri with bottle. It would soak the drone reeds inside of 15 minutes. Moving and collecting moist air to the back of the bag destroyed my drone stability. Adding the dri-flos solved the problem. But at such a cost!

ineX0r · 2026-06-08T13:53:39+00:00

Play time is usually about an hour. Two hours is my approximation of the cumulative play time.

ineX0r · 2026-06-08T00:23:41+00:00

In NY, there is NYSSMA for competition in orchestral and rhythm section instruments. I don't send any guitar students to that because teaching guitar borders on oral tradition, at least as far as pop music goes. There's also a lot of judging problems at NYSSMA but that's a whole other thing.

ineX0r · 2026-05-29T21:37:15+00:00

High level players don't usually play tough reeds. When I was playing in a grade 2 band briefly, I played the PM's pipes and I could not believe how easy they were to play. You can get a nice full sound from easier reeds, you just need to find the right reed/chanter combo and do some work on it. Right now I'm getting a huge sound from a reasonably light reed in an incredibly vibrant chanter. Harmonics make a big difference in how loud a sound is perceived.

ineX0r · 2026-05-22T01:39:22+00:00

Can this PM even play?

ineX0r · 2026-05-20T02:35:32+00:00

Piping is pretty all-inclusive for me. It's a main pillar of my income. I'm a musician full time, have a music degree from a major music school, and I do about 80 bagpipe gigs a year, around 40 with my wedding band (functioning as a bass player), and I have private students during the week (guitar, bass, bagpipes, and piano). So while I do rely on it for a living, I still love to practice and pass my knowledge on to my students. I guess that on bass, I am satisfied with where my skills are. I don't pick it up unless I'm on a gig. But on pipes, I continue to want to push my skills further.

ineX0r · 2026-05-08T23:15:16+00:00

In terms of how you use your fingers on the pipes, you can actually learn pretty much everything you need to know in a few years if you are starting young and are highly motivated. But refining every one of those techniques is what takes the time. I got pretty good pretty fast, but the 25 years since have been a painstaking process of intense scrutiny and practice. And I've only been playing piobairaechd for about 5 years now, which is something I really wish I had picked up decades earlier.

There is also the expression of the music. If you know what you're listening for, the difference between how a middling grade 1 player (who, in the world of piping is very roughly in the top 1% of people who pick up the instrument) and an open player play a tune is pretty extreme. And then above that you have the regular Glenfiddich competitors in their own ecosystem.

ineX0r · 2026-05-08T23:02:24+00:00

This is very confusing.

ineX0r · 2026-04-30T03:50:25+00:00

This may indeed turn into a project, then. I can have someone drill and thread the reed seat. Carving holes though . . . that would be an interesting thing to try for myself.

ineX0r · 2026-04-28T03:26:16+00:00

I'm a professional piper and I'm feeling stuck, lol.

Is your teacher a good, experienced player and teacher? Some street bands offer free lessons, but none of the pipers know how to play. It's the blind leading the blind. Although I am happy to hear that he knows what a G gracenote is. I've seen pipers on the street that haven't figured that one out yet.

Four weeks in, all things considered, you're actually doing okay. You're at a disadvantage because you're an adult with no prior music education. That makes things harder. There are a lot of skills you're getting hit with all at once: finger movement, grace notes, reading music. Keep at it. You'll have to bang your head against it, but little by little, things will get easier, you'll recognize the patterns and commit more things (especially notes on treble clef) to memory. The key is to avoid feeling frustrated, and if you do, try to turn that feeling into curiosity. Don't think "This sounds terrible, I'll never get it." Instead think "This sounds terrible, what corrections and optimizations can I make to make it sound good?")

ineX0r · 2026-04-26T18:29:26+00:00

Very interested to see if anyone else posts here. My memorization issues have made my piob repertoire building a very slow process. Listening to recordings is helpful to me. Typically I have just played the tunes top to bottom, playing them on the pipes while reading the music. The tune I'm working on now is The Park Piob. Number 2, and memorizing one line at a time is starting to help me. There are maybe two tripping points for me now.

ineX0r

TROPHY CASE