Am I missing something? Where are the bagpipe drones?

[MelloProg]

Hello,

Am I missing something here? I just got Ethno Instrument and scanning through the presets as I am playing with the bagpipes I notice that I can not find any drones, have they been forgotten? Or do I just not find the right key? Any help is appreciated...

[qsource]

I haven't found them either. I've been pulling a drone from Kontakt (ooo. How dare I. )

Let us know if you find one in Ethno anywhere.

Q

Hello,

Am I missing something here? I just got Ethno Instrument and scanning through the presets as I am playing with the bagpipes I notice that I can not find any drones, have they been forgotten? Or do I just not find the right key? Any help is appreciated...

[monkey man]

Hello,
Am I missing something here? I just got Ethno Instrument and scanning through the presets as I am playing with the bagpipes I notice that I can not find any drones, have they been forgotten? Or do I just not find the right key? Any help is appreciated...

Not sure if this will help, but I've a process for simulating a drone.
Sample a blowfly in full flight, pitch-shift it down a couple of octaves and run it through an amp and cab simulator.
Now experiment with amp, drive and cab combinations to taste.
To simulate the full drone set, copy it to new tracks and pitch-shift them.

Sorry. Always been a huge fan of bagpipes.

[Spikey Horse]

Monkeyman - are you taking the P?

They are in fact a wonderful and powerful instrument - but even if you live in Scotland you unlikely to have ever heard them done justice, unless you get into the competitions and recitals circuit....

If you want to hear a sample of good piping (technique as well as instrument sound) go to:

iTunes music/world/Donald Macpherson/The Master Piper

(a search for 'Donald Macpherson' should bring this album up amongst others)

Play excerpt from track 12 'Lament for the children' - this is Piobaireachd or 'classical playing' (as opposed to merry jigs and reels etc) ... they are long slow pieces usually 10 - 20 minutes which develop a theme. Quite awsome when heard live .... really LOUD and actually quite psychadelic in the sense of the sound being able to stimulate more than just the auditory senses alone. Not to mention being emotionally moving too of course.

I think the pipes are just one of those instruments like, say, the didgeredo (sp?) that has got a bit of a bad reputation - mainly becasue people never actually get to hear them played well ever or in the right context.

Blimey, that was all a bit serious - I don't even usually listen to pipe music myself! (but I always support 'minority instruments' )

Anyway, I know you were just joking Monkeyman and I can't think of a better way to get a drone sound than yours... hmmmmm perhaps pitch shifting an oboe, bassoon or clarinet ....?

ps I don't have Ethno so can't help with locating those drones either.

[monkey man]

Monkeyman - are you taking the P?

You guessed right, Mr. Unicorn.
Lived with a world band-competition champ for 12 years.
You're correct, of course.

I'd also add these obvious limitations as things that don't exactly help their cause...

1) Lack of dynamics-All on or all off. That's your (yur?) lot. (Lad).
2) No stuccato.
3) No non-legato playing.
4) Limited number and range of notes.
5) Lots of dBs.

.... really LOUD and actually quite psychadelic in the sense of the sound being able to stimulate more than just the auditory senses alone.

You're hearing with your whole body, methinks.
Ay; those dBs will wobble yur flesh and rattle yur bones, lad.

I think the pipes are just one of those instruments like, say, the didgeredo (sp?) that has got a bit of a bad reputation - mainly becasue people never actually get to hear them played well ever or in the right context.

Spot on.
Imagine if the only sax-playing we'd ever heard was the cacophony of screeches that is... the high school band...
A fine reputation the slax would then have. What's that; no "L"?
Slax, schmax, sex, whatever.

Blimey, that was all a bit serious - I don't even usually listen to pipe music myself! (but I always support 'minority instruments' )

Naa. I very much enjoyed your post. Thanks.
'Minority instruments'? That's funny, S!

Anyway, I know you were just joking Monkeyman and I can't think of a better way to get a drone sound than yours... hmmmmm perhaps pitch shifting an oboe, bassoon or clarinet ....?

Good thinking, Spike.
With regards to the chanter, being a rather crude reed design, it shouldn't be too far from the woodwinds tone-wise.
A drone, though, may be a little trickier.

My money's on the blowfly.
Gotta "run"; me bonny haggis is gettin' a wee bit chilly.

[monkey man]

`
Sorry, Spike, but I couldn't find this earlier.
Just something I found and posted a while back.
Somehow it's just as funny to me today as it was back then:

"How to Kill a Bagpipe"

1. Puncture the sack. Using a sharp object to slice open the sack will cause the instrument to rapidly deflate and will put it out of action for at least twenty-four hours

2. Block the Pipes. Obstructing the pipes with a potato or similar object prevents the instrument from venting, and allows noxious gasses to build up.

3. Use a barrel organ. The barrel organ is the natural predator of the bagpipe. In the wild, a fully grown adult barrel organ can bring down a set of bagpipes in two minutes flat.

4. Snap the spit pipe. A sharp blow to the spit pipe will paralyse it for life.

5. Turn it over. Bagpipes have been carefully designed to cause as much destruction as possible, but they have one major flaw: once they're on their back, they cannot right themselves. So just flip it over and watch the bugger struggle.

'Till next time, Spikey.

[Spikey Horse]

LOL!