Collecting Tips?

[Don Watts]

Originally Posted by fast food piper

LOL.............I believe you (that it works, that is) but that is waaaaay out of my comfort zone

Ha Ha! Well, don't call them "garters." Think of them as "elastic tip enticers and cash acceptors." See our St. Paddy pics here:

https://www.boisehighlanders.com/st_patrick_s_day_

[Piperalpha]

The buskers I've known that paired up with a dancer always made more than when they busked alone. You're giving more of a show. A pair I knew would walk away with more than a hundred a fifty dollars each in roughly forty five minutes. He would play for her and then play a few sets one his own while she passed the hat and caught her breath. She used to say the shorter the kilt the bigger the tips. They were playing pubs that held about 150-200 people. They were very good at putting on a show and she was very comfortable talking to people. I'm sure an Irish dancer would work as well as a highland dancer. There would likely be more tunes to learn though.

[monkeyBoy]

Leave the kilt at home and wear a thong, makes it easy for the punters to stuff notes in, gets a bit uncomfortable when some cheapo gives you some coins...

[pancelticpiper]

Originally Posted by Richard Strayer

when I'm wandering through a crowded pub and people are waving bills at me it's not like I can stop in the middle of the tune to grab them

Why not??? I sure would! Just take the bottom hand off the chanter for a moment and grab that money!

One of my many, many fond memories of the late great PM Kevin Blandford is the time we were doing a band gig in Full Dress (feather bonnets and all) and as we were marching out of the hall Kevin spied the event organiser standing near the door with our paycheck in her hand.

Without the slightest pause he took his bottom hand off his chanter and swiped that check right out of her hand as we marched out the door.

[Richard Strayer]

Originally Posted by pancelticpiper

Why not??? I sure would! Just take the bottom hand off the chanter for a moment and grab that money!

One of my many, many fond memories of the late great PM Kevin Blandford is the time we were doing a band gig in Full Dress (feather bonnets and all) and as we were marching out of the hall Kevin spied the event organiser standing near the door with our paycheck in her hand.

Without the slightest pause he took his bottom hand off his chanter and swiped that check right out of her hand as we marched out the door.

Well it's one thing for one piper in a band to reach out during a 4/4 march at the end of a performance to swipe a check for the night and another for a solo piper to break the rhythm of a jig or hornpipe that everyone in the room is clapping along with in order to snag a $20 tip in the middle of a set. The latter is more along the lines of what I was referring to, based on what I was encountering.

Thanks all. There have been some good "tips" here!

[pancelticpiper]

Originally Posted by Richard Strayer

a solo piper to break the rhythm of a jig or hornpipe that everyone in the room is clapping along with in order to snag a $20 tip

It wouldn't stop me! And keep in mind it's perfectly possible to take the bottom hand off the chanter in the middle of a jig or hornpipe without breaking rhythm... or at least without breaking tempo. A series of D's or High A's in tempo would do nicely, keeping the beat along with the clapping.

The Bulgarian pipers do it as a regular thing, playing a couple long notes in the middle of a fast complex dance tune.

And if you get a chance, check out the hands of an uilleann piper who uses the regulators a lot. In the middle of the fastest, most complex reels and jigs the lower hand might be off the chanter half the time so that the hand has free reign of the regulators.