Blowing and Squeezing

[andrewlawrence]

Sorry to add yet another post on this topic. I've got back into piping over the last year after playing off and on since i was a kid, more off than on. I'm now 40. I don't think I ever transitioned properly to the pipes the first time around so this time I've been trying to get it right. I'm noticing the whole blowing and squeezing thing has been a struggle for me as it should be. I tend to overblow on a very easy Melvin chanter reed with a bass and outside tenor drone open. I can dial back my breathing to stop the overblowing but then I feel that that I've lost any resistance in my bag and that I'm playing on a partially deflated bag. Is this likely a technique problem with me, a setup problem, or just a reed that's too easy? I've been fighting it for a while now and it's starting to cause some confusion and doubt about whether I'm following the whole blowing and squeezing process properly. How full is full on a filled bag when playing? How should my arm be working to maintain the resistance on the bag? Thanks!

[EquusRacer]

Simply put, if you're overblowing the chanter reed, it's the reed. As you likely know, you're in essence blowing against your arm on the bag (i.e., there should be constant pressure on the bag, rather than lifting your arm, then periodically squeezing), so the bag should be full. The trick, which comes with experience, is to have the reed at the right strength that you're keeping a constant and good volume and tone. I've never been a fan of gut-busting reeds, although it should have strength enough to require some effort.

[Andrew Evans]

Use of a manometer can be helpful, cork your drones and measure the strength of your reed when playing the chanter comfortably with no drones. Practice maintaining steady pressure with that visual feedback of the manometer aligned with the feedback you are getting from your ears, playing just your chanter. And when you add your drones in, cork off your chanter and make sure your drones are efficiently all shutting off at a pressure above your chanter pressure. Easier to practice maintaining steady blowing when your drone reeds are efficient and not losing air.

[pancelticpiper]

Personally I would learn this technique with less that the whole set going at once.

I start beginners with just one tenor drone.

In the "blowing cycle" (I suppose one could call it) there are four factors

blowing steadily portion > transition from blowing to squeezing > squeezing steadily portion > transition from squeezing to blowing.

With students I've had, what's first mastered is the blowing portion, then the squeezing portion.

It's common at first for the whole squeezing portion to be at a different pressure than the whole blowing portion, so the first thing to be sorted is to make the two exactly the same.

The last things to be mastered are the transitions.

Many's the people who are quite steady blowers and squeezers but spoil one of the transitions with either a spike in pressure or a dip in pressure.

(Seems more common for somebody to have trouble with one of the transitions, than both.)

It has to be determined whether it's a spike or dip, because obviously the two problems have opposite solutions.

If you're serious about becoming great at "blowing tone" you'll probably have to become serious about learning how to blow rock-steady, focusing on that alone for a time, and approaching it critically and methodically.

(Focusing on blowing alone meaning take out the chanter. If we believe in the logic of beginning to learn fingering on the Practice Chanter, so as not to have focus taken away by trying to wrangle a whole set of pipes, then believing in the reverse ought to follow.)

[Kevin]

Lots of great advice here. I will add what helped me the most...don't think of it as alternating between blowing and squeezing. Think about squeezing the bag steadily all the time and then add air in slow puffs as required.

I hope this helps,
Kevin

[Jim Fogelman]

I was taught to blow my arm off the bag. Keep the pressure even on your arm the whole time and just blow it off.

I second the use of a manometer. I made one out of an old blood pressure gauge I got from eBay for about $5, some surgical tubing, a cork I drilled a hole in, and a brass connector. Cost me about $15 and 15 minutes.

[andrewlawrence]

Thanks a lot everyone! As Kevin said, lots of great advice. My transitions are definitely in need of going back to basics as pancelticpiper suggested. I guess it's hard to quantify the pressure needed by the arm but is it simply whatever keeps the chanter reed sounding and sounding true to tone? Does the extend you fill a bag depend on the pressure a reed needs to sound too? Could an easier reed be played with less air in the bag rather than filling it 100%? I'm starting to question whether my reed is shot as I can't lose the shrill sound on the high hand while backing off the pressure.

[EquusRacer]

Thanks a lot everyone! As Kevin said, lots of great advice. My transitions are definitely in need of going back to basics as pancelticpiper suggested. I guess it's hard to quantify the pressure needed by the arm but is it simply whatever keeps the chanter reed sounding and sounding true to tone? Does the extend you fill a bag depend on the pressure a reed needs to sound too? Could an easier reed be played with less air in the bag rather than filling it 100%? I'm starting to question whether my reed is shot as I can't lose the shrill sound on the high hand while backing off the pressure.

I understand your questions. In the past, I've heard terms like "blow for tone." I think that sets up a wrong approach and way of looking at things, such as having less pressure (or air in the bag) for easier reeds, etc. That elicits unsteady blowing (squeezing, whatever one wants to call it). It's also a backwards approach. The setup, with chanter reed strength, proper drone reed setup, and other factors (e.g., sealed bag and drone pin wrappings) should be such that one can keep a bag full, steady pressure on the bag (as stated above, one is blowing their arm out, not squeezing or doing an up and down arm movement).