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Trumpet and Bagpipes



 
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jhatpro
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PostPosted: Tue Aug 09, 2022 12:00 pm    Post subject: Trumpet and Bagpipes Reply with quote

A guy up the street has a 30-minute bagpipe concert on his lawn at Noon on Tuesdays. I've thought about seeing if he'd be interested in doing a couple of numbers with me but I have no idea if that would work.

Advice anyone?
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2021 Martinus Geelan Custom
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kehaulani
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PostPosted: Tue Aug 09, 2022 12:06 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Well. if it's personal taste, but I hate Highland pipes, and that's what you're referring to. Now, if it was Ullian Pipes, I'd make that work.
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Steve A
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PostPosted: Tue Aug 09, 2022 12:18 pm    Post subject: Re: Trumpet and Bagpipes Reply with quote

jhatpro wrote:
A guy up the street has a 30-minute bagpipe concert on his lawn at Noon on Tuesdays. I've thought about seeing if he'd be interested in doing a couple of numbers with me but I have no idea if that would work.

Advice anyone?


A lot of pipers tune very high, compared to concert pitch. (Cue jokes about bagpipes not being in tune in the first place...) It's common for pipers who play routinely with bands to have a separate chanter they use for that purpose, so it's not necessarily a given that it'd be an easy fit. Also keep in mind that piping is largely an oral tradition, and many pipers have a looser relationship to written music than we're accustomed to, which can create some friction in rehearsing.

If those potential obstacles can be overcome, go for it!
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jhatpro
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PostPosted: Tue Aug 09, 2022 12:59 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I think I'll just see if would like to have a beer and talk about the Cubs.

https://www.jhiggins.net/blog/playing-the-bagpipes-with-other-instruments/
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Jim Hatfield

"The notes are there - find them.” Mingus

2021 Martinus Geelan Custom
2005 Bach 180-72R
1965 Getzen Eterna Severinsen
1946 Conn Victor
1998 Scodwell flugel
1986 Bach 181 cornet
1954 Conn 80A cornet
2002 Getzen bugle
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kehaulani
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PostPosted: Tue Aug 09, 2022 1:24 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Well, not so fast. I don't like them but that doesn't mean I won't use them.

I had the only Bagpipe Band in the U.S. military assigned to my band and we combined forces periodically with a specially written book. Worked well. Even marched through Red Square in Moscow playing.

I don't dispute what the poster said above said, but in my case, there were no intonation problems using both the Pipers and Marching/Concert Band.
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Andy Cooper
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PostPosted: Tue Aug 09, 2022 5:21 pm    Post subject: Re: Trumpet and Bagpipes Reply with quote

jhatpro wrote:
A guy up the street has a 30-minute bagpipe concert on his lawn at Noon on Tuesdays. I've thought about seeing if he'd be interested in doing a couple of numbers with me but I have no idea if that would work.

Advice anyone?


Hummmmm ...

Never play at the same location twice.
March in a zig zag pattern.
Take a trumpet that can be abandoned.
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Gottfried Reiche
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PostPosted: Wed Aug 10, 2022 3:40 am    Post subject: Re: Trumpet and Bagpipes Reply with quote

jhatpro wrote:
A guy up the street has a 30-minute bagpipe concert on his lawn at Noon on Tuesdays. I've thought about seeing if he'd be interested in doing a couple of numbers with me but I have no idea if that would work.

Advice anyone?


Don't you mean seeing if it would be okay if you join HIM on a couple tunes? It's his concert, afterall...

Playing with bagpipes can be very tricky, if you are concerned about intonation. They seem to be tuned in a really sharp Eb. Your mileage may vary, of course.

GR
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Steve A
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PostPosted: Wed Aug 10, 2022 7:32 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

kehaulani wrote:


I don't dispute what the poster said above said, but in my case, there were no intonation problems using both the Pipers and Marching/Concert Band.


That's also my experience - when they adjust their setup to match us, it works fine. If they use what they normally use with other pipers, or by themselves, it can sometimes be a bit wonky.
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kehaulani
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PostPosted: Wed Aug 10, 2022 7:39 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Caveat: when I say there were no intonation problems between the Pipes and Marching Band that should not be taken to mean it was pristine intonation like I could get with the band alone. After all Highland Pipes are still Highland pipes. But it was workable.

I mean, try it. Maybe it will work . . or not. But why be the one to say no, hypothetically? Let the music be the one. I Read a terse phrase n Readers Digest years ago that always stuck with me. "When in doubt, do".
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Quadstriker
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PostPosted: Wed Aug 10, 2022 4:24 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I guess I have enough experience to contribute to this. I played with a pipe band in St. Louis regularly in my youth (I was a snare drummer, not a piper).

On rare occasions some mixed instrumentation would join us but never experienced trumpets (The fife was common). My best piece of advice would be that however the pipes are tuned, it is your job to match *them* no matter what an electronic tuner might say about your pitch. On the plus side, I can see trumpet being one of the few instruments having the raw power to match and compliment the pipes! If you end up trying this, I'd be very interested how it goes.

Off the top of my head, a tune that might work well as a pipe/trumpet duet.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yj_3scEyVoI
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jhatpro
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PostPosted: Wed Aug 10, 2022 6:12 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I’m going to the piper’s next weekly concert to chat him up. See if he’d be up for trying some tunes together. No way I’m wearing a kilt, though.
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Jim Hatfield

"The notes are there - find them.” Mingus

2021 Martinus Geelan Custom
2005 Bach 180-72R
1965 Getzen Eterna Severinsen
1946 Conn Victor
1998 Scodwell flugel
1986 Bach 181 cornet
1954 Conn 80A cornet
2002 Getzen bugle
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tomba51
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PostPosted: Thu Aug 11, 2022 6:03 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Slightly off topic, but the great trumpeter Jimmy Maxwell (Benny Goodman, Tonight Show Band, NY studio great) doubled on bagpipes.
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kehaulani
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PostPosted: Thu Aug 11, 2022 8:32 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

jhatpro wrote:
No way I’m wearing a kilt, though.

Depends on how you're "dressed".
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rjimison
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PostPosted: Thu Aug 11, 2022 9:26 am    Post subject: trumpet and bagpipes Reply with quote

I play trumpet and bagpipes (not concurrently) so I may be able to clarify some issues. Bagpipe notation indicates the tonic at A (with no key signature) but over the last 30 or so years the accepted pitch has risen to well above Bb. With my Bb trumpet I can not reach where pipe band pitch is nowadays.
The chanter plays 9 notes only, a 'nominal' A scale with the 7th. below available. It is not however a tempered scale. The closest analog to what we play on trumpet is a mixolydian mode pitched higher than our Bb. Some non-traditional pipers can use non-standard fingerings to get other pitches, but it is very rare, and condemned by 'old-school' pipers. (The late-great Gordon Duncan did a cover of 'Thunderstruck' and was vilified by most of the piping world, I thought it was great!)
Good luck, but I think based on my experience you may just enjoy the piper, and swap tunes, but playing together will be very difficult for both of you.
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jhatpro
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PostPosted: Sun Aug 14, 2022 6:01 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Hey rj, I think you're right. I just found this in a book called "The Bagpipe" by Pipe Major Bill Cleary.

"As the scale of the Bagpipe is not the natural scale but a highly individual Mixolydian Scale, the usual 3 sharps for the scale of A major do not follow. In fact, th G is flatter than a natural G. The F+C are near enough sharps but in pipe music, though some writers give two sharps on the stave, it is better to write pipe music with no key signature."

Yikes!
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Jim Hatfield

"The notes are there - find them.” Mingus

2021 Martinus Geelan Custom
2005 Bach 180-72R
1965 Getzen Eterna Severinsen
1946 Conn Victor
1998 Scodwell flugel
1986 Bach 181 cornet
1954 Conn 80A cornet
2002 Getzen bugle
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kehaulani
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PostPosted: Sun Aug 14, 2022 8:20 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

(edited)
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"If you don't live it, it won't come out of your horn." Bird

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Getzen Capri Cornet
Adams F-1 Flghn


Last edited by kehaulani on Sun Aug 14, 2022 2:08 pm; edited 2 times in total
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jhatpro
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PostPosted: Sun Aug 14, 2022 9:01 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I have no doubt you were great. As for the YouTube clip, she continues to amaze!
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Jim Hatfield

"The notes are there - find them.” Mingus

2021 Martinus Geelan Custom
2005 Bach 180-72R
1965 Getzen Eterna Severinsen
1946 Conn Victor
1998 Scodwell flugel
1986 Bach 181 cornet
1954 Conn 80A cornet
2002 Getzen bugle
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Andy Cooper
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PostPosted: Sun Aug 14, 2022 1:50 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

My community band did a version of Amazing Grace with pipes last year. We played, then unaccompanied pipes , then the band without pipes. Worked out very well.

Consider exchanging solos with the piper - handle yours as a modulation.
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jhatpro
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PostPosted: Sun Aug 14, 2022 7:03 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Good idea, Andy. BTW, I just joined a bagpipe forum. It’ll be interesting to see what the members suggest.
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Jim Hatfield

"The notes are there - find them.” Mingus

2021 Martinus Geelan Custom
2005 Bach 180-72R
1965 Getzen Eterna Severinsen
1946 Conn Victor
1998 Scodwell flugel
1986 Bach 181 cornet
1954 Conn 80A cornet
2002 Getzen bugle
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JoseLindE4
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PostPosted: Sun Aug 14, 2022 8:03 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Why do pipers walk while they play? To get away from the noise.
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