German/medieval bagpipe

Meticus

Hi!

I'm Meticus from Nuremberg in Germany.
About 8 weeks ago I started learning to play the German bagpipe (also known as medieval bagpipe).
I document my progress on a YouTube channel to get advice and feedback from experienced musicians.
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCXI0G-IlMZ5WrC35wvVSDFw

I'm not a professional musician, just playing for fun and in private settings.
Before my bagpipe I already learned to play the guitar (acoustic), recorder and a little bit accordion. All on amateur level, but I have a lot of fun making music.

In the near future I also want to revive my guitar playing because the acoustic guitar harmonizes very well together with the medieval bagpipe. Maybe I will get an electric guitar as well to experiment a little.

I want to connect with other hobby musicians all over the world to exchange experience, get new input and inspiration or share tunes to play :-)

Is anyone here playing the German bagpipe (or other kinds of bagpipe) or recorder?
How well known is that kind of bagpipe?

Best wishes

Meticus :-)

V8

Meticus Hiya Meticus, usually I bounce posts from people listing their youtube channels - especially if it's not guitar related.

However I thought it would be fun for peeps to see something as niche (I mean to say ridiculous, but I'm trying to be polite) as german bagpipes.

How you thought there be anyone who had ever seen such a thing on a South African Guitar forum I'm not sure...but I do hope you pickup the guitar again and enjoy that too.

I do know a Scottish piper locally (he's quite good) - and I make fun of him too - though he's also a pretty good guitar & bass player so I toletate when he uses his pipes as a contraceptive 😁

Meticus

V8 usually I bounce posts from people listing their youtube channels

Ok, thanks, I'm a newbie and didn't know that with the YouTube channels 😀 though it was not intended as advertising, but for people to get an impression what I'm talking about.

V8 not guitar related

Therefore I posted it in the Other Instruments section.

V8 it would be fun for peeps

I'm glad to make other people's day cheerful :-)

V8 I mean to say ridiculous, but I'm trying to be polite

Thanks for your thoughtfulness, but it's a forum, feel free to express your opinion ruthlessly 😆

V8 How you thought there be anyone

I had no idea how common such instruments are here. Therefore I asked :-)
So that kind of rock music is totally unknown in your region? I mean medieval rock/folk music and bands such as Tanzwut or Faun which use both pipes and electric or acoustic guitars?

V8 Guitar forum

As I said, in my opinion pipes and guitars go very well together. Therefore I'd like to combine both for my hobby music. That's the relation to guitars I saw. Of course I know that there are also people not liking it :-)

Yeti

Meticus Welcome to the forum.

I saw an awesome pipe and drum band at a medieval festival in Berlin a few years ago... just wish I could remember their name! They were similar to Schelmish but a slightly different vibe.
I also got into Feuerschwanz a few years go... can't remember if they had pipes or not but they are a lot of fun. I'll definitely check out Tanzwut and Faun when I get a chance.

V8

Meticus Ok, thanks, I'm a newbie and didn't know that with the YouTube channels

No worries - the forum "rules" are buried and somewhat out-of-date. I do check when people post links to thier youtube channel to see if they are spamming the world. You didn't seem to be and have replied to my initial post with grace and humour - this is always a good sign!

Meticus express your opinion ruthlessly

You know the joke....A gentleman is someone who can play the accordian/bagpipes/banjo but doesn't. 😁

My only questions is...

Meticus Tanzwut or Faun which use both pipes and electric or acoustic guitars?

Yesterday I would have said..probably not. But @Yeti proves me wrong! There are more than a handful of germanophiles s in Southern Africa (My great grandparents were german immigrants circa 1850's). They must have forgotten to pack the bagpipes...

Meticus As I said, in my opinion pipes and guitars go very well together.

Heh, sounds like a challenge...! We've a regular challenge thread running, this one is "In the style of..." - it's a surefire way to get people to provide feedback on your creative efforts. I'm totally expecting a cover of 'Du Hast'...

P.s. Everyone else around is here is a LOT nicer than I am. I get away with being a grump because, on occasion, I get a laugh.

Meticus

Yeti I also got into Feuerschwanz

Oh yes, Feuerschwanz is great 😀 Nice music, funny lyrics and entertaining live performance.

Yeti if they had pipes

Yes, they do. Their piper even gives bagpipe lessons.

Yeti I'll definitely check out

Since you seem to like such music, here some other bands in case you run out of music 😆
In Extremo, Saltatio Mortis, Corvus Corax, Schandmaul. All great medieval rock bands. Most of them I've seen live already.

V8 They must have forgotten to pack the bagpipes

That is a great pity 😆 How life would be in South Africa if most people hat a bagpipe at home 😆

V8 We've a regular challenge thread running

I'm afraid my current skill won't suffice for such a challenge since I'm learning to play only for about 8 weeks now. But I'll keep an eye on that topic and when the time comes I accept your challenge 😀

V8 My only questions is...

As to your picture, even accordions go well with guitars 😀 Best examples are Turisas and Korpiklaani 😀

Meticus

Yeti Nah, these are really casual. People enter at all levels from beginner right up to semi-professional. They're all in the name of fun and giving us an excuse to be creative.

Ok, in that case... I have recorded a short song for the challenge 😀 I downloaded the Cakewalk DAW this week, it was a good occasion to experiment a little and get started with the program 😀

V8 I'm totally expecting a cover of 'Du Hast'

Challenge accepted, you get your 'Du Hast' instrumental German bagpipe cover by Meticus 😀

Yeti

Meticus Since you seem to like such music, here some other bands in case you run out of music 😆

😃 thanks, that should keep me busy for a while!
😀

Meticus I'm afraid my current skill won't suffice for such a challenge

Nah, these are really casual. People enter at all levels from beginner right up to semi-professional. They're all in the name of fun and giving us an excuse to be creative.

V8

Meticus Challenge accepted, you get your 'Du Hast' instrumental German bagpipe cover by Meticus 😀

HAH! That's awesome, I can't wait to hear it...I'm gonna be in tears. Now I just have to think of a decent frage.

Meticus

V8 I'm gonna be in tears

Wether tears of despair or with laughter we'll see 😆

V8

Meticus Actually neither...that was surprisingly good! Okay, the bagpipes are a lot icepicky, but the melody is spot on and the guitar DOES accompany well. Clearly you have musical gifts. 👍️

...but why 'o why the bagpipes! 🤪

Yeti

V8 ...but why 'o why the bagpipes! 🤪

If you're still asking this, you obviously haven't checked out those bands. 😛

Meticus

V8 that was surprisingly good

Thanks :-)

V8 the bagpipes are a lot icepicky, but the melody is spot on and the guitar DOES accompany well

Actually I wanted the volume of the pipes a bit lower and emphasize the guitar a bit more instead. But I'm not very close with that DAW thing yet xD

Yeti If you're still asking this, you obviously haven't checked out those bands.

...or he listens clandestinely when nobody's watching 😀

V8

Yeti If you're still asking this, you obviously haven't checked out those bands

Hey...he said you should 😁, I'm far too of a delicate disposition for such mediEVIL implements.

Meticus But I'm not very close with that DAW thing yet

For around a week's worth of work...you nailed it dude. Mixing is a dark art, not quite as dark as bagpipes - but you got skills, keep at it! 👍️

Meticus ...or he listens clandestinely when nobody's watching

Errrmmmm. Nope. 🤪 I do have a few musical embarrassments. My ongoing love for 00's house music being chief amongst them. Also 70's disco (but not ABBA, thankfull;y!). I once even sang along to a Creed song. I'll never live that down.

guidothepimmp

Hey Meticus.. welcome to the forum. Cool pipes.. would love to see some photos if you can spare the time..
A good friend of mine is a Frieslander living in Hamburg.. he knows nothing about bagpipes though... does play a mean acoustic guitar though 😉

Meticus

guidothepimmp welcome to the forum

Thank you :-)

guidothepimmp would love to see some photos if you can spare the time

Of course I can, here we go... 😀

Here the complete instrument... His name is Heinrich 😀 It is a pretty simple model, suitable for beginners. Only one drone so the pressure is easy to handle (at least it should be). And the volume is moderate compared to the monster pipes you see on stages.

The chanter... it comprises one ninth: g' a' b' c'' d'' e'' f#'' g'' a''. An approximate f'' is also possible via fork fingering.

And the drone... Most tunes for the German bagpipe are in A minor. So the standard drone is in A. But this one can be switched to G as well with that peg to be able to play tunes in G major. The second peg can be used (to @V8 's delight) to mute the drone (there is no such peg for the chanter though 😆 )

V8 For around a week's worth of work...you nailed it dude. Mixing is a dark art, not quite as dark as bagpipes - but you got skills, keep at it!

Thank you very much, I will :-)

guidothepimmp

What about that Nickelback song V8?

V8

guidothepimmp Dude....I got standards. Low as they may be, that's just wrong. Perhaps wronger-er than bagpipes.

Perhaps.

Yeti

That's pretty awesome. Out of interest, do you tune your pipes to the conventional 440hZ or are they tuned slightly differently like the highland pipes?

Meticus

Yeti do you tune your pipes to the conventional 440hZ or are they tuned slightly differently

I think A is always tuned to 440Hz. But for mere A-pipes most of the other tones are tuned between 2 and 16 cents higher or lower from the typical tone distance to get the chanter beatless with the drone.
However my drone can be switched between A and G, therefore my chanter is well tempered. So my pipe cannot be tuned completely beatless. But the advantage is, that my pipe goes well together with other tempered instruments.

Yeti

Meticus Fair enough. I suppose that if these are frequently used to play with guitars and other instruments they must be tuned to 440 (interesting about the beating though).
I know that hiland pipes have to do gymnastics to play with an orchestra... I believe they tune their A somewhere between Bb and B.