Word: pipering
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...ears and neck, a mustache and a goatee, a thrift-shop tweed coat, a 1940s-vintage wool overcoat and a single earring. Britton will lead today's workshop on the fine points of piping technique. He is something of a phenomenon: only 26, he has been a master piper for a decade. He did have an unfair advantage: his father George was a folk musician and music teacher before it was fashionable and was a founder of the venerable Philadelphia Folk Song Society. Tim started on baritone ukulele before he was eight and took up the Highland pipes at eleven...
...year later, when he met a misanthropic Uilleann piper named Tom Standeven, he had the flash of inspiration many Irish pipers describe: "I was just blown away. I knew instantly that I wanted to play this instrument." Recalls Britton: "Tom was like a high priest with a new disciple. He told me that a piper has to be a woodworker, leatherworker, metalsmith and reedmaker just to maintain the instrument, and that I would have to learn Gaelic to understand the rhythm of piping. Basically, though, I had really long hair at the time, and I think he was afraid...
...occasionally hitting his regulator keys with the right wrist while simultaneously playing melody on the chanter, not using the sensitive tips but rather the relatively nerve-poor second joints of his fingers. "It feels bizarre at first," he says (since his mouth is unencumbered, he can, unlike a Scottish piper, play and instruct at the same time), "but, believe me, it's the least bizarre of all the alternatives. Now, there are three ways to play C natural...
Tomorrow's event: the reedmaking workshop. Even those who get to sleep after 5 will be prompt. Reedmaking is the essence of piping, the frustration of frustrations (a classic instruction book on the topic is The Piper's Despair). But it is a necessary evil for those who cannot afford to drop $25 or more every time a reed goes bad, which happens maddeningly often. In fact, says Britton, quoting an old oboe players' maxim, "there are no good reeds. We just learn to play the bad ones...
...heat is finally up, which forces some of the pipes to go out of tune. Another hardship to overcome, but the pleasure of piping is earned through sacrifice. Says Britton: "I heard of one piper who had an operation to cut the skin between his fingers so he could stretch to reach the holes better. Personally, I think that's a little extreme -- but I understand the impulse...