On recording piping as a practice tool

In preparing to record a quick march medley as a try-out to join our competition band, I have begun to record my playing on a regular basis. When reviewing the first recordings I was struck at how hard it is to get a solid performance worthy of being listened to. Ok, in our heads as humans, we think we sound so much better than what others may say or feel. Ask the person who sings in their shower how they sound, or ask the piper how they think they sound. We each have an inner voice that thinks, ”Hmm, I sound pretty good…” Yet, record the amateur singer, or piper, and make it available for critique and you have another matter. The first few recordings made will ‘feel’ dreadful as pipers are not used to listening to themselves, and while listening, every little flaw seems magnified. Persevere and soon the novelty wears off and the recordings become another tool to help make oneself a better piper. You are playing for yourself, so make the most of it.

So how do you record bagpiping? This is not to record for a future hit CD, but for recording technique and correcting mistakes heard. If you’ve taken lessons, one of the benefits is the feedback from your tutor. The same holds with recording. Do I use an iPhone or smartphone app? Portable camera? Laptop with sound recording program? Cassette recorder? Each has value. I started with my smart phone to record. Then tried a small camera that recorded my playing as a video. Then settled on a sound recording app on the laptop. I like the laptop app as it also has the benefit of storing in a format that can be easily saved, shared and / or deleted. If you’re looking for a higher quality bagpipe recording, one software / hardware package for PC or Mac from: http://www.epipes.co.uk/software.html There product looks intriguing, but more than the average piper may wish to invest in as a practice tool.

One of the challenges in recording is the sound volume of bagpipes. This will drive how close you will stand to the recording device. Stand next to the recorder and you will almost certainly have distortion. Stand 6, 8 or maybe 10 feet away and the recording may smooth out. Trial and error will give you an optimum solution. Just to reinforce, these recording are for your private use in order to make your playing better. The recording doesn’t need to be symphonically beautiful.

Next is the location that you will record at or in. Do I record in my living room, my garage, an empty work conference room, a public park or in a large performance venue? Will the location have echo or other sounds that may be introduced into your recording? For example, last week it rained near my work. I went out at lunch between raindrops to practice and record, to an open parking lot. I recorded several versions of tunes and went back to work. That evening I listened to the efforts only to discover that a frog, or frogs, had joined me, singing their happy ‘rib bits’ to my version of Meeting of the Waters. Too funny! I never heard them while I played. Another factor outside may be wind. You may hear the wind on the recording as it passes across the microphone. The type of mic used may also contribute to hearing the wind. The wind may also carry your music away causing a ‘warped’ sounding recording.

The benefits of recording are very direct. Listening to the recording puts you in the seat of a competition judge and quickly pinpoint areas for technique improvement:

* Playing in tune – Upon playback, you will quickly hear if your drones are out of tune with each other. Take time to tune every time you play. Although you may miss a rough tuning of chanter to drones, you will certainly hear any gross out of tuning of chanter, especially top hand ‘F’, ‘G’ and ‘A’

* Fingering technique – Can I hear the ‘G’ on your D-throw; are your doublings even; does your tachums, sound like it is pronounced; are you taorluaths distinct.  
* Blowing evenly – How steady is your pressure being maintained. Blowing verses arm squeeze. Can you hear the steadiness of the music? Are you pressing harder when playing your high hand (high F, G & A) and are they played sharp, indicating overblowing?
* Playing in tempo – You will quickly hear where you rush (or slow down) music phrases.
* Control your instrument
   - Striking In – On a mental roll-off with a one or two beat ‘E’ are you playing with confidence? No early drone or chanter sounds allowed.
   - Cut-offs – Are they clean and controlled, every time?

So to improve for competition, or improve for solo performance, record yourself. When I listen, I have a highlighter pen and music printed off at the ready. Listen the first time with a yellow highlighter, second time with green, 3rd with blue… you get the idea. I’m listening carefully and listening multiple times to a recording, highlighting areas on the music for improvement. Then practice the tune with the marked music until you have fixed the issue. Then the next time you record without sheet music, you’ll hear the difference. It is an iterative and disciplined process.

And it will pay off.  Happy piping!