I'm thinking of buying a set of technopipes (electronic bagpipes) and I'm in search of people who have experience with this instrument. I found the name 'Fagerstrom Technopipes' on the internet (from the US) and I would like to have your opinion on this instrument!
Currently, I play the uilleann pipes, and this will be and remain my main instrument, but I thought it would be nice to play in the evening with headphones on ^^
Yes, great for practise but definitely not for public performance. Some people do use them on stage etc but nobody with a right mind would use them for trad.
Great for practice. Especially nice is the option for using border pipe fingerings to get the accidentals (if you want to play border pipes then this is the only option for practising apart from the pipes themselves). Be careful not to select the equal tempered option when playing since you can hear the wrong notes quite clearly.
You definitely could use them for sessions with a small amp - the quality is ok and they are in tune (and adjustable). Whether you would want to for aesthetic reasons is another question and I can understand people who would not like to see them at sessions. On the other hand, I have used them to get some of my session attendees used to the idea of playing along with drones in A and the pipe tunes repertoire. Lugging the border pipes along for one or two tunes in an evening is just not worth it. I amped the technopipes through a friend's keyboard, but I also have a small portable amp that I could have used. The quality of the sound really does depend on the amp and cable used though.
And you really wouldn't want to lug smallipes or border pipes along to a session as well as your Uilleann pipes.
(Mostly I play the flute in sessions.)
The technopipes use the highland pipe fingerings. They can tune to A, Bflat, C or D. There are three voicings - highland (and border), and two different smallpipe sounds. I usually use the border pipe fingerings in A with either the highland pipe sound or the second of the two smallipe sounds.
So, in summary, a great practice aid and a limited but sometimes useful tool for playing in public with.
Fagerstrom Technopipes
Fagerstrom Technopipes
Hya everyone,
I'm thinking of buying a set of technopipes (electronic bagpipes) and I'm in search of people who have experience with this instrument. I found the name 'Fagerstrom Technopipes' on the internet (from the US) and I would like to have your opinion on this instrument!
Currently, I play the uilleann pipes, and this will be and remain my main instrument, but I thought it would be nice to play in the evening with headphones on ^^
greetings from Aine
# Posted on October 28th 2008 by ainekenaz
Re: Fagerstrom Technopipes
Yes, great for practise but definitely not for public performance. Some people do use them on stage etc but nobody with a right mind would use them for trad.
# Posted on October 28th 2008 by bogman
Re: Fagerstrom Technopipes
No, you're right, but I can imagine people would use them for playing folk rock or some flogging molly kind of style...
# Posted on October 28th 2008 by ainekenaz
Re: Fagerstrom Technopipes
Great for practice. Especially nice is the option for using border pipe fingerings to get the accidentals (if you want to play border pipes then this is the only option for practising apart from the pipes themselves). Be careful not to select the equal tempered option when playing since you can hear the wrong notes quite clearly.
You definitely could use them for sessions with a small amp - the quality is ok and they are in tune (and adjustable). Whether you would want to for aesthetic reasons is another question and I can understand people who would not like to see them at sessions. On the other hand, I have used them to get some of my session attendees used to the idea of playing along with drones in A and the pipe tunes repertoire. Lugging the border pipes along for one or two tunes in an evening is just not worth it. I amped the technopipes through a friend's keyboard, but I also have a small portable amp that I could have used. The quality of the sound really does depend on the amp and cable used though.
And you really wouldn't want to lug smallipes or border pipes along to a session as well as your Uilleann pipes.
(Mostly I play the flute in sessions.)
The technopipes use the highland pipe fingerings. They can tune to A, Bflat, C or D. There are three voicings - highland (and border), and two different smallpipe sounds. I usually use the border pipe fingerings in A with either the highland pipe sound or the second of the two smallipe sounds.
So, in summary, a great practice aid and a limited but sometimes useful tool for playing in public with.
Chris
# Posted on October 29th 2008 by Crackpot
Re: Fagerstrom Technopipes
You seen these? http://www.vpipes.com
Don't think they're really selling them yet, but you might check...
# Posted on October 29th 2008 by Reverend