Northumbrian Smallpipes Book & Services
by John Liestman
Contents (click on
your choice or scroll on down for the full tour)
- Tutor / Reed Making / Maintenance Book
- Stunning Photos of Northumbrian Smallpipes
- Some tunes that you might enjoy
- Repair and Reed Making Services
- Instruments For Sale
- Instruments For Rent ("Hire" to you Brits)
- Other Online Stuff
- E-mail and Snail Mail Addresses
Tutor / Reed Making / Maintenance Book
Written to especially serve the isolated or teacherless player, beginner or advanced, "The Northumbrian Smallpipes Tutor" offers an all-inclusive course, with everything I could cram into , including:
how to buy a set of pipes (and what options / keys / key to get to suit your needs) how to read and understand music and apply that to the pipes complete beginning and intermediate instruction common beginner problems such as how hard to squeeze and how to tell if the pipes are working extensive chapters on making chanter and drone reeds from scratch complete pipe maintenance and repairs that the player can do (and when to do them) about 30 tunes that well suit the pipes chapters on style and British Isles traditional music styles and tune types a big list of handy resources and a section on essential gadgets (some to buy, some to make) that will really help you out.
Colin Ross (the Grand Poobah of pipes himself) said in the Northumbrian Pipers' Society Magazine: "very user friendly . . . fascinating reading . . . the most comprehensive source on information available to date."
Reviewer and all around pipes ace Bill Gority (in the Northumbrian Small Pipes Society of North America newsletter) says: "The introductory parts of the book cover all the questions I wish I had someone to answer for me when I was first starting out. ... This book should be on the shelves of all Northumbrian pipers."
A Northumbrian native who prefers to remain anonymous says: "Great book, but why did it take a bloody Yank to write the definitive book on OUR instrument!"
How to order your very own copy: You can order directly from me (send a check in US dollars to my mailing address for $25 plus $4.50 for shipping to the US or Canada. If you live outside the US or Canada, I need to charge $9 shipping and PLEASE be absolutely sure that the check is issued from a bank in US dollars. If you live in Bora Bora, simply writing "pay in US dollars" on a personal check will not work. You COULD also buy it from other places including Andy's Front Hall and Celtic Fire, BUT then I don't make the big bucks and all my work building this SWELL web page will be for nothing.
Ordering online: You can now pay here with PayPal, the most popular online payment service. Basically, it just takes your credit card and transfers the money to me. If you are already a PayPal user, it just does a normal transaction. If not, it signs you up, then does the transaction. The whole thing does not cost you any more and you get your book faster. I pay all the expenses for PayPal. And since the payment comes through your credit card, there is no charge for converting from, say, Canadian dollars to US dollars, and no charge for getting a check cut in US funds, so this is a great option for my northerly neighbors, or indeed anyone from the US or elsewhere. I have had to start charging more for shipping overseas, to cover the costs, so there are now two buttons. The first button is for US and Canada only and will charge $25 for the book and $4.50 shipping. The second button is for other countries and will charge the same $25 for the book and $9.00 shipping. So push the correct button to order one copy of the book.
US and Canadian Orders
Orders from beyond US and Canada
People who live in the United Kingdom and maybe Europe can also purchase the book in person or by mail from The Bagpipe Museum (even if it is not currently listed in the online catalog), in Morpeth, Northumberland. In case that link is down, the address and phone are: Morpeth Chantry Bagpipe Museum, Bridge Street, Morpeth, Northumberland, UNITED KINGDOM - telephone number is 01670 519466 within the UK. This will save you converting to US dollars. Back to the top of the page.
My own D set, African
blackwood, chrome, and imitation ivory, with 15 key chanter, spalted maple
bellows, green marbled bag cover, typical Liestman hex decorations
An F set in Honduras Rosewood, brass, and imitation horn, with 11 key chanter and simpler ferrules
Photos by Pam Smedley Photography - http://www.pamsmedleyphoto.com/
Some tunes that you might enjoy
Here are a few of tunes in MP3 format, graciously played and recorded by Peter Dyson on a Liestman D set. All tunes copyright by the author and used with their permission. Tunes were recorded using basic home equipment with no studio EQ or effects, solely to show you what the pipes sound like.
“The Piper in the Well”, a sprightly tune composed by Andrew Davison
“Aln Water”, a lovely tune composed by Margaret Watchorn
“Ian
Dickson”, a touching duet (both parts played by Peter) composed by
Anthony Robb with seconds by Carole Robb
Repair and Reed Making Services
Most simple repairs can be done by the player, using my book as a guide, and I encourage you do so. However, I will happily perform any repairs that you need as my schedule permits. I specialize in climate related repairs ("it worked in Northumberland, but now it just makes squeaks and everything leaks!", as one customer said). I have repaired pipes made by David Burleigh, Dave Shaw, Colin Ross, John Addison, Kirk Lynch, Eugene Lambe, Willy Hamilton, Tom Green, Ray Sloan, Anonymous, and, oddly enough, John Liestman.
As a pipe maker myself, I have the facilities to repair or remake any part good as new, using the proper materials and techniques. (In October 1997, yours truly was awarded the First Place in the Northumbrian Pipers' Society annual competitions in the Pipemaking category. I am especially thrilled by this as, near as I can figure, I am the first overseas entrant in the history of this pipemaking competition.) I have made a fair number of new bellows for existing pipes (my bellows move more air than traditional designs typically as well as being very attractive) which enhance the playability of the set. The most common repairs these days seem to be fixing newly purchased second-hand sets, everything from making the keys work right again to back-filling fingerholes that have been greatly elongated in the tuning process (filling with nearly indetectable matching wood patches rather than gobbing in some epoxy).
While I also encourage pipers to make their own reeds, I will reed your pipes as well. Often it is best to have me provide one good chanter reed and one good drone reed that you can use as a reference when making your own. I also am open to you sending me your reed making efforts for my opinion and advice. Lastly, I will also provide reed making materials such as cane, which is difficult to buy in small quantities.
Contact me by E mailor snail mail before sending any parts.
Advice I welcome E mail or snail mail notes from people seeking advice about their pipes, within reason. I may well reply that you should buy my book. I wrote it to answer a lot of the questions that people have, but I will do my best to help you out anyway that I can. Don't worry, if you begin to use up your "free online support time allotment", I will let you know.
Instruments For Sale
I am a part time maker of Northumbrian smallpipes. I do not accept orders, as this would impose deadlines and I get enough of that at my "real" job. Rather, I make what I want to make and, when a set is ready, I let people know that it is available, either by posting to the Northumbrian smallpipers mailing list or by a call or note to people who have expressed an interest in my pipes. If you wish to be on this list of interested parties, send me an E mail or a snail mail.
Instruments For Rent ("Hire" to you Brits)
I now have two sets of keyless Northumbrian smallpipes for rent to people who want to try out a set before buying one. It can be daunting to have to spent $1000 or more to begin to play an instrument when you are not even sure that you can do the necessary pumping / squeezing / fingering motions. Renting a keyless set will get you past this question. I do NOT intend these to be rented for more than a few months at a time and this is NOT only for people who intend to buy a set from me. There is a $300 security deposit, a $40 monthly rental fee, and contract required and I currently will only rent to those living in the US and to those who own my book (so that they can have a better chance at success and will maintain the set properly). Please E mail me if interested.
Other online stuff
There is an online NSP Mailing list. To subscribe send an E mail to mailto:nsp-request@cs.dartmouth.eduwith the word "subscribe" as the subject (title). It is a very valuable and trash-free list.
Northumbrian Smallpipes Homepage My close personal friend Julia Say maintains a lovely ever-growing page. Check it out. The page lists lots of stuff including various makers, recordings for sale, events, you name it.
E-mail or Snail Mail
E-mail or you can spend a stamp and write me at:
John "my best friend" Liestman
3418 Maple Park Drive
Kingwood, Texas 77339
USA.
Please, no
telephone calls. Thank you.
Last modified in Feb 2008, but hey, how often do you think this stuff changes anyway?
Page constructed by me using a pc and some software.