ravencallscrows | Adventures in Pipecleaning

For the non-bagpipers reading this, a few explanatory notes first of all. A bagpipe is a really simple instrument on a fundamental level- it's a bag with three (two in some styles, but three in my pipes) drones, a blowpipe, and a chanter (which produces the melody). Traditionally, the bag itself is hide, and needs occasional seasoning to remain airtight. Seasoning itself isn't a major process- there are several brands of bag seasoning on the market, all of which are naturally a thick, viscous goo. Simply place the seasoning can in hot water long enough to liquefy the contents, let it cool enough to not be hot, but not enough to let it return to its treacle-like consistency, and pour about half of the can into one of the stocks. Rub it into the skin thoroughly, and you're about done.

Unfortunately, this in practice is "pour a liquid into a container with five holes in it, and try to make sure none of them are pointing down at the time." Not an impossible task. Got the pouring in part done with no problems. Then there's the working in part. That didn't start too badly. Then the telephone rang. tried to set the bag down to grab the phone, and poured part of the seasoning out one of the stocks. Answered the phone, picked up the bag to work the seasoning in, and dropped one of the stocks, pouring more of the seasoning down my arm. Figured there was no way it was getting properly seasoned with this little amount left in, so poured in the rest of the jar. Got the rest of the process accomplished with no further spills, but still had managed to get it on the floor in three different places, spill it on my shirt, and splash a bit on my pants. But the chore is now done for the next 6-12 months, and they're up and playing again with no leaks other than a minor one in the blowpipe check valve, which should be easy enough to fix.

I'm feeling a lot more competent as a player these days. Still need to work on the sight-reading and arrangement, but now that i'm getting through fingering exercises without major errors, that'll come in time.