(Part 2) Top products from r/bagpipes

Learning to zen meditate may be of use. It's core is the practice of controlling your breath. Taking in as much air as possible, and exhaling completely. To do so you must learn to breathe with your diaphragm rather than your lungs. It might sound simple, but it's a pretty strange feeling.

Stamina on the pipes can fade quickly, so playing 5-10min a day, every single day, will be a huge help. I've noticed stamina loss even after 2 weeks of not playing.

To strengthen your lips, treat them as you would any other muscle. Every now and then you need to "lift" to failure. That means playing until you literally can not keep a seal any longer... and playing for another 5 minutes.

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Aside from the physical aspect, having your pipes set up properly, with a reed that you're actually capable of playing, helps a lot. Often times instructors or PMs will give you a harder reed because it sounds better, but it becomes so difficult to play it's simply miserable.

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Edit: Some new thoughts after reading some comments: Switching to an oval mouthpiece really helped me. Also, some pipers will have the mouthpiece in the corner or their mouth. I find that makes it extremely difficult to keep a seal given how lips muscles function. So I'd also recommend learning to play with the mouthpiece right in the center of your mouth to allow your lips to use their full strength.

Also also, this is the book that taught me how to zen meditate https://www.amazon.com/Meditation-Plain-English-Daishin-Buksbazen/dp/0861713168/ref=sr_1_7?keywords=meditation+plain+english&qid=1549821441&s=gateway&sr=8-7

I've found The Great Highland Bagpipe and its Music by Roderick Cannon to be a fantastic book. I particularly enjoyed the piobaireachd chapter!

1. Stop playing in a grade 5 band (I kid, I kid... but... grades exist for a reason and you are playing with the lowest. We should always strive for improvement but I don't think I've ever played with a grade 5 band that could make it through an entire set without one and usually multiple people screwing up. Your post indicates that you are putting in a level of effort generally not found among the membership in grade 5, maybe time to move on to a higher level where you will be happier? I know it worked for me).
   
   
2. I found this book to be extremely helpful, but in order for it to work your members have to actually read/implement it: https://www.amazon.com/Strategies-Learning-Memorising-Jumping-Musical/dp/1721860657/ref=sr_1_fkmr2_1?keywords=memorizing+tunes+stephanie&qid=1562593346&s=gateway&sr=8-1-fkmr2

In short, microphones. Don't know if you can plug more than one into an iPhone but you need more than one to really make it work.

This book is really good for getting a basic understanding of the recording process and ideas for doing it with what you have.

That said, studio time is cheap these days. Depending on what you want to do it may actually be the easiest route.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Guerilla-Home-Recording-Studio-Leonard/dp/1423454464

There is a great little book of (trad) Irish tunes for fairly cheap - "Traditional Irish Music for the Bagpipes" - Dave Rickard. Really fun stuff and, I think, a lot of room for your personal interpretation.

https://www.amazon.com/Traditional-Irish-Music-Bagpipe-Rickard/dp/0946005745

I am looking into trying to learn how to play the bagpipes and need some advice on buying a practice chanter. I understand that with most things, you get what you pay for. My question is should I get a name brand like Dunbar/Gibson or is going with a less expensive one just fine?

Here are two that I was looking into:

Dunbar long practice chanter

Pringle long practice chanter

For mobility, I use a fish tackle box. Mine is only a 2 shelf one, but my old instructor used a 3 tray one, and my current pipe major also uses a 3 tray. For most people who don't have a band or students to carry supplies for, a 2 tray is probably good enough.

http://www.amazon.com/Plano-2-Tray-Tackle-Metallic-White/dp/B000E3E126

Mine's that, only from the late 90s.