Piping

The call should be held between the index finger and thumb, with the thumb on or near the shackle The side of the buoy rests against the palm of the hand and the fingers close over the gun and buoy hole in position to throttle the exit of air from the buoy to the desired amount. Care should be taken not to touch the hole of the buoy or the end of the gun, or the sound will be choked. There are two main notes; the low and the high, and three tones; the plain, the warble and the trill.

 

The high note is produced by throttling the exit of air from the hole of the buoy. This is done by closing the fingers around the buoy, taking care not to touch the edge of the hole or the end of the gun.

The warble is produced by blowing a series of jerks, which results in a warble similar to that of a canary.

The trill is produced by vibrating the tongue while blowing, as in rolling the letter R.

The Still and the Carry On

The two main pipes used by Seafarers are the 'Still' and the 'Carry On'. Each of these is described below. In Seafaring the two pipes make up the colours ceremony.

The Still

The still is used to call all hands to the Alert as a mark of respect, or to order silence on any occasion. The still is also used to announce the arrival onboard of a senior Officer. The pipe is an order in itself and does not require any verbal addition.

This is the signal for the colours to be hoisted at colours ceremony.

The Carry On

The carry on is used to cancel the still. The pipe is an order in itself and does not require any verbal addition.

This follows the still at colours.

 

General Call

The general call precedes any broadcast order; it draws attention to the order. The general call is used when passing out-of-routine orders or information of general interest.

Officer of the Day Call

The Officer of the Day call is used to attract the attention of the Officer of the Day to contact the gangway. The pipe is an order in itself and does not require verbal addition. The pipe sonsist of 4 high "pips".

Pipe the Side

When a Commanding Officer of an HMC ship arrivesd onboard he/she is entitled to this pipe. To be done properly it should be 12 seconds long with very smooth transitions. To accomplish this, the sailor must take a very long deep breath prior to beginning; failure to do so will cause the pipe to be abruptly cut short. The side is also piped for Royalty, teh Accused when entering a Court Martial and for the Officer of the Guard (When the Guard is formed up).
 

Hands to Dinner

The dinner pipe is made at 1200 when the Ship's Company secures and commences the mid-day meal, referred to as dinner. It is never made for any other meal-time. The pipe is an order in itself and does not require any verbal addition. This pipe is very long and any is the pride of any sailor that can do it absolutely properly, and the disgrace of any sailor that does not.

Pipe Down

The pipe down is made at 2230 or at any other time specified by the routine daily orders, when the Ship's Company retire for the evening and the silent hours period commences. The pipe is an order in itself and does not require any verbal addition. When this pipe is made during the middle of the day, it means that the ship is adopting a "Sunday Routine for the remainder of the day.