A few questions from a wanna be

Uilleann Pipes
1

Hey.

I’m looking for some help here. I’m thinking about trying the pipes(note, however, that I have no money set aside as of right now), and I know that the sort of tone I want would be the Paddy Keenan/Cillian Vallelly type, smooth, singing tone, if you know what I mean. Not to say that I would be imitaing their styles, but that’s the sort of tone I want. Also, I understand that the quality of tone has a great deal to do with who is playing the pipes.

So, that said, the question is: What makers make pipes capable of that quality of tone, and about how much would they cost? As I said before, I’m not ready to buy right now, but I want to know anyway… :slight_smile:

Also, how quiet is a narrow bore D chanter generally? I’ve seen people say that they’re quiet, but that doesn’t really give me any idea…like, whistle sort of volume or what?

Always-too-eager-to-try-a-new-instrument,
Nate

2

if you’re starting with a practice set, I recommend Bruce Childress of Gardner, Mass. I’ve owned three chanters and his is the quietest and sweetest to hear.

can’t comment much on a full set, but i have a rebuilt one from tim britton (to keep cost down) and have no complaints about the drones (or regs for that matter) after I applied a little blutak to the reed tongues. The chanter that came with it he rebored, rereeded, and , well, totally reworked. it is very much in tune (and has three keys which is a plus), but i have found it louder and more “abrasive” than bruce’s.