Hi there, I frequent www.thesession.org and I think it would be much easier to ask on a forum like this…
I want to buy a practice set and well, I’m taking everything off my Christmas list and adding of these two on there so I’m guaranteed it =P
What are your experiences with these two if any? I’m mostly leaning towards David Daye’s set because of the price, but Patrick’s set is upgradable. I’m stuck. Help! And I already searched for all the topics about these and that hasn’t helped much. Are there any other good pipes out there within the same price range [350 - 600]? In the end, I have a feeling I’ll be going with Patrick’s set…
What he said. Pat’s more like a regular pipe maker. The Daye pipes if comparable in price or even lower (haven’t checked) are sort of dead-enders in terms of moving beyond a beginning practice set.
David Daye’s sets are upgradable. He is, or will be soon, offering drones to go with his Penny Chanter practice set. Check his website. But Pat Sky may have a shorter wait time. Write them and ask.
Rick
Phew!.. Yeah that’s what I thought (he’s been telling me). I have had the intention on getting me some of those drones when I’m no longer a fresh newbie.
The only other thing would be regulators.. but should’t one be able to add such made by any othe rmaker since their not connected to all the other components in any important way other then into the bag of course.
PS. Might be stating the obvious but i’m a newb flexing my “knowledge”.
Not meaning to degrade the value of a Daye Penny Chanter set, but if you were thinking of upgrading you PC with drones, that means that you’re obviously pretty keen on the pipes and willing to make a effort to be able to play them. Therefore, if I were you, rather than spending money on some drones to go with the ‘kit’ practice chanter, why not invest the money in a more valuable chanter (valuable in terms of sound, aesthetics, and re-sale value) and upgrade it in the future?
Umm. Myes well I worship bagpipes, the magical voice of the UP is the closest I have come to the language of love and my own soul.
The only problem is that I suck at playing it myself :roll:.
I have no tutor (person or otherwise any aid) so i’m completely on my own and it’s not progressing very well – I didn’t have much trouble getting started though. Gonna try and find a tutor(cd/dvd/book) during this year.
Anyway.. hm, feels weird just throwing my sweetheart away that I have waited for several years on. But well… I guess I’ll consider it, but i’m not concerned about re-sale value. My plan is to keep playing until I die and if gods are willing after that as well.
I would really need to hear more real UPs IRL(pitty there is no UP players around here), as far as I can tell my Chanter sounds just like those in songs and such I have. If there was a great difference I’d consider it even more.
I have two Daye chanters, a cocobolo and a traditional penny-chanter. They both have genuine uilleann pipe sound, but the penny-chanter actually has a clearer tone. Wooden chanters seem to be a mite mellower than the brass-'n-plastic. Yet the p. chanter still has great tone, not to mention reliabilty. Daye uses a metal reed seat, which for some reason rather stabilizes the typical unpleasant reed variations that plague us pipers.
I also have one of Daye’s first drone test sets; they sound incredible! It seems that a lot of u.p. makers put together sets where the tenor and baritone are the strongest, and the bass the weakest, but these drones, based off the design of the good ole Harrington narrow-bores, have very strong bass and overall a fine blend. I might try to get some clips online someday. They in no way sound fake or un-uilleann, and with the artificial drone reeds, you can tune them to perfection.
However, beyond getting a half set, Daye has thought about eventually expanding further and making regulators too… but i don’t know if that will be feasible for some time. If he does get to that point, i’m sure the set will be excellent like all his other work, but it’ll be a while.
One other thing: the mainstock on these drones is designed only to hold drones, not regulators (though the idea is he’ll simply make a larger one if he starts making full sets). For the present, if you’re looking for an easily upgradable half set, you’ll have to look elsewhere.
Reed variations are found in the reed seat? I always thought it was the reed itself that caused those. The five that he sent me certainly had plenty.
I bet if you asked, most makers (probably ALL makers) would tell you they shoot to have everything in balance, not just two of the drones. I’ve heard plenty of sets from plenty of makers who sounded great - bass and all. Interesting too that he would use a narrow bore drone design, when his chanter design was “borrowed” from a Quinn chanter which in turn was based on a wide bore Rowsome design. Although he does mention that they have been “re-scaled for modern Concert D pitch and loudness standards” so really, you’re not getting true Harrington B drones which is what this design is based from. Seems pretty mis matched. Also, you can’t get any drones yet - they’re still in production. Anticipated delivery was last listed as 2002.
I would think Pat Sky would be your best bet now for a number of reasons - upgradability being only one. He makes his pipes out of hardwood, and his reeds out of cane. If you want true tone and playability, nothing quite matches it. His lead time is short - around 2 months I believe, and his prices are highly competetive. Pat also makes (and has made for something like 40 years) standard half and practice sets. The newer ‘budget’ set he offers is of the same quality, but with fewer bells and whistles as far as decorative turnings and mounts etc. http://www.patricksky.com Wouldn’t hurt to drop him a line and do some comparison shopping anyway. Welcome to the dark side - happy piping!
(a deep)Thank you for making me feel better about my DD pipes! .
I for one would be real interested in anything you could do to provide info about those drones. Pics, sound clips, everything. If people here aren’t interested I would really be thankful if you could email me with it instead.
It’s not that some here aren’t interested - but rather that these drones don’t exist yet (for the public). Who knows when they will. They’ve been promised for years now at any rate so your best bet is to go with an established maker who offers the sort of upgradability you are looking for already - and has the experience and prodict to back it up. And again, the penny drones or whatever they will be called when they are available seem like they would be horribly mis-matched to the design of the chanter in this case. Just seems like a lot of trouble for something that is an unsure bet right now…
Brian et al:
Check out http://www.daye1.com/dronesc3oncert.html. it’ll give you the most recent info.
I’m sure Patrick Sky does excellent work, so many people have praised him sky-high. However, Daye is a good option as well. I have a 1/2 set, he’ll be producing them soon, and they’re good stuff. Daye is, admittedly, a little slow on getting this job up to speed, but he’s almost there. Just have a little patience. These are reliable instruments, and Daye’s been one of the earlier Northwest pipers. He goes way back, and he knows what he’s doing.
However, the valid point was made that Daye’s pipes aren’t that expandible. I agree, unless he ever goes all the way to making regulators, which he may. If you know you’ll be content with a half set for a good while though, that’s not a problem. Daye will be affordable (under 600 for practice set, probably under 1000 for half set), and that can’t really be beat. It does sacrifice the traditional layout, though.
A quick disclaimer: I don’t want to sound haughty, or a know-it-all… I really know very little about uilleann pipes even though i’ve played for several years, and I am happy to be corrected by the hundreds of you who know more (Brian, I’m sure I know less than 5% of what you do). But in my piping experience, I have found Daye’s work to be good and worthwhile. I’ll try to get some good audio clips of my pipes (though I can’t vouch for how the fingers will perform ) online sometime so you can judge for yourself how well it blends.
Thanks,
Luke
Luke, the drones page you point to is basically the same information that has been out there for years now - “Just keep waiting, someday they’ll be all worked out and ready to go.” I’d call over four years now (by his own admission) more than a little slow to make a plastic set of drones with plastic reeds. My point is why waste your time on something that is as yet uncertain, when going with the obvious choice of Pat Sky or another established maker for a practice or half set seems like a much wiser choice. You get what you pay for in piping, and if you want question marks and cheap mtaterials, you’d be on the right rack I would think. And heaven help any piper who wants regulators made out of yogurt tops and bubble gum wrappers - or whatever they would end up being constructed of.
As for knowledge, I don’t claim to know everything (though there are those on the boards who do claim to ) but I can tell you from experience and from the advice and experience of others that this screams of a big red flag. Just be careful, and whatever is decided, try to be happy with what you choose. I spent two years playing a set that was nothing like I was told it would be, and while true it did get me started, it caused much more frustration than it solved. Sound files are already available anyway - it’s the drones themselves that are not. All the best…
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