I keep having thoughts of having a single regulater like the early pipes had. does anyone play this configuration? i think i might like the simple harmony sound. i guess if i didn’t i could always add another.
any thoughts on this, list?
best, tansy
Take a listen to Jerry O’Sullivan’s latest CD, “O’Sullivan Meets O’Farrell.” Jerry is playing a full set, but uses one regulator at a time for much of the album. Very enjoyable.
No E
the best solo piping album I’ve ever heard. O’sullivan is an absolutely amazing piper.
John Hughes’ Coyne C# set has only one reg; he makes good use of it.
So far I only have one reg on my personal set.
Bill
You might want to expand your collection a bit.
I don’t know how many keys were on the original one-reg sets, but your options would be pretty limited with today’s regs. Brendan Ring does a lot of one-note reg playing as well, but like JerryOS, you would still want the range you’d get with a full set of regs.
djm
Not sure I agree, if chordal “depth” isn’t what you want (as opposed to range). The modern tenor reg has every note that the others do, except for the tonic ( in one octave, anyway).
I can understand how it (chords) might have sounded that way, Bill, but I was still referring to single-note playing on the regs. You can do more with at least two regs (tenor and bari) than with a single reg.
djm
Tastefully done, a single reg accompaniment would be brilliant IMHO.
Have a listen to some of the recordings of Richard O’Mealy on Ross’s webpage. If memory serves, some of the pieces he plays are songs (melody of the Wild Colonial Boy, etc) in which a single regulator plays harmony notes.
thank you all for the imput. maybe i’m not totaly crazy. i think i will order the single tenor reg and see how it goes. listen to what me own ears tell me.
tansy
Tansy,
I’m gradually building my full set and the next step is the regs. I’ve asked my pipemaker (Nick Whitmer) for his advice on adding regulators. He suggested I start with the baritone rather than the tenor. Fewer keys and deeper sound. I’m following his advice. The tenor will follow once I’m making progress with the baritone and, of course, once I’ve gathered the necessary spondulics.
Just a thought.
Ahh, that’s EXACTLY who I was thinking about when ye mentioned single regulator use. Ohhh how I love Jerry O’Sullivan. I do like the idea of single regulator use. Nice and simple! At Willie Week, I think Nollaig McCarthy did somethin like that at the piping recital. It wasn’t because he intended it though, he was having trouble tuning =P
Cheers,
Armand
DJM Wrote
I don’t know how many keys were on the original one-reg sets, but your options would be pretty limited with today’s regs.
Here is an interesting early set from Chris Bayley’s website - 8 keys on the single regulator and a double chanter - trouble indeed
He gives the compass as D to C# - pity the photos are not a wee bit clearer as the top two block mounts (C & C#) appear to be very close and it would be interesting to see how the keys work.
Elmek, thanks for posting the pics. That’s more in line with what I was thinking of regarding older, single-reg sets. I couldn’t remember if it was 6 or 8 keys.
djm
Pronto,
The number of keys on the regs of these old sets can vary from set to set.
On my site there are some examples of 5 note regulators anyway. Looks like they’d play D, E, F#, G & A. Can anyone confirm this?
Ciao,
Patricimo.
just thinking about that 8 keyed reg. i guess it’s actually a chanter with all the notes keyed and on top. i find that very interesting.
Though I am not 100% positive about this, but I think that was the original idea, a second keyed chanter.
… It would be something if we could travel back in time to the day where the Union Pipes was the dominant pipe, and listen to what they were doing/playing at that time, in addition to the booze… oops, did I type that out loud?
… and the chocolate-covered dancing girls - oops! 
djm
mmmmmmm, chocolate, aglaglaglaglaglagl…drool
…How can I tell her that because of the unfreezing process I have no inner monologue…