Childress Pipes

Uilleann Pipes
1

Hello All!

I’m a member from the distant past, trying to make a foray into Uilleann Piping. I have a few questions just to fill in some lack of information mainly:

  • I know of Daye and Skye’s work, and they are well spoken of. However I haven’t found anything much about Childress. Is there anybody who could speak to his pipes - the tone of the drones and chanter? Either those who own a set or who know a set? I’m just looking to fill in my information for this particular maker. He’s been at it quite a while from what I can see - but it’s difficult to find people talking about him and playing his pipes. I only see his pipes being bought and sold in classifieds.

  • While I’m at it a fun question that my readings have instilled in me: What affects the tone more, a good reed or a good chanter?

2

In all fairness, tone and how you like it can only be gleaned from being face to face with a set of pipes. Asking the question on the internet about any make of pipes (or any instrument) will throw up a few who think instrument x is the best and a few who will think it’s the worst.

What affects the tone more, a good reed or a good chanter?

Well that’s the question. But maybe you should look at the optimal reed/chanter combination as one system.

3

In general a good reed is more important

RORY

4

I’ve been playing a Childress chanter since 2000 and a Chidress full set since 2004 and have been perfectly happy with them. I also own a Childress full set in B which I like as well although it doesn’t get the play time that the concert set does. I’ve always thought that I got a lot of bang for my buck with these pipes and have never felt inclined to “upgrade” to a set made by any of the more popular makers. I don’t hang out with a lot of pipers, but when I do, folks who ask seem pleasantly surprised when I tell them I’m playing a Bruce Childress set. Just guessing, but I speculate that folks may not have considered Childress pipes in the past because they were priced well below other makers. I don’t follow the market any more, so I don’t know if that is still true today.

Chanter tone seems to depend on the reed set up. My chanter reed is set up to play on the quieter side to blend in with smaller sessions. Bruce’s drones have synthetic reeds which are stable and sound fine to me; all I do is tune them when it’s time to play.

So, for what it’s worth, that’s my take on Childress pipes. My experience has been nothing but good.

5

My first chanter was a Childress chanter. It was reeded by Bruce and I bought it second hand. It was very sweet and I only sold it because I received my full set eventually, but I wished I kept it. Kind of like keeping your first car.