There are a several surviving sets of early uilleann/transitional pastoral uilleann/union pipes out there. Of these that feature a single regulator, would that regulator typically be analogous to today’s baritone regulator? Or was it also sometimes more of a tenor regulator..or a hybrid?
Thanks,
I was going to ask a related question.
If you were going to have a single reg on a c set with only tenor and baritone drones which reg would you have?
The idea is to keep the set as small and compact as possible.
I think most antique single reg sets I have seen photos of besides O’Mealy have the tenor with five notes sometimes tenor with four.
I assume because O mealy omitted the tenor for a contrabass and as sets were intended to be built up, the baritone was first for him (see Sean Reid society O mealy articles ).
Is this common on any other makers sets.
I also remember seeing pictures of a set with a really long reg with 7-8 notes in the Morpeth museum I think.
What are the benifits? Drawbacks? of either reg single?
Having had first hand knowledge of at least one, and seeing two others that look identical (in terms of notes), I’d say it’s the tenor minus the C. Which is also the baritone minus the D, plus a B.
Early sets of union pipes (and also pastoral pipes) were a little less standardized with regard to the regulator tuning. Some sets had a single four-key regulator more or less analogous to a modern tenor reg, but it was not uncommon to have regulators with five keys.
Here’s a list of some of the tuning combinations that were present on pastoral pipes. There was more than likely some crossover between these and some of the very early footjoint-less union pipes of the late-1800s/early-1900s.
The list given is not exhaustive; it omits the configuration with a D on single regulator sets, which is not uncommon (i.e. the single reg is what we would now call a ‘baritone’); also not mentioned is the single regulator which plays only D, which I have seen on a couple of occasions.
A common union pipe combination which also shows up on Pastoral sets is the two-reg configuration with 3 and 4 keys, respectively - in effect, the modern 2 reg setup without the uppermost rank:
bari: G F# D
tenor: B A G F#
I have seen several cases where the D on the baritone was added, as a separate joint, to what would otherwise be considered a tenor. I have also encountered a couple of instruments where the D note was played by a stand-alone regulator, with a separate ‘tenor’ (to use today’s nomenclature). Taken together this suggests that the second regulator may have originated as a single note, ‘D’, from which it is only a small extrapolation to the ‘add on’ D joint and the presence of two multi-keyed regulators with some redundancy.
In the early days of both instruments, the two regulators were referred to as ‘unison’ and ‘pupilow’. There is some question as to which was which. If however you take the hypothesis that the following regulator configuration was one of the earliest:
D
B A G F#
then it makes sense that the D reg was the unison and the four-key regulator was the ‘pupilow’.
Thanks to (Dr.) Jimmy O’Brien-Moran, who did some digging in Italian dictionaries, one finds ‘pupilow’ an Italian word meaning, variously, ‘ward’, ‘pupil’, etc., a diminutive term suggestive an understudy or ‘person under protection’, from which we get the English word ‘pupil’. This aptly alludes to the relationship of the four-key regulator above to the chanter.
It also reflects the formal musical context of various pipe tutors of the day, where Italian was the language of ‘cultured’ European music.
Brilliant! Good work everyone.
Now, avanti popolo!
I also remember seeing pictures of a set with a really long reg with 7-8 notes in the Morpeth museum I think
It is inded in the Morpeth Museum and has 8 Keys covering C# down to D
One set of Pastorals had
Tenor B A G F#
Bari G F# E D
Malcolm MacGreggor (circa 1810-20) on his barrel and ‘normal’ sets seems to have favoured a simplified layout
Tenor B A G F#
Bari D
The D key would have a long touch so it could be played with the A G and F#keys on the Tenor
Have also seen this ‘Macgregor style’ arrangement on a set of Pastorals.
On sets I have seen by McFadden and Hamilton the top row of regulator keys are absent
Chris
How old is that set and is the double chanter original? Don’t know why, but I had the impression that double chanters were a much later development (1830+)
As far as one reg sets go I love the sound of this one
http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=pqlpPyJmHB4&feature=relmfu
Anyone want to answer if you had only one reg on a two drone set would you choose tenor or baritone as we know them today 5 and 4 note?
I’d be leaning towards baritone.
Baritone!
I’ve been playing a B 3/4 set with just the baritone reg used as a reg. the Tenor is employed as an A drone. It got me wondering what the music might have been like coming from these old, single-reg sets.
For my part, I am enjoying playing just this one regulator on a variety of tunes. Who knew?
Wasn’t it the case that the term “pupilow” only appears in a later transcription of one early advert, and even in that case the original newspaper advert has never been found to date? I don’t know why but I’ve always had this gut feeling that it might be a mistranscription or even a printer’s error…perhaps just the printer misinterpreting the scribbled word “regulator”.
The Italian theory is interesting but doesn’t quite convince me. Perhaps if someone dug up the original advert or another occurrence of the term.
Ontology recapitulates phylogeny!
Interesting. The D you already have, so it doesn’t add much harmonically (just volume), so you’re left with just three notes (A, G, G#) for harmony. And if you have the A going all the time, you’re down to just two. If it were me, I’d make the Baritone A the drone, and go with the tenor for more harmonic possibilities. On the other hand, I don’t recall seeing any sets with an A that high. Usually the fourth drone is between tenor and baritone.
Be sure to tune it at 1:30 (your time) for Ronan Browne’s presentation on NPU TV!
My cat has occasionally tried to take a nap on the regs while I’m playing, but never have I seen it used as a pup pillow.
I aced paleontology too.
The Fitzgerald-set: Later extension or too short piece of ivory?
I use all four notes on that reg. The D is redundant in that it is the same ‘note’ as the drones, but it has its own character that sets it apart. Same with the topmost A: it is similar to the tenor A in pitch, but it stands on its own, especially if ever-so-slight pitched differently than the tenor A. You get this expanding A! when you have them both going, and it is intriguing when used rhythmically. That bari A is too big a note to use as a drone, compared to the tenor A…and it sucks more air.
Mind you, I like my harmonies and chords on the crunchy side 
YMMV
I had thought of all those things, but it’s good to have them expressed so clearly. I’ll have to check with my own B set, but I think the notes on mine are much more similar in terms of sound and air use.
Interesting choices anyway, and good luck to you with it!
(PS, my B set is at B now… or very close. Much better chance to have some good tunes together now! B session next time we meet for sure.)