Steve…see your PMs
Joshua, are you out of piping or just moving to another set?
I’ve heard a couple of DMQs C sets and the above seems like serious overstatement at the least; someone could get a seriously wrong impression. Nothing like a concert pitch set if you ask me. Unless Debbie’s set is completely atypical.
Dave said the C he makes was designed as a wide bore C(in fact a medium bore), made to re-create the raucous sound of Pat Mitchell’s Matt Kiernan chanter. Concert pitch like is maybe not quite the right description but other than that it was not too far off.
Thanks, Peter. Pat Mitchell’s set is a very good example of what this set sounds like. I guess we all get an idea in our heads of what a narrow bore vs concert pitch wide bore should sound like. The Quinn 3/4 set in C is a lot closer to a concert set in its voicing IMHO. It is quite strong sounding, and the regs are full volume - nothing muted or toned down like in a narrow bore set.
InnerHand, yes, I believe this is the same set. The reg reeds are made of spruce instead of cane. Debbie is impressed with them in that they haven’t moved a bit since she got the set - no need to retune or anything. They are always bang on.
I understand that this was a set that Mr Quinn had originally built for himself. No doubt he spent a lot of time getting it to sound just the way he prefered, so Debbie got a really good deal.
djm
The set pictured above in innerhand’s post being played by the middle-aged imposter is in B, not C. I am not sure how Bruce got the impression that it was in C, but it isn’t. This is one that I am playing now.
Ms. Quigley’s set is in C, and is made of Mopane, while the B set is Ziricote. It is true that I made that C set for myself, but the reeds that are in it now are all by my partner, Benedict Koehler. As such, it is a Koehler &Quinn set, not a D. M. Quinn set. There is nothing out of the ordinary about its bores or construction, so it’s likely to be very much like the ones billh would have heard. Unfortunately, I never bothered to take a lot of pictures of it while I had it. I got used to the idea that it was always going to be around.
Peter is right, for the most part, about the origins of my (and latterly the K&Q) C chanter. I don’t know enough to design a chanter to sound a certain way, but it is true that my concept of what a C chanter ought to sound like is based on early exposure to recordings of Pat Mitchell’s playing. Frankly, I don’t think I ever got the sound I was looking for, but it seems that some people like the way these C chanters sound, while others don’t care for it. I hope there’s room for differences in taste.
(With thanks and a tip of the hat to mukade)
Okay, its a B then. Sorry, but BC’s picture is too dark for me to tell.
Anyway, I guess the really telling point is that Debbie is all smiles when she plays her new K&Q 3/4 set in C, and that’s all that really matters to me.
djm
Steve, I’m really sorry–ebay has set up a new system for e-correspondence between buyers and sellers that either has quite a few bugs in it or has me flummoxed. I got your e-mail and tried the usual method of replying directly, but obviously the text didn’t make it. I also tried replying through their (ebay) link, but that doesn’t seem to have worked, either. At any rate, no, I don’t have a case for this set–Seth couldn’t get his hands on one to send with it and I decided to sell before I bought one. It has no spare reeds, just the ones that came in the pipes.
Tony-I’m getting out of it, sad to say. I already play lots of strings that I do try to keep up with and, as the auction page says, I really don’t have any time to play or diddle around with the pipes between my job and baby daughter. I should have taken them up when I was 20, but I took up the fiddle and banjo instead. There you have it. Anyone with any other questions, please post them in this thread, I’ll keep up on it.
Josh