Greetings to all! My name is Chris Stout, I am a bagpiper in the 42nd Royal Highlanders of Lafayette, IN USA. We are a 18th century reenactment band that portrays the Black Watch of the late 1700’s in North America. Take a look at our website in my signature for more info, if you are interested. I have been interested in learning to play the Uilleann pipes for quite sometime now. I am at a loss at where to begin though. I thought of purchasing the Uilleann pipe practice chanter from Lark in the Morning, but I hesitate to, until I find out more information about where to begin learning to play. The only experience I have with bellows-blown pipes is the Scottish smallpipes, which I only got to play a few times. Any information or helpful words of wisdom would be greatly appreciated!
I believe I forgot to add my signature, so here is our website for those interested:
For a really nice practice set check out http://www.uilleann-pipes.de Andreas Rogge. The price is very reasonable, the stick plays great, but it is not expandable like many other practice sets. Good luck and good Piping!
Thanks for the quick reply. Expandability is one thing that I was hoping to get from a practice set. I would like to find a practice set that I will be able to build up to either a half or possibly a full set later on down the road when I have become better with them.
Expandable doesn’t necessarily have to be that important. the un-expandable practice set from Rogge is very affordable. Most of today’s Master Pipemakers have really long waiting lists. (2-16 years or so with no guarantees, I think, depending on the maker [and some lists are closed])
Rogge’s practice set is virtually maintainance free (nice reed) and you can learn on it while you wait for your masterpiece. +++ Plus no BIG wait for it. IMHO money well spent! You can spend time learning while waiting. My 2¢
[ This Message was edited by: paul on 2002-10-16 00:18 ]
42ndrhh stick with Andreas he does very good work and is well thought of in Piping Land.He does a lot of restoration work for old instruments.If you wanted to upgrade you could buy his basic set to start with which is about 500$ more than the the other one.Check out his website on http://www.uilleann-pipes.de if you went for the cheaper one for now you will have no trouble selling it on.Demand outstrips supply.
Welcome aboard!!
Slan go foill
Liam
Do not buy from Lark in the Morning. Plus the mouth-blown practice chanter is only good for figuring out if you like the sound of the UP. A used $7 CD can do the same, plus it gives you practice material. There are many other reasons not to purchase that PC.
If you have the money to pick and choose your maker, go to a UP gathering (Tionól),listen to the various sets being played and decide which maker you enjoy the most. Ask the person who made the chanter/set and also be sure to ask if the reed is from the maker. They make quite a difference in the overall timbre.
When you decide on someone, ask on the C&F board and in the UP mailing list for opinions on the maker. If you get an overwhelming “run away” message (i.e. the majority of people say “no!”), then look again very, very carefully at that maker. Take all opinions with a grain of salt.
P.S.Providing you have a bag agus bellows you can upgrade whenever you like,to say you cant is silly really.All you have to do is tie in a stock and the drones can be from any maker you like.
Slan go foill
