I’m a Canadian flute/whistle player contemplating delving into the world of Uilleann Pipes. I did a bit of poking around and found Joe Kennedy’s name mentioned a few times, but the link to his site doesn’t seem to be working. A number of other links seem to be out-dated, as well. A lot of people seem to recommend buying pipes from makers in their area: does anyone know of any other good Canadian makers (I’ve already seen C. J. Dixon’s page)? I’m thinking of starting out on a practice set, just to keep costs down at the moment (I’ve spent waaay too much on instruments lately…).
Hey Meaghan,
I’m a piper in Winnipeg. I have been playing a CJ Dixon practice set for a while now and am quite happy with it (although the cold and dry have been doing terrible things to the reed). It’s nice to hear about someone else who is going to try the foolhardy task of trying to learn the pipes on the Canadian Prairies. I would certainly give Chris your consideration as he makes quite a nice product and has a pretty quick turn-around time for “no frills” practice sets.
All the best,
Kevin
Flute, Whistle & Uilleann Pipes Http://rinn.co
Joe Kennedy is a fantastic maker of pipes but I’m not sure you want to wait that long. A few years back when I got on his list it was a 7 year wait, might be longer now. Your best bet is to buy a used practice set and find someone locally that is good with reed making.
When I enquired in May/June 2011, Joe was about to make a batch of D narrow bore chanters so I got a D narrow bore chanter from him when it was ready September 2011 via courier.
Joe Kennedy is one of the finest pipemakers currently active in the world. He is in Canada, he is making pipes, and he is accepting orders. It would be best to contact him directly about prices and waiting times, rather than rely on speculation about what his current waiting list might be. His email, as Fergus Maunsell posted, is indeed unionpipemaker@yahoo.ca.
I’m with Kieran. Joe’s one of the best in the world, so start with him. He does have a wait for full sets, but will often have a batch of chanters with one or two not spoken for yet. BTW, I met you in Ottawa and was playing a set of his (well chanter and drones).
Because of this thread, I contacted Joe, and lucked out-he’s just making some chanters, so I’ll get one in a couple of months. Great to deal with. 6 year waiting list as of 2 days ago.
Thanks all for the posts, PMs, and emails! I’m going to to with a Joe Kennedy practice set for now (half set is a bit pricey for me to rationalize at this point), and should have it in about a year.