Lovely playing from Colm there. The first is Mary MacMahon of Ballynahinch and the second is Lord McDonald’s.
Holy sh%$. I mean, obviously great playing there, but it’s such an unmistakable chanter. I know the reed makes a massive difference (although I thought I read that it’d just been re-reeded?) but I don’t understand how seemingly no-one has ever made a chanter that sounds like it. All the makers, all the measurements that’ve been done. There’s lots of great makers out there who make awesome sounding instruments, but none (in my mind) ever seems to quite capture what this particular chanter has.
There’s a lot of Liams DNA embedded in that chanter, as is slowly dissipates, the chanter will probably revert to sounding a like any other great Rowsome chanter.
RORY
I enjoyed hearing what was great playing, and the O 'Flynn sound from the chanter. To my ear, the regs were not in tune.
I think it is very difficult to emulate the sound from some other persons set, for all sorts of reasons. But, your man did a GREAT job, and lovely playing.
I am glad that some one has broken the duck, of showing off the sound in such good way, and a respectful way, to the memory of a truly wonderful player.
Who recently reeded it? I know it was originally Leo, then Pat Skt, right?
I believe Donnacha Dwyer did the work. The Ennis Coyne, too!
To get back to the original question, I don’t think the LOF Rowsome set should be put in a museum. Loaning the pipes to a worthy piper would be the best thing to do. Even if LOF played this set for may years, he wasn’t the first/only person to play it.
Loaning the set to a suitable piper would seem to me to be the best arrangement. It was loaned by SR to Willie Clancy and then to LOF. But who decides on the suitable piper?
The set seems to be “living” at NPU HQ. Does anyone know whether it is on loan from Sean Reid’s or LOF’s estate?
Yes ,and not even Leo Rowsome . You have got to wondering Why.
If the set is owned by NPU, it should be sold to the highest bidder. Be that a museum or a private owner. The money could then be invested in the loaner pipes scheme so that many pipers could benefit instead of just one.
RORY
Yes ,and not even Leo Rowsome . You have got to wondering Why.
Presumably because Seán Reid was very specific in his instructions to Leo about what he wanted from the set. And Leo is reported as spending a lot of time achieving what Reid asked for. (and by all accounts charged him accordingly)
That said, years ago I taught a local girl who has a Willie Rowsome set with a Leo chanter that was handpicked for that set by Seán Reid (the original chanter was dismissed by him). That chanter is well capable of sounding like Flynn’s when reeded and played in a certain way, especially the top hand notes had/have that specific tone that stood out in Flynn’s playing.
I spoke to Gay McKeon last week. Yes, Liam O’Flynn had bequeathed his pipes to NPU.
I saw and heard the pipes being played.
The case contained replacement reeds with notes hand-written by Benedict Koehler.
For the day that’s in it:
Listening to the clip on you tube of Liams pipes being played, that has to be the sweetest chanter every made. No chanter I have heard including Koehler Quinn, Froment, OBriain,in fact no other maker has ever made anything close to that sound in my opinion I realise there are slight tuning issues with the chanter and that modern makers have attempted to smooth out the intonation on their chanters to suit modern requirements, but every time I hear that chanter Im blown away by the full sweet effortless sound it produces. Absolutely beautiful, and OFlynn really made it sing. They were made for each other .
NPU has just put up a video gallery of pipers playing LOF’s pipes.
Well thats certainly an eye opener or should I say ear opener, not what I expected at all. Fine pipers but the set sounds a bit “ordinary”. The youtube clip sounds completely different. Strange !
RORY
Sound is terrible on those clips.