on ebay:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=908767063
[ This Message was edited by: elbogo on 2002-09-25 03:24 ]
Can anyone see any good reason not to buy this chanter? Seems like it could be quite nice… I checked with the seller, he says is plays, hasn’t been modified, etc…
[ This Message was edited by: eskin on 2002-10-02 15:05 ]
Money?
Dionys
On 2002-10-02 15:05, eskin wrote:
Can anyone see any good reason not to buy this chanter? Seems like it could be quite nice… I checked with the seller, he says is plays, hasn’t been modified, etc…
[ This Message was edited by: eskin on 2002-10-02 15:05 ]
It’s an ugly looking chanter I think.
I have a Kiernan chanter in C which is the same design as this one - I’m sure its feelings will be severely hurt at any suggestion that it is ugly, it’s actually quite a handsome little fellow.
The timber is Greenheart BTW.
I bought a B flat chanter by Matt Kiernan from Colm Kennedy’s shop in Liffey Street in Dublin in the early eighties. It looked the same as the one that is for sale. It wasn’t reeded and I never got it reeded.
I was being taught by Andy Conroy at the time and he suggested leaving it unreeded. He asked me to block the end up with newspaper and to blow into the chanter. This was to facilitate practising the tight triplets, quuadruplets and other form of tight fingering that I was learning at the time.
Andy had a Matt Kiernan B chanter that he still used for practise in the same way. He liked the stretch of the B flat so much that I gave him my chanter. He then gave me his concert pitch chanter ( made by Brown of Boston). The two Kiernan chanters were lost in the fire that burned down Andy’s flat. The two rings from the end of the chanters were all that were found.
Cheers
Sean
The chanter has been re-listed and the price dropped:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=910286374
On 2002-10-03 08:44, emer wrote:
I have a Kiernan chanter in C which is the same design as this one - I’m sure its feelings will be severely hurt at any suggestion that it is ugly, it’s actually quite a handsome little fellow.
The timber is Greenheart BTW.
Well, they are ugly. Piping folklore has it that Matt, a retired Garda, got hold of a consignment of hardwood policeman’s truncheons which he used to make his chanters.
How well do Kiernan chanters play?
Like most chanters, as good as the player that plays them ;-]
dear oh dear, sorry I spoke - but I suppose it’s in the eye of the beholder. btw, as far as myth is concerned, Greenheart was, and is , associated with underwater use, not truncheons.
I know, there was another story Dan Dowd told me when I visited him first in 1980, bu the details escape me, himself and Matt Kiernan they were getting old moorings via someone working in Dublin port or something like that.
I know, it’s in the eye of the beholder. But still..
Peter, I’ll go with emer, in that Greenheart is/was used for moorings and ship building because of it’s resistance to moisture. However, I’ll bet your folklore has more character to it.
http://www.xrefer.com/entry/505003
http://www.woodrecycling.org.uk/oldversion/greenheart.html
Moisture resistant wood… now that would be a favorite for instruments.
sometime in the early 70’s the Port & Docks Board carried out some repairs, including replacing large sections, to the wooden bridge at the Bull Wall in Clontarf in Dublin, this structure is reputedly made of Greenheart, there was a rumour afterwards that Matt Kiernan was seen in the area in deep discussion with the foreman.
Ahhh… the early 70’s I was playing bass guitar and touring professionally.
“…there was a rumour afterwards that Matt Kiernan was seen in the area in deep discussion with the foreman.”
Emer, did you see the images of the reclaimed lumber website? After many years submerged the wood, though not rotten had large checks and cracks through it, especially in the end grain. I would suspect after the wood was resawn and cleaned that only small portions could be salvaged, perhaps 15-20%.
Sounds like a lot of work… even if the wood was obtained free. I’m not doubting your story, it just adds to the flavor knowing how much work would have to go into the preparation and selection of the materials for such an undertaking.
The chanter was re-listed for a third time:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=911363278
Again the price was reduced (3rd times a charm) and scooped up by Josh. Good going!
Yeah, at that price I couldn’t, in good conscience, pass on it. Sort of surprised it went down that far.
Please let us know how you like it when it arrives!
Cheers,
Michael
It’s lovely, very expressive and mild at the same time. With it, I feel that playing airs is a whole new endeavor and a much more enjoyable one–almost as if I’m hearing them properly for the first time.
L