Anyone know details of the chanter/reed set up used by Mick O’Brien on his May Morning Dew recording? Specifically, his concert D set. I’ve really enjoyed his tonallity (sp?) and looove that hard D! 
Just a curiosity really, but would like to know. So any of you who may have heard, met, talked to, played with, dated or otherwise would posses such knowledge - it’d be appreciated. 
Doesn’t he play a Willie Rowsome chanter? Not sure about the reed though, doubt it’s a Willie Rowsome.
…the set is Rowesome…he has been using a Froment chanter for a few years now, and he has added an A drone to the set.
Boyd
So is it the Froment or Rowesome chanter then on the MMD recording? any takers with certainty? 
I’d think some of you lot in so. Cal. would know yes?
The jacket notes to MMD don’t specify a different chanter, only that his D set was made by Willie Rowsome and his Bnat set by Alain Froment. What’s the big deal about this, anyway?
djm
No big deal - just a bit of personal research on tonality and chanters etc. Just trying to get more that “I think it’s this…” is all. I know several posters here have met and know Mick better than others of us - hence the original post.
Mick recently said the CP chanter on May Morning Dew was the original Willie Rowsome one. Not sure if Alain made the reed that was in it at the time, or not.
Agreed, it’s a very nice sounding chanter.
…and he said he chose to move to the Froment chanter at a later point because the Rowesome one was needing a harder blow…
Benedict Koehler made a new one for the W. Rowesome sometime in the past couple years that is easier to blow (than the one from the MMD recording), but I think the W.R. still takes a bit more “humoring”, and Mick says he’s grown to like the Froment a lot anyhow. (I think the W.R with Benedict’s reed may actually be a little easier to blow than the Froment, but that could be faulty memory and limited experience on my part). The W.R. chanter seems to have been designed to play at a higher-than-modern pitch, which makes sense considering that it was made in 1921; this probably accounts for its need for a complex bell rush, ferrule extension, etc. etc. for tuning purposes. Tonally a gorgeous chanter though.
I was paraphrasing something he said himself at a concert in Belfast a couple of years back.
Sure, I get the impression that the BK reed is a more recent acquisition.