I’m pretty new to the site and this is my first post. I’d like to thank everyone for such a great community!
I have been playing Highland pipes for about 25 years.. solos, pipe band, and rock band. I’ve always had whistles, but this past year I’ve gotten quite a bit more serious. In short, learning a ton of traditional Irish music has made me want to learn Uilleann pipes!
I’m thinking a 1/2 set in D, but I’m really unsure at this point.
I’d really like to buy a used set from some one in Canada, but I’m willing to explore all options. Also, is it hard to get Uilleann chanter reeds? Will all reed makers reeds work in all chanters? And how long do they last, if not abused?
If anyone has any guidance, or a decent set they are willing to part with, I would greatly appreciate it!
Hey. I’m fairly new myself (just less than a year) so I’ll let those more experienced point you to more specific things, but I usually check this site every week or so:
You likely already knew about it - but it stands mentioning as a great repository of used pipes. Often you can find some good deals on there. You should also do your best to find a teacher. I’m pretty sure there are active piping communities on the West and East coasts of Canada - but I couldn’t tell you more than that.
In my experience it’s not terribly difficult as long as your pipes are the product of an active maker. And as a rule of thumb reeds do not “work” in all chanters. There seems to be a delicate poetry between the internal dimensions of the chanter (unique to each maker) and the structure of the reed. The good thing is that they are fairly long lasting. One of my teachers has a reed of unknown age. The only thing he could tell me was that it was “at least 15 years old”. The thing still seems to be going strong too - and this is in the highly variable midwestern weather. They can be finicky, but once you find a good one just take care of it and you should be set for a while.
As a (HUGE, WILDCARD) aside, there is a pipe maker that seems to be experimenting with a 3D printed concert chanter. Sounds decent too. Could be a unique way to enter the gates.
Highland pipe reeds follow “the ptyalin curve”. In other words, like oboes reeds and other wet reeds, they are degraded by microbial and enzyme action.
Uilleann reeds can fail from the vagaries of humidity, but much more often fail through fumble-fingered ‘adjusting’. BE WARNED
