Since I get mixed replies about the penney chanter, and P. Murray looks like he might be slowing his production down, what other options should be considered for a starter set of pipes for an already $$$ strapped flautist/whistle player?
Save your money. Buy quality the first time out. $50 will get you on Seth Gallagher’s list. If you can’t save the money in 10 months’ time, work harder (or drink less!). Seriously, Seth’s instruments are beyond reproach (Paddy Maloney plays Seth’s pipes), the price is competitive and few other makers of his quality can get you a set in 10 months (or less). I have a Gallagher D set (second-owner) and couldn’t be happier.
Jack- nice avatar
If the wait and the extra cost for a practice set by one of the established makers puts you off, I think you could do worse than contacting David Boisvert of Greenwood Pipes. He’s new to the game, but is honest and keen to do good work. You may well get what you want more quickly and cheaply…with the added advantage of knowing that David will be very sure to do his best for you at this time in his career (you will also get lots of after sales back-up from him I would imagine).
Other than that…I do have to say that Ian McKenzie’s red lancewood practice sets, made here in Australia, are really nice too.
Cheers, Phil.
Gee, Phil, your avatar makes the Tasmanian landscape seem rather alluring …
djm
I’ve heard there’s some nice valleys and hills around those parts, Phil. Years ago, I had a good friend who flew over there to ‘get the feel’ of some real estate that was on the market…an entire village, one that had been built for the folks building a dam in the gorge.
Back On-topic, I agree…get a quality set the first time, you can’t lose since it’ll hold it’s value. Do what I did, getting a cheap thing, and you’ll probably be stuck with it and want a better one in a year. The better one the first time would have saved you from a lot of discouragement too.
yeah…my take is get the best chanter for your practice set that you can afford and don’t skimp on the keys. trying to learn UP is difficult enuff, trying to learn on a faulty or tempermental specimen is just masochism. when you’ve mastered the chanter seek out a decent set of drones and regs.
i was fortunate enuff to get a mass-produced chanter that, while keyless, was at least halfway decent. i do feel it’s better than the one tim rebuilt as part of my set, even after he got thru with it. one of my prize posessions is a bruce childress chanter (2key) that i recommend for a beginner. it has a nice tone, isn’t too loud, likes to play in tune, and is extremely low on maintenance (in the years i’ve had it, the only thing i’ve had to do was add a little thread to his cork that holds the chanter cap on.
i’ve got to come up with a plan to finally buy the rest of one of bruce’s sets. sigh…$3600 - $450(for the chanter i already have) + $120 for the remaining two keys = $3270 + almost two years
double sigh…anybody out there upgrading past a childress set and interested in selling the bellows, bag, drones and regs (everything but the chanter)?
This being a highly civilized backwater, all uilleann pipers are automatically issued with charming assistants, the better to weave our magic (the Scots only get a haggis…a pretty one, mind) 
.
Sorry for this blatant plug but when i see all those “inexpensive, fast, good” pipemakers fly past i think this one should at least be mentioned. 
3 to 4 months for a practise set.
And no, not because lack of work but because of working HARD!
Tradman,
How much money do you think you can part with for your practise set?
jd
[quote=“Lorenzo”]I’ve heard there’s some nice valleys and hills around those parts, Phil. Years ago, I had a good friend who flew over there to ‘get the feel’ of some real estate that was on the market…an entire village, one that had been built for the folks building a dam in the gorge."
Tasmania is, without doubt, one of the most beautiful islands on the planet. We are lucky not only to have a combination of fantastic scenery, coupled with a mild climate (which, In Hobart at least, is extremely “reed-friendly”), but the World Heritage areas and National Park’s contain some of the most pristine ancient forests and wilderness areas left anywhere (despite the best efforts of the timber industry to clear-fell and woodchip what they are allowed to get at. The bastards just pile up what they can’t use and burn it…including tons of “minor” species that could otherwise be used for anything from high quality furniture to violins, even pipes…but that’s another topic).
You could indeed pick up whole villages for a song, left over from the days of Hydro dam building…provided you didn’t mind living in the middle of nowhere! Tassy is not much smaller than Ireland, but has a population of under half a million. You can go to pristine beaches here and be the only person within miles…many miles.
And we even speak English! (well, sort of )
Cheers, Phil.
I think we’ll be headin your way, mate, if I can talk the wife into the journey. Sounds wonderful down there. I believe in counter balance, and I’d like to see whirlwinds, water drains, and even myself spin the other direction for the 2nd half of my life…kinda like unwinding on a swing. Soon as I get this real estate developed and sold, I’ll be there…(two more houses to build). I really only do two things anymore beside community development…windsurf and play the uilleann pipes. 
Got any world class wind (and waves) above the dam, or off-shore?
Yep.
Exactly what’s been said here:
Save the money, and DO IT RIGHT! Buy a “real” set from a “real” maker. Seth Gallagher is certainly widely considered one of the best, and his lead times are very reasonable now. You may also want to bear in mind it’s a good idea to try and find a maker relatively close to your location. buying from another continent can be distressing at times…
Well, we’d love to see you, if’n you don’t mind standing on yer head and driving on the wrong side of the road
Funny you should mention windsurfing…there was an item on the news last night about a group of Danes travelling down here to catch the wind and BIG waves on the west coast. We live in what are called the “Roaring Forties” here, so there is no shortage of wind at all at all. I love sailing myself and I have to say this is the place for it. Near Hobart we have miles of protected waters in the D’Entrecasteaux Channel that separates Tassy from Bruny Island…full of deserted inlets and yummy fish (er, and the odd enormous shark). For the more adventurous, one can always go off-shore and see what a fifty foot wave looks like (not much between us and Antarctica, so the swells do build up a tad).
Cheers, Phil.
Check you PM’s
About bathtub drains and the like:
http://www.urbanlegends.com/science/coriolis/coriolis_force_sci_physics_faq.html
Tradman, Phil Wardle was right. I own a practice set from David Boisvert. It plays very well, remains in tune, is very aesthetically appealing, and the service is the best that I think you will get. I find David to be very honest and desiring to please. He even gave me more than I asked for without charging more.
Every pipe maker had to get their start somewhere and there are certainly many good ones out there. I would just say to give David a call and talk with him. He will chat with you, answer your questions, and give you room to make your own decision. I can just say that I am very happy with my set and, within time, will upgrade to 1/2 or full set.
Tell him I sent you, not because I get anything, just so he knows that his customers are pleased with him. Even since I bought the set in June '03 I have phoned him a couple of times and sent a few e-mails to let him know how pleased I was and how the playing is coming.
A UP recording artist from Ireland has been in town and he has played the set a couple of times and thinks very highly of them as well.
Do your research, gather some money, and get to playing… you’ll get hooked!
Oh, that…that’s for people with an intermediate education. Nonsense is only what comes from highschool teachers and their pupils.
Is it possible to detect the Earth’s rotation in a draining sink?
Yes, but it is very difficult. Because the Coriolis force is so small, one must go to extraordinary lengths to detect it. But, it has been done. You cannot use an ordinary sink for it lacks the requisite circular symmetry: its oval shape and off-center drain render any results suspect. Those who have succeeded used a smooth pan of about one meter in diameter with a very small hole in the center. A stopper (which could be removed from below so as to not introduce any spurious motion) blocked the hole while the pan was being filled with water. The water was then allowed to sit undisturbed for perhaps a week to let all of the motion die out which was introduced during filling. Then, the stopper was removed (from below). Because the hole was very small, the pan drained slowly indeed. This was necessary, because it takes hours before the tiny Coriolis force could develop sufficient deviation in the draining water for it to produce a circular flow. With these procedures, it was found that the rotation was always in a cyclonic direction.
The term cyclonic not only means that the fluid (air or water) rotates in the same direction as the underlying Earth, but also that the rotation of the fluid is due to the rotation of the Earth. Thus, the air flowing around a hurricane spins counter-clockwise in the northern hemisphere, and clockwise in the southern hemisphere (as does the Earth, itself). In both hemispheres, this rotation is deemed cyclonic.
The direction in regular sinks, tubs, toilets, and drains is determined from other causes, like the direction the water squirts out of a toilet rim, or the configuration of a sink and the drain pipe under the sink. Configuration is many times more influential, but not to be confused with Coriolis.
Anyway, that’s my spin.
Tradman,
Take a look at Neil O’Gradys work: http://home.thezone.net/~pipes/
Last I heard you could get a practice set for ~750.00Cdn with a 12 month wait. His pipes seem like the ultimate bargin to me. Song of the Sea (http://www.songsea.com/uilleann.htm) may also have some in stock for quicker delivery with a little extra cost. I believe there is even an O’Grady set for sale on this board you may want to check out!
Good luck!
Does anyone remember Michael Palin’s Pole to Pole series? It mostly involved Michael Palin being Michael Palin in various places along 30 East, but I do remember seeing a demonstration of this clockwise/counter clockwise thing at the Equator. He only had to move fifty odd yards in either direction for the Coriolis effect to kick in, and on the line it went straight down. So there ya go, it’s real, I saw it with my own eyes. And it was only a wee circular tinny thing, not a meter wide thing is described in that obviously nonsensical piece of psuedoscience.
Cheers,
Calum