Up until the “Cillian O,Brien talks” thread,I thought the term"rowsome sound" implied a style of playing ,as in the way Leo Rowsome played his pipes.
But in the context that Cillian uses the term, he is impling a sound of the actual pipes themselves,so what sound,or what sound of pipes would be considered Rowsome sound ?
The term itself is a bit general,and would seem to imply that all rowsome pipes sound the same, which of course is untrue.
As a guess ,I think the Rowsome sound probably means the Liam O Flynn/Mick O Brien sound of pipes
Or Pre-Williams/K&Q Paddy Keenan, Johnny Doran, Tommy Kearney, Tom Creegan, Paddy Maloney et al. I’m not sure if all the (Leo) Rowsome pipes sound the same at all. So many different recording methods, playing styles, etc. that many of them sound different to me. Especially since many of them probably don’t have original reeds.
Mick O’Brien’s set is a Willie Rowsome, but I believe the chanter is Froment…or at least the recorded stuff.
I noted that too, however Rory only mentioned Leo in the context of playing style…so I suppose he could have meant all Rowsome pipes when questioning about the pipes themselves.
I’ve heard far less of Willie’s pipes than Leo’s. Only MOB’s set, a Willie chanter that one of my long-time music cronies plays, and Kevin Rowsome’s C# Willie set…does anyone know of any other recordings featuring Willie’s work? Interestingly, I think at least a few makers have based stuff on Willie’s pipes.
I think the Rowsome sound probably means the Liam O Flynn/Mick O Brien sound of pipes
I think Cillian mean’t the Rowsome sound to mean the sound of Leo’s personal set of pipes as he played them on those great recordings from the 20’s, 30’s and 40’s.
Tricky to achieve considering Leo’s pipes were pitched much sharper than modern concert pitch.
It’s a challenge for a reedmaker to make a reed for a Rowsome chanter thats not as big as a spade and won’t honk like a cow calving.
Other Leo Rowsome set owners: Padraig/Tommy Keane, Marion McCarthy, Mick Crehan, Mick Touhy, Sean Talty, Eion Duignan, Lawrence McManus, Packie McCaffery, Rev. McKenzee, Tommy Kearney, Martin Rochford, Billy Browne, Peter Browne, Pat Sky, Padric McMathauna, Johannes Schiefner, Martin Carrigan, Andrew Judd, Sean Connelly, Drew Hillman, Diarmuid Grainger, John Hughes, Benedict Koehler, John Pederson, Cait Reed, Jim Van Fleet, Fergus Finnigan, Peter Carberry, Matty Connolly (chanter), Michael Falsey (chanter), Michael Doran, (Johnny Doran’s L. Rowsome chanter?), Paddy Keenan (chanter), Geoof Wooff (chanter), Gabriel McKeagney (chanter), Tommy Martin (chanter), Leo Rickard (chanter).
[list mostly compiled in 2005 by Thomas Johnson, AKA the lately-departed-from-C&F Steampacket]
I’m pretty sure that May Morning Dew features the Willie Rowsome chanter. While Mick’s playing is distinctive on any set of pipes, the two chanters do sound quite different IMO.
Given all the effects of the way things are recorded, etc. the differences may be more striking live.
You forgot Kevin Rowsome. On the Sé mo laoch episode featuring Paddy Moloney (who seems to have at least 2 full Rowsome sets), Paddy and Kevin do a duet (Sixpenny Money) on two Leo Rowsome full sets.
Also, who has custody of Leo’s personal set? Is it still in the family?
A Leo Rowsome set commissioned by Sean Reid and previously loaned by Sean to Willie Clancy. I understand that the pipes still belong to SR’s estate (through a trust or foundation?) and are on loan to LOF.
Other Leo Rowsome set owners: . . . Jim Van Fleet . . .
Sadly untrue, not sure why Mr. Johnson added me to that list. I play a Seth Gallagher set in D. If I have the Rowsome “sound” it would be the sound he made a week after he was given his first set of pipes!
JVF
Mattie Connolly plays a Willie R set, you can hear a couple tracks of him and his flute playing daughter Deidre on the Cherish the Ladies record Fathers and Daughters.
Mike Rafferty has a Willie R half set, he plays that on some of the CDs he’s made with daughter Mary. What’s up with these old coots on the US east coast playing Willie’s stuff and making records with their daughters?
Pat Mitchell of course plays a Willie R C set, Kiernan chanter. On the Stone in the Field there are two tracks of what Breandan Breathnach says is a Coyne set in the liner notes, but Pat Sky told us that’s actually Pat’s Willie R C set. I always thought it was a bit…funky sounding for a Coyne.
Tom Creegan once told me that Leo’s early stuff was very much modeled after his father’s work; Leo started to experiment with his designs more in the 50s, sometimes with not-so-hot results. Just about all concert pipes made today seem derived from Rowsome pipes; I’ve only heard a few recordings or examples of new loud concert pipes that seem to depart radically from that sound, like Bill Haneman’s stuff for instance. Leo would never make drones buzz like that.
Tom Creegan once told me that Leo’s early stuff was very much modeled after his father’s work
Indeed there are some very early Leo Rowsome sets of pipes out there that are ones that his father had started and Leo finished after Willies death.
Tommy
Very valid point–Kevin did a great presentation on the Rowsome family tradition of piping and pipe making when he was in SoCal back in '03. I would strongly encourage attendance to the NE Tionól (as long as it doesn’t interfere with your attending the SoCal Tionól–sorry, I couldn’t resist.
Maybe there isn’t a “typical” reed style used in Rowsome chanters - some reedmakers may use a wide head, O’Flynn’s reed is reportedly quite wide… but BK uses a quite different formula for Rowsome chanter reeds, about 12.3mm finished width, 86mm long or so, on a tapered staple of reasonably large inner diameter (about 0.54-0.55" to 0.60" staple blank widths, 2" long - Benedict prefers to work in inches for staple blanks, it seems). I’ve had luck with that formula as well. I think you’ll find it narrow compared to most concert pitch reed formulas.
I’ve just gotten hold of the Pipers Gathering 2006 CD and on first hearing Benedict Koehler playing his Rowsome chanter I thought the tone sounded very similar to Paddy Moloney’s chanter. Could that be the Rowsome sound?
On the Sé mo laoch episode featuring Paddy Moloney (who seems to have at least 2 full Rowsome sets), Paddy and Kevin do a duet (Sixpenny Money) on two Leo Rowsome full sets.