Someone said this to me the other night and I dont know if it,s true or false ,whats your opinion?
More than half the pipemakers out there would be out of business tomorrow ,if their electronic tuners were taken away from them !
He also attributes the large number of pipemakers in business today to the invention of said gadget. Pointing out that the great makers of the past did not have the luxury of tuners,and this kept" have a go" pipemakers out of the game .
RORY
Sure any old gobshite can make pipes.right?
Large number of pipemakers?
Arf, arf, arf.
Mukade
poppycock (i.e. bull lshit)
Really now, there is not a shortage of people with good ears. Being able to accurately hear relative pitch (in equal tempered instruments or in just intonation) is not genius level musicianship. It’s very common. It’s also pretty common for some people to put other people down, just to feel more accomplished themselves, is it not? 
More than half the pipemakers out there would be out of business tomorrow ,if their electronic tuners were taken away from them !
Is you’re pal saying that the other half of the pipe makers don’t use tuners either.
Do you think the ghosts of Tim Kenna breathes the frequency of A 440 into the ears of every pipe maker with a lathe?
Electronic tuners are great. But you have to know how to use then.
If the Coyne and Kenna families had acess to electronic tuners they’d use them too.
He also attributes the large number of pipemakers in business today to the invention of said gadget. Pointing out that the great makers of the past did not have the luxury of tuners,and this kept" have a go" pipemakers out of the game
.
Again, rubbish, absolute rubbish.
1, There was loads of “have a go makers” then too, and always was.
2, Great makers of the past did have tuning devices. How the feck do you think they tuned the chanters in the first place.
Come one now Rory, think!!!
How do you think those makers in the 1840’s tuned their pipes???
Magic,
Fairies,
Purple colored hertz,
korg machines,
C & F experts,
Invisible sound waves,
Tuning forks ya langer!!! Duuuuhhhhhhhhhh
They weren’t magicians, they were trained instrument makers. They used tuning forks and knew how to use them well. Modern makers use them too but some use an electronic tuner to sort out the root notes and make sure the back D isn’t too flat, etc
Bottom line…
false
Tommy
P.S.
Don’t know who you were talking to the other night but some one is winding you up. taxi driver on the way home? tony behind the bar in the Cobblestone?
To be honest, I would agree with Tom and would think that most makers would use tuning forks,in fact in the NPU reedmaking DVD Cillian O,Brien can be seen useing a tuning fork .
The person who said this to me (I wont say his name in case of death threats) is a fine fiddle player who gave pipes a go a long time ago but gave up ,saying he couldn,t get a decent instrument.
But he also put forward the point that in general the standard of tuning in all traditional musicians has got better over the years and if you listen to some of the older musicians that were not recorded professionally, but caught on film playing at a session or something, sometimes their tuning was not great .
I think he was considering giving pipes a go again as he said he thought the standard of pipes in recent years had got alot better !!
Its interesting to listen to some of the older musicians who have been around a long time and seen some changes with the traditional music scene in general ,you might not always agree with what thay say,but I think it is agreed with everyone ,that Irish music is in a very healthy state indeed
RORY
I make pipes. I do not have an electronic tuner. I use tuning forks. For example, for a D chanter I use an A tuning fork to match A on the chanter. For final adjustments I play the chanter with the tenor drone going. My goal is to make the chanter sound in tune to the drone.
BTW, I have small regard for electronic tuners. Particularly in the case of stringed instruments a person is tuning the instrument with their eyes, not their ears; not the best practice.
Nick Whitmer
I am not a pipe maker, but all the electronic tuners (the ones that pick up the sound and display the resultant note that it hears) that I have tried to use go nuts and quit just as you approach the desired note.
I use either a tuning fork or a Farley’s Pocket Tones Chromatic Tuner tuned to the drone note to tune my pipes.
I never have liked tuning to the A as it is sort of a “rubbery” note on all my chanters, and I have to blow and/or tape/putty it into tune, so I use the drones as my reference and tune the other notes to harmonize with the drones.
what riot
I’ll sure if the olde boys had the gear we have to day to help make there instruments they would be using it, back in the 1700’s & 1800’s makers were limited to what materials and tools they had at that time, and I’m sure if they could have got there hands on the likes of the ready made and modern materials and precision tools of today they would have certainly been useing them, wether you tune your pipes with a tuning fork, pitched whistles, electric tuner, there are all useful to get you to your required end result, I use a electric tuner to get my chanter tuned in on both octave, but every one to there own, all the best.
I’ve been playing strings much longer than pipes, and have always relied on a good ole tuning fork to get me where I need to be (I keep an A in my wallet, actually 
) When getting a violin set up to play, I find that a tuning fork (or a pitch generator) are the best way to tune. My biggest beef with ‘strobe’ (or needle tuners that indicate with a pointer, etc. how close the not being played is to the actual pitch)tuners is that the subtle differences you will get when playing, such as more bow pressure on a violin, alters the pitch you are playing slightly. When trying to use a ‘needle’ tuner, these subtle changes in playing a pitch make it nearly impossible for the thing to center, and often times the overtones generated by an instrument will interfere with the pure pitch. A constant pitch makes tuning much easier, as you can expirament with differences in playing to make sure everything is just right.
My opinion, entierly. Others may dissagree. I also find that when tuning up my pipes (especially since I now have drones) I have a much easier time playing a constant pitch from a tuner, and checking individual notes to said pitch than I do trying to get a not to agree with an indicator.
I’m sorry, but I don’t understand the subtext in some of the replies on this thread… are some saying that Rory Bellows is being guided by someone else? If so, by whom? What would the motive of such an action be?
Don’t tell me that your silence on this issue implies that he is guided by an unclean spirit?!! 
He,s not being guided by an unclean spirit,just being his usual shit stirring self.Steve
Question: How can you hear a tuning fork over a concert pitch chanter?
placing a struck tuning fork on a glass, or a table top, or a wood box, etc. will act as a resonator, and amplify the sound.
Stir or stagnate, that,s my motto !!!
I seen a person useing a tuning fork by placing the point of the vibrating fork just behind their ear.
But the most common way is to place the vibrating fork on something hollow to amplify the sound. ,so for some on this forum that would be their head !!
RORY
Rory, I hope you don’t have me in mind because of my question. It just seemed to me that there was an unstated implication in some of these posts that you were being motivated by someone else to ask certain questions. I very much enjoy the discussions that ensue after your questions.
I don’t think you have an unclean spirit. 
God bless ya, Beau!
Thanks Beau.
When I was a Kid long time ago ,sh*t stirring(otherwise known as banter) was the national pastime.
It is always done with my tongue placed firmly in my cheek !!!
RORY