Ok folks I am sure this has been discussed but I cant find it.. Just recd halfset and I am starting to get used to the pressure change from the practice set. So now I need to know process of tuning. My wife has helped by holding electronic tuner. Too much work But heres a dumb question..and this is only because well never mind what keys apply here? Bass D Baritone G?? tenor D?
Thanks
Tenor - Same as bottom D on chanter
Baritone - Octave below tenor
Bass - Octave below Baritone
MYPIPES.Tune the small drone to the A note on your chanter,then check with the bottom D of the chanter.Next tune the middle drone to the small drone finaly the large drone to the others.Throw the ELECTRONIC Tuner in the bin.PS when other insrumentalists (mainly guitarists) tell you that your pipes are sharp or flat at sessions ask them to have the good grace to tune to you and not their flaming electronic tuners.Ever wondered why an orchestra tunes to the Oboe?
It’s because oboists have a distinct tendancy to become violent. Better to placate them than have a music stand and a slight flautist chucked at you. 
I’d put a lot more money on the Soprano throwing a hissy fit.
Dionys
Thanks I think I got it now…I have them in tune. In the event a guitarist or anyone else tells Im out…i believe becoming violent would be justifiable?
By the way I am also over the pressure change of this new half set…I definitlly paniced when I first got them and it really helps to have this support group…Obsessive pipe disorder can lead to ..well you know.
not to beat a horse to death, but just one more idea. really a clarification as to why you should throw the tuner in the bin.
if you go to Patrick’s Uilleann Pipes Obsession Page (i forgot the url but type “Uilleann Pipes Obsession Page” in the window and your browser will find it) there is an excellent resource regarding this issue. he has posted on the page an article by Geoff Wolf about regulators. However, the first half of the article is actually about drones and drone tuning (and chanter tuning for that matter). must reading for anyone who plays any bagpipes with drones, not just UPs (i actually play smallpipes and am just getting into UPs). when you get to the regulator stuff in the article, just stop- its sort of incomprehensible, at least to those of us who are far from using regulators.
hope you like it.
meir
the difference between equal temperament(electronic tuner) and just intonation (uilleann pipes) are not TRULY compatible,hence the bin or pass it on to a guitar player or better still a bodhran beater.The Oboe is the anchor instrument in the orchestra because it is an imperfect tonal instrument.Hence the tuning to it.If everyone in an ochestra sat and tuned their instruments individually to an electronic tuner, as is so often the case in sessions, people would be asking for their money back.
Slan go foill
Liam
On 2002-08-31 14:19, Uilliam wrote:
MYPIPES.Tune the small drone to the A note on your chanter,then check with the bottom D of the chanter.Next tune the middle drone to the small drone finaly the large drone to the others.Throw the ELECTRONIC Tuner in the bin.PS when other insrumentalists (mainly guitarists) tell you that your pipes are sharp or flat at sessions ask them to have the good grace to tune to you and not their flaming electronic tuners.Ever wondered why an orchestra tunes to the Oboe?
A few points,
Re. tuning to the A.
I have seen a lot of people tune their drones t oa single fingered A, which is slightly flat fro ma more open A. Not a good idea.
Also the A is most effected by humidity or dry air. Reed opens A goes flat. it’s not a bad idea to tune to G.
Re people telling you you are sharp. Well you probably are, concert pitch pipes are very rarely in actual concert pitch. Why does the orchestra tuen to the oboe. I don’t know, maybe because they don’t have concertinaplayers playing with them.
Re tuners
Tuning the drones to A or G doesn’t necessarily make the tuner redundant, none of these notes are different in just intonation and you can still use your tuner to check your other notes, you just need to know how.
[ This Message was edited by: Peter Laban on 2002-09-02 13:14 ]
I played oboe for three years. The oboe first tunes to A on a piano. Then, the orchestra tunes to the oboe. I believe it’s because the oboe can sustain a cleanly pitched note loud enough that the others can tune to.
Well lads and lasses…following up in perfect order: orchester(sp. intended), oboe, piano…
I use to tune pianos a lot (4th generation tuner) and we tune the piano to a tuning fork (and nowadays an electronic tuner). And guess what a fork is tuned too…at least at room temperature? (I’ve actually tuned (or retuned some forks)
The fork is tuned to the Uilleann pipes! So you see…what goes around comes around.
No, seriously, with most instruments a 5th above (A above D) is the most pure. The 4th (G above D) is the next most pure (only slightly off in the temperment scale).
The reeds in pipes fluctuate too much from varying pressures for any note to be perfectly stable…I mean perfectly, But I tend to agree that the G note would be best to tune the D drones to (if the G is in tune with the rest of the instrument)
When playing uilleann pipes with other instruments, I always am forced to tune to the others…fiddlers, guitar players, etc. but someone was right when they said that the concertina was the guide.
I’ve tuned several concertinas too, in fact a regular C/G concertina…I invariably take it apart immediately and tune the C scale up to D. This make a very friendly instrument and lets the player do all kinds of things that he would otherwise not be able to do.
[ This Message was edited by: Lorenzo on 2002-09-02 14:42 ]
Lorenzo who is Forcing you to retune your pipes at sessions?Give me their names and I will send the pipe squad round!!Seriously back to the thread.A or G is acceptable to tune the Drones(see Geoff Woof ,Leo Rowsomes Tutor et al)I presume when you say you retune your pipes at sessions you are talking about the Chanter? maybe the reed? Sharp or Flat even?What about the rest of the set???Are you retuning the regulators plus the drones to keep the whole thing in balance?If not why not ?Sorry folks I fail to see why an instrument that is perfectly in tune with ITSELF should be be put out of tune to suit modern flippancy.Besides if you were to spend the time retuning the whole instrument(not just messing about a bit with the bridle)you would never get to play a tune now would you!!I think it is really about educating other players about the practical nuances of the Uilleann Pipes rather than the other way around.Of all the instruments nowadays being played in sessions the Pipes are by far the oldest unless there is a harpist present.And the purist as far as the tradition is concerned.So stand up for yourselves and your beloved pipes INSIST that other instruments tune to you and to hell with the session.OK you will be playing on your own probably but you will be remembered for your valiant stand.Slan Go Foill
Liam
Liam…I’m with you. I only wish I had your personality, but actually what I’ve done to please the band is make two different sets of reeds. My favorite set is for solo work and practice. The other set is all built with tuning slides (chanter and regs). This is accomplished by getting oversized brass tubing, inserting a 1/2" piece into the bore, fitting the base of the staple (unwound) perfectly to the inside of the oversized tube. Then you are free to push in and pull out instantly, although rushing the bores or filling the fingerholes temporarily with black nail filler putty can be effective to a lesser degree.
This last weekend I had my set all perfectly in tune with the solo set of reeds, thinking that the rest of the band would be doing their electronic tuner thing (some guitar players can’t tune an instrument to itself!) I never reeded the pipes with the slides. So just about sundown (outdoors) when the air had cooled off, I strapped them on and proceded to play The Congrees Reel set with the band. After the first time through, I realized that their strings had all gone South, I was high, but nodded to the fiddler to take it. Within 30 seconds I had my repair case opened, cut off a samll length of hemp, wound it around the base of the chanter staple, and joined back in for the 3rd round.
Several dignitaries had flown out West from that Irish-infested section of Boston, so we had enough praise to give us the illusion that we sounded good in spite of the everchanging tuning. The bodhron became loose as a goose, and was flapping like sail in irons.
Sorry, I can only give you fictitious names of the band…they suffer enough already, and they’re not even pipers!
[ This Message was edited by: Lorenzo on 2002-09-02 17:01 ]
If you check an O’Briain chanter, you will see it has a small piece of brass tubing about 6mm i.d.fitted in the reed seat. Once the reed is wrapped with thread it will fit snugly and allow a degree of tuning by sliding the reed in and out a fraction(we’re talking a few cents), it’s a great help though. I have no problem fitting in with any instrument as long as it’s not wildly away from concert. And spare a thought for totally fixed tuners like tinas and boxes. But surely, if it’s a good chanter and reed it shouldn’t be far off concert anyway.
All the best
Alan
(and HI Liam, long time no see, howya doing?)
On 2002-09-02 13:00, Tony wrote:
I played oboe for three years. The oboe first tunes to A on a piano. Then, the orchestra tunes to the oboe. I believe it’s because the oboe can sustain a cleanly pitched note loud enough that the others can tune to.
Tony Tuning to the piano is only possible if it is included in the orchestra for a modern piece or a piano concerto.The usual Romantic Orchestra does not include an pianoforte.
The violin can sustain a clear clean note longer than the oboe.The oboe has always been used in Romantic Orchestras for tuning simply because it is an imperfect instrument and will alter pitch constantly hence the orchestra will invariably and often tune to the oboe at intervals in a performance.Slan