UP range, same as flute or penny whistle?

Uilleann Pipes
1

Do the registers on the Uilleann Pipes match those of a flute or a Penny Whistle?

The size of the chanter seems to be between the other two instruments.

2

It’s the same range as the flute and the whistle: two octaves starting on the D above middle C.

3

I had the impression the whistle was an octave above the flute. Is that just an auditory illusion due to the brightness of the whistle?

4

The whistle is definitely an octave above. But PJ gave you the range, not the absolute register.

5

OK my bad. The title did not say register. So does the UP play the same octaves as the flute or whistle.

6

I’d say flute.

7

Flute (or low D whistle).

8

Actually, my bad, I reread it, and PJ did give the register (or at least implied it) as being the D above middle C, but the whistle starts at the D above that one. Flute, uilleann pipe D chanter, and low whistle are all the same, but convention (for readability mostly) has written music for high D whistle being the same as flute and chanter.

BTW, an easy check to tell is to look at the length of the low whistle and the flute - they’re roughly the same length, so they must be roughly in the same register. High D whistle is roughly half as long, making it an octave higher. If you had a really super high D whistle that played two octaves above flute, it’d be half the size of a regular D whistle, and 1/4 the size of a low D whistle or flute.

The sound production from chanters is so different that you can’t compare the length to that of a whistle, but if you had a chanter that played an octave below, you can bet it would be approximately twice as long…

9

And who says size doesn’t matter. :smiley:

10

This is quite a relief. I am certain my slow session will appreciate my errant notes, sharp high F#, and squeaks going down an octave as I progress (if that is the right word) from whistle to practice pipes.

So is bigger better? You might think that, I couldn’t possibly comment.

11

I’m willing to bet similarities/differences in range will be one of the least things your practice set will have you thinking about for a while. :slight_smile: Congratulations, and have fun!