What note does your bass drone play without the top on?

Uilleann Pipes
1

Hi

As the title suggests - what note does your bass drone play without the sliding portion on it - just the inboard half?

Some seem to be around F, some nearer G. Heard one close to E.

Also tell me the maker.

Messing around with drone designs, just curious!!!

Cheers

Andy

2

Gordon Galloway

just a smidgeon flat of G

3

Paddy O’ Hare in Belfast said that his tuning slide of this bass fell off once and plays the key of G which sounds great.

A clip of Paddy here using the D bass as G bass

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i2sY-POxsOk&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XH7W6qij57o&feature=related

He also appered on a TG4 programme called Lorg Lunny.

Cheers

Ferg

4

My bass drone (made by Nick Whitmer) plays an E when the slide section is removed.

5

On my Andreas Rogge D wide bore set the D Drone bass with tuning slide off plays just flat of F sharp or just below 0 on the tuner.

Cheers

Ferg

6

I have “Britttonized” pakistani drones that play just sharp of g without the slide, so i’m going to try to make a short extension slide to flatten it to g for fun.

7

My Hillmann bass drone is just a few cents sharp of G. I put a short extention on it and it gives a new perspective, but I don’t use it that often

8

Kirk Lynch drone plays a very nice G.

9

Hi Andy,

I was asking myself why you want to know this? Is it for tunning the bas to G with a side hole in the bastop?
Dave Williams made a few sets with drones what were able to tune to E.
But personally I think standard tunning is still superiour as I think the quality of the dronesound will lose some when there is an a expanded volume somewere in the dronepart were it doesn’ t need to be.
But I also can understand to make something differend can be pleasing to do.

(btw thanks for making such fine cd with the guys from the Baltic)

Patrick

Oh yes… as you want to know: Williams gives something like a f# to a flat G

10

Thanks for replies so far.

Patrick - i really am just nosey!! I 'm making myself some new drones and i can’t help but notice that some drones have a lot more power (or bollocks as we say up here) to them than others. For example, compare the drone sound on Keenan’s brown album (Crowley) where the bass drone really dominates the overall sound, to some of the much more baritone-led drone sound you hear on a Laim O’Flynn recording (Rowsome). Or Tommy Keane’s Howard set really has some power too.

(Yeah i know the recording techniques are a factor here but still)

Anyway I’m hoping for a more powerful bass drone and i’ve made half of it, shoved a reed in and was idly blowing through it so i thought i’d ask the question.

Cheers

A

11

I’ve heard one or two K&Q sets with distinctly strong bass drones (Debbie Quigley’s set, for example). I think that the reeds are the main factor. I might be wrong but I heard that BK put synthetic (was it made from dowl? At any rate, non-cane) reeds in the bass drone of some sets which gave a dominant bass sound.

12

I think BK prefers a brass body and a spruce tongue now. He made one for Jerry O’Sullivan when I took reedmaking in 1997 at Elkins, WV. Jerry said it was the best behaved baritone reed he had ever played.