I am very much interested in C sets.
I’d appreciate any recommendations of CDs where the pipers play C sets.
Any hints or comments towards C set piping would be highly welcomed.
Thanks,
Miki
Willie Clancy played a C set on some of his recordings.
Also, David Power, Brian McNamara (mix of C and D) and Peter Laban. I’ve seen a YouTube clip of Mick O’Brien playing a 4 reg C set. Liam O’Flynn plays a C chanter (against D drones) on the Saville Suite CD (Humours of Barrack Street).
Of recent/available commercial recordings, Brian MacNamara’s “A Piper’s Dream” features a number of C tracks, most of which are on a Wooff set and a couple of which are on a Rogge C chanter. Emmett Gill’s album is about 50% C, played on a K&Q C set. I think there are one or two C tracks on Kevin Rowsome’s album as well. And of course Peter Laban’s album with Kitty Hayes features his Wooff C set.
Pat Mitchell’s 1976 album is in C, played on a set by Willie Rowsome with chanter made by Matt Kiernan.
Cormac Cannon now plays a 19th century Egan set pitched in about C (somewhat sharp of modern pitch, halfway to C#), though it’s only now coming together with reeds, restoration, etc. Pat McNulty played a couple of tracks on his “Autumn Apples” album on an original Egan C set which is now in the National Museum of Scotland.
Gay McKeon has a lovely Coyne set pitched in C - unfortunately the original chanter vanished long ago, most recently he plays it with a Gallagher chanter.
best regards,
Bill
I played Gay’s Gallahger chanter and it is really nice!
I play a Mark Hillmann bag and bellows, Seth Gallagher C chanter and regulators, and Pat Sky mainstock and drones.
I haven’t been able to tune and stabilize the regulators yet mostly due to poor health.
I also have recently made a couple of sets of brass/spruce drone reeds that I need to tune and stabilize.
My house is trashed, so house keeping is next on the todo list.
Flat pipes rock!
You can’t beat a Mark Hillmann bellows, that’s for sure. Built like a Russian truck, looks like a Rolls Royce!
The bag isn’t bad either. The bellows takes the biggest “gulp” of air per stroke of any I have seen. I got it in 1994 and he has improved his design since with plusher and plumper padding. My padding is getting a bit hard with it being 14 years old.
I would like to replace the old padding as my skin is so thin now that it tends to make my slin bleed with the least bit of friction on my elbow. He glued the leather cover to the bottom layer of the padding and I don’t know what to use to loosen and reglue it with. I think I have found a padding source at the auto parts store.
I don’t play pipes (yet), but do play the flute. I did hear Cillian Vallely play some tunes with his C chanter, while Kevin Crawford played his C flute in NY City. I believe some of their tunes on Lunasa albums are in C, but I’m not sure which ones. I can tell you they sounded fantastic live.
I have a C Preshaw chanter and would love to have a full set from someone…hint hint 
I have a van Daal C chanter and would love to have a full set made by him
I find my C chanter is easier to reed than my D chanter.
REALLY?!? 
(p.s. thanks for the conical staples…I’ve yet to try them out)
I have a Full Set in C by Ginsberg.
Hoping to get the reeds properly set up and balanced before the summer!!!
I just got Brian McNamara’s Piper’s Dream album, lovely piping, lovely pipes, and just lovely. Can’t make up my mind for a flat pitch, either between B and C. Though C# might help keep out the pesky noodlers who can’t noodle! Though I don’t see much odds of finding a C# half-set in left-handed. 
I remember about eight years ago, there was a posting on the internet for somebody selling a left-handed Rogge full set in C with all the bells and whistles for 4,000-something dollars…A friend suggested that I buy it. I briefly considered selling all of my rich roommate’s clothes, but then I thought, “C? Why would I want a set in C?!”
<Sigh…>