Hey all,
I’m tossing up between having regulators made for my half set of uilleann pipes, or spending the cash on trying my hand at the rest of the bellows-blown family, starting with the Scots smallpipes or border pipes. Does anyone have any sets (pref. in A) they’re looking to sell? Otherwise, any suggestions as to makers of good starter sets?
Cheers!
Brett.
I like Alec Smith’s (lauriebeck) smallpipes for a great value for the money. Of course, a “starter” set could mean alot of different things: less expensive maker in general, more expensive maker in general with less bells and whistles, delrin versus wood, etc. I never liked the idea of bellows blown delrin pipes. Seems to make sense for mouth blown pipes and flutes. I tried border pipes, but found them way too loud for my liking and plan to play them in a folk band setting. The border pipes are a little trickier to play, as you can use alternate fingerings for chromatics, so the chanter is a little more sensitive. Shouldn’t be a problem for you with your uilleann background. SSP and uilleann are just two totally different instruments in my mind. You would really be starting over in some regards, getting SSP/borders in terms of technique, repertoire. I have tried to learn many different instruments, and have struggled a bit getting spread too thin to learn any one of them very well. Hope this rambling is helpful.
You do have SSP makers in the Antipodes: Iona Bagpipes and apparently the pipes in this video are made in Australia-- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FL2jObga30A
Have you played Scottish pipes before? If not, the SSPs are more forgiving for both fingering and pressure.
As mentioned, the border pipe chanter is very sensitive to unclean fingering and to pressure. The pressure is like always being in the second octave on the UP and maybe then a little more. And if you forget to lift your little finger you’ll get some off colour notes.
Aaron,
What make of border pipes are you talking about here?
Nate
In regards to pressure sensitivity or fingering sensitivity? I was generalizing between SSP and BP, the latter being a bit more sensitive overall.
Each make of border chanter is different and the reed is the biggest factor. As the craft is growing, the general consensus seems to be that tonal stability is improving.
I was just wondering if your comparison to being in the second octave on an uilleann pipe was refering to sensitivity, or amount of pressure. I thought you meant pressure sensitivity, but I wasn’t sure.
Nate
go for the regs Brett 
SSP’s & Bps are both great instrumetns,
dont get me wrong,
but were I given the choice you’ve got:
I’d fill out the Uilleann pipe first.
Brett,
I guess it matters what you want to play for music. if you’re totally into irish music, than definitely do the Regs. A nicely set up set of regulators on a nicely set up uilleann chanter is hard to beat. And uilleann pipes bang out Irish tunes best. However, if you are interested in getting into Scottish or Cape Breton music, than a set of SSPs or BPs, I think, suit that music better.
Nate