Chiff and Fipple Forums

Funky Foam is good stuff, I got some after Andy gave it a heads up on the NSP forum. However, there is another synthetic product called Poron, which is used to make orthotics as it is highly conformable and can be glued on with Evostik. The more it is compressed the more airtight it becomes, which m...

An update. I just got a text from Chris. He says he is in the top London heart hospital, but is not in danger. The allergy he has been suffering from for some time now has decided to kick in again, but with far more severity. He is waiting to see a consultant and hopes he will be out in a few days.

I have just heard that Chris was rushed into a London heart hospital earlier this evening. No further details as yet, but I wll keep you informed.

Having played this set for quite some time now I can say that the design works. A drone switch is not needed to turn said drones on or off as they can be "tipped" if the player needs to adjust the regs, with only the slightest increase in bag pressure, as the set is playing very lightly. T...

In sessions it is much easier to play a piano accordian in C (no sharps) than in B (five sharps); thus there is less of the loathsome squeezeplay when you play in B.

John, I asked Chris to bring it up to top playing condition because he made it and has much more experience of renovating sets than I do. I work on new pipes for the most part, and restoring a set would move me out of my comfort zone. If any work was needed on the bores, for example, I do not have t...

Hi John, No, the drone reeds are the standard cane guills, and the regulator reeds are also standard cane beasties. Chris sent me some photos as he was carrying out the restoration, so I'll dig them out and post them here. The original set was made in that configuration, but could also be played the...

Hi John, Well... possibly this one: http://uilleannpipedreams.com/Eigenmode/BoxBarrel-01.jpg This is a Chris Bayley barrel set based on Malcolm MacGregor's work from the early 19th Century. Two drones, bass and baritone, two regulators with the baritone reg playing D, and the tenor playing F#, G, A ...

You can make elder drone reeds from bent pieces of the stuff, as you don't lift the tongue by splitting it upwards as with Arundo, You cut into it with a scalpel to form the tongue, but if your material is bent you must cut the tongue on the CONVEX side.

Bamboo is a grass, not cane. It doesn't work. But there's nowt wrong with asking!

I have a good quantity of both chanter and drone cane in all sizes, including the tenor drone cane tubes that NPU charges a fortune for. It is all perfectly seasoned, and was cut in the South of France several years ago. Both Chris Bayley and I select and harvest this cane personally, and it makes s...

Elder makes excellent chanter reeds, if you can find a section of branch large enough. I remember that Brendan Ring was making them, and he brought a large piece of elder to the Saint Chartier Festival which he was going to carve into separate blades. At the time I was using an elder reed made by Ch...

Hi Clarky, If you cannot get a refund on this set I would first of all check out whether the bag and bellows are serviceable - i.e. that they are airtight, and then go for one of David Daye's or Pat Sky's chanters on its own. It is highly unlikely that you would get a proper reed to work in your exi...

"It's not a Taylor. Could be an Hennelly, Anderson or Browne. But not Taylor" I spoke with Chris Bayley, who has had a number of genuine Taylor sets in his hands, and he is of the opinion that the set is a Brennan. He said that the mounts are wrong for a Taylor set. The photos are not too ...

It is often called the Outlet Flange.