Chiff and Fipple Forums

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zd2MdWzZo10

Great tune! I am ALMOST positive that i'm hearing a bagpipe in the tune, but to be honest...I'm having trouble hearing which one it is. my guess
would be scottish smallpipes, or perhaps an uilleann pipe?

Uilleann

Heh heh...when I saw the thread title, I misread it as "...a bagpipe óir", and wondered if James Galway had gotten himself a golden bagpipe. I need more sleep.

I agree: uilleann pipe, a flat set, I think.

It certainly demonstrates UP chanter range, but the tone seemed way too perfect and ironed-out, so I suspect an electronic emulation.

Yeah, there's a kind of "buzz" in the tone that made me think at first it was smallpipes or something else. But I think that's coming from something else in the mix. Given the range and articulation It does seem to be an uilleann C set, and Pete Purvis certainly does play uilleann pipes.

I can't say that song does a thing for me.

MTGuru wrote:Yeah, there's a kind of "buzz" in the tone that made me think at first it was smallpipes or something else. But I think that's coming from something else in the mix. Given the range and articulation It does seem to be an uilleann C set, and Pete Purvis certainly does play uilleann pipes.

I can't say that song does a thing for me.

It's a hurdy-gurdy, surely?

MTGuru wrote:Yeah, there's a kind of "buzz" in the tone that made me think at first it was smallpipes or something else. But I think that's coming from something else in the mix. Given the range and articulation It does seem to be an uilleann C set, and Pete Purvis certainly does play uilleann pipes.

I can't say that song does a thing for me.

This was my problem as well! I really thought it was a scottish smallpipe. Also considering the notes he plays sound very much like smallpipe sounds. perhaps there is a live version of the tune. i'll hunt youtube a bit

overall: thanks for the replies!

MTGuru wrote:Yeah, there's a kind of "buzz" in the tone that made me think at first it was smallpipes or something else. But I think that's coming from something else in the mix. Given the range and articulation It does seem to be an uilleann C set, and Pete Purvis certainly does play uilleann pipes.

I can't say that song does a thing for me.

http://youtu.be/JqykUZJ_L1U?t=2m20s Uilleann pipes indeed. I suspect you are totally right

benhall.1 wrote:It's a hurdy-gurdy, surely?

It does sound hurdy-gurdyish, doesn't it? Then again, you may have hurdy-gurdys on the brain after last weekend. And the drones that let loose at 3 seconds in are definitely not some weird French contraption.

MTGuru wrote:

benhall.1 wrote:It's a hurdy-gurdy, surely?

It does sound hurdy-gurdyish, doesn't it? Then again, you may have hurdy-gurdys on the brain after last weekend. And the drones that let loose at 3 seconds in are definitely not some weird French contraption.

Oh, there's pipey-droney thingies later ... but I still think it is a hurdy at the start, and that continues. I don't think I have hurdies on the brain. At least, not that I'm about to trompette to the world, at any rate.

benhall.1 wrote:Oh, there's pipey-droney thingies later ... but I still think it is a hurdy at the start, and that continues. I don't think I have hurdies on the brain. At least, not that I'm about to trompette to the world, at any rate.

Don't know about that, Ben. The live vid that DjUntzUntz posted above has, to my ear, the same "buzz", but there's no wheel cranking in evidence there, only pipes. Could well be a bit of deliberate distortion FX on the pipes and fiddle. I think you may have mis-heardy the gurdy*. Unfortunately, the album credits at allmusic.com are silent on the matter.

* Even if I don't believe that, it's too good not to say anyway.

It's *Studio Magic* ®




theres an unlimited amount of things that can be done to a signal behind the glass...
could be U pipes modulating a gurdy sample, or vice versa, run thru a guitar synth. ONce digitized, it's all just mere data manipulation... who really knows except the engineer. A totally formulaic tune. Too bad.

the pipes in that live video are poorly mixed... that's the thing about playing live, sometimes you're at the mercy of sound guys who have never heard your band, sometimes guys who have never heard acoustic music of any kind.

When he's taking the solo he sounds the same volume as when he's noodling behind the vocals.

When I played uilleann pipes in a fairly large group years ago (loud piano accordion, guitar, electric bass, bodhran, fiddle, vocals) I used a volume pedal so I could play loud when doing solos/instrumentals and soft when playing harmony lines underneath vocals.

On the studio recording the pipes sound heavily compressed and processed. But you can still tell they're uilleann pipes.

Definitely studio magic. There is fiddle droning in there too so that would make it sound hurdy-gurdy-ish, sort of like the dog string.

pancelticpiper wrote:... that's the thing about playing live, sometimes you're at the mercy of sound guys who have never heard your band, sometimes guys who have never heard acoustic music of any kind.

totally.
Throwing a bagpipe at the average nightclub sound guy is like throwing a transmission at a monkey.