Interesting set

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PJ
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Interesting set

Post by PJ »

I spotted this clip on YouTube. The regulators look a little unusual. There are photos on the maker's (Benoit Trémolières) FB page. Seems to be some sort of Boehm system.
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Re: Interesting set

Post by An Draighean »

"steampunk pipes"? (from the poster on YT)
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Tell us something.: I am interested in the uilleann pipes and their typical -and broader- use. I have been composing and arranging for the instrument lately. I enjoy unusual harmonic combinations on the pipes. I use the pipes to play music of other cultures.
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Re: Interesting set

Post by tommykleen »

Perhaps Benoit could give us a tour of his interesting new system. Mine eyes dazzle too much to figure out what's going on there. It looks like, in two places, there are duo touches on a single key for two different notes, as well as more notes in total for the baritone reg (?). And we have not even started discussing the drones...
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Re: Interesting set

Post by benoit trémolières »

Oops, I missed this talk :oops:
As I explained elsewhere, the basic idea was to get a few more chords on the regulators, just because the standard system is actually very limited.
But as a player myself, I think we only have little room available at this purpose, if you want to keep the regulators playable the "normal" way.
It appears actually that you can do much with the existant notes, when using them in what I call "cross chords" (because they are not perpendicular to the regs).
These chords (like: D-A F#-B G-C ), are besides very usefull, because they are fifths and fourths, that are more "neutral" chords than thirds and sixths.
All I've done is to invent a mecanical system that allows, as you noticed, to link these "cross chords" straight.

I add an E between bariton D and F#, linked with A on the tenor, and A & G on bass reg.
You can find as usual a lot of things about my work on this forum:
http://uilleann-pipes.clicforum.com/t11 ... 150#p14748
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Re: Interesting set

Post by m coulter »

Nice work Benoit, always good to see someone doing something different.
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Re: Interesting set

Post by Pipewort »

I add my appreciation of your innovations. You must have sweated, and spent some blood(e.g euros) in getting thus far.

But do say, are they easier to tune? than the conventional?
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Re: Interesting set

Post by Driftwood »

Totally awesome photos on the clicforum! I want a set like that but think I need to win the lottery first of all.
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Re: Interesting set

Post by tommykleen »

I'm a big fan of cross cords and use them frequently in my playing. This whole system is a work of genius. Félicitations à Benoit!
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Re: Interesting set

Post by benoit trémolières »

No, actually, they are nor worse or easier to tune than a standart set.
The main problem is that there's less latitude for both chanter's E's to be out of tune...
I'm toiling on reeds since nearly a month, because I want everything to be perfectly balanced, but honestly, I'm not in more trouble than I had been with my former Froment sets...

Otherwise, I took a particular attention for the reeds to be always housed in wooden chambers, to avoid as much as possible the air temperature variations.
Moreover,the regulators are fed through a circuit outside the main stock, that let time to the air to be cooled before entering the reeds.
I did this because, in my own experience with metalic hollow main-stocks, the first cause of regs out-of-tuning is that their chambers are warmed by the passing of drones providing air.
When you switch the drones on, the regulators start to go up ! (And get down as soon as you stop them...).
After the first tries, the system seems to work well.
There's a lot of things to be fixed, but stability is OK :D

Concerning the price, I don't know exactly how things will turn out, but because the way the making is organised, I don't think It'll be outrageously high :party: .
Frankly speaking, I'm pretty sure it won't reach the hightest prices you can find around, mostly because, at the machining level, a lot of parts are made by bunches (It's out of question to me for only one set to be machined at a time).
You can see on the french forum that a lot of templates and tools have been made (that explain why this development lasts since more than three years...), in order to facilitate machining (and get the proper level of precision).
But there's anyway a lot of operations time that can't be reduced, and still a lot of unknowns... :puppyeyes: :puppyeyes:

An important point is that, in the same time, I kept seriously working on reeds.
You may have seen around that I'm desparatly trying to re-find the Leo Rowsome "way", wich seems to me the best I can expect.
I completly changed my own way (mostly learnt from Alain Froment) one year ago, and I can say that, after some very desappointing time, I made more progress during this year than since the last twenty ones...
The idea is that, talking about sound and working, the Rowsome manner is perfect. I just have to learn how he did.
My purpose is actually maybe not really to make something "new", but rather just "a bit better".
It appears that in UP area, such an humble aim can take you further away than expected...
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Re: Interesting set

Post by Pipewort »

Benoit,

Thank you for that fulsome explanation. It only reinforces the effort you have put into this system. Fair play for your effort, and I hope it bears fruit for you.

Details of your researches into the Rowsome reed making technique's outcome would be of great interest when complete to all here, should you be able to do so.

Lastly, a compliment on the English!

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Re: Interesting set

Post by benoit trémolières »

Thank you for the supports!
Concerning reeds, I'd be pleased to tell everything I learnt, but it is however not that simple to pass on in writing...
I'm more and more aware that a lot of very good things have already been transmitted around, and that I'm really not alone having been busy these last thirty years.
What could be desappointing for newcomers or seekers in this matter is that you can have everything in hand, but nothing works since the whole bunch of parameters is'nt perfectly balanced.
And there's many an occasion to miss that balance...
This explains why it's so hard to change something, because acting on one particular point means generally to modify the whole stuff.

But there's something I must definitly claim: Everything ca be fixed from the reed !
Absolutly every note can be tuned independantly from others, working on the reed.
This is why I don't voice my chanters any more: I can never know where the default is coming from !

I always take this exemple: Everybody around thinks the Leo Rowsome chanters are giving a low high E.
But on Leo's records, this note is in tune.
And I can't imagine anyway the Rowsomes still going on making out of tune chanters during two generations without trying to fix it.

A lot of time have already been spent in tries and calculations in order to tune that note from the chanter, because in everybody's mind (acousticians first !), the reed is considered as the "servant" of the chanter.
Actually, in my opinion (confirmed by experimentation), The reed head influence is far more important than the bore's.

Problem is that, actually, we know a lot about bore and holes, and nearly nothing concerning reed head behavior.
So we have to fumble in the dark, and it takes a bit of time... :P :P
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