Ian Kinnear Uilleann Pipes

[Rhaco]

=Do you have any pipers near you? If there's someone who can make reeds, you can really order from wherever.

It looks like there are a couple "near," me in the sense of the same region of the country. I'm sure I can find someone to work with on reeds, but I won't lie, I do have some trepidation there. I'd love to get a maker who was at least in an environment like mine (humidity/elevation) who could do reeds and a chanter at the same time.

[Rhaco]

I saw Ian's pipes at the All Britain Fleadh last year, the looked and sounded ok (half sets not practice sets though)

If you are looking at polymer chanters try KM Bagpipes - 3D printed chanter

David

That's good ot hear. I'd never heard anything but his smallpipes, so we're getting a bit closer to the actual practice set there.

I have looked into KM 3D printed chanters, and I have to admit I'm intrigued. At some point I'm hoping to get to listen to one in person. If it's anything like poly GHB chanters, a lot of the timbre reasons you would want a hardwood one instead of a poly one are lost in videos, so it's hard to make a good choice on something like that without hearing them in person. They do come highly recommended though, so that is a great start.
Thanks for the advice.

[Rhaco]

Brad Angus
https://m.facebook.com/anguspipes2016/

Really appreciate the suggestion, but I think he's a little out of the price range I can realistically do right now.
Thanks for the input though.

[Rhaco]

I've never had a hobby that was this frontloaded in terms of time/money/research.

I don't know any even moderately good uilleann pipers who consider it just a hobby; the right word would be something closer to "obsession". There are many obstacles to overcome, especially if you are far away from expert teachers and other pipers; the time and money required is just the beginning. Not trying to be pessimistic, but to learn in isolation you have to really, really want to - almost to the point of obsession.

"Hobby" might not be the ideal word, but my degree is in music and I play professionally on a half dozen instruments. I understand the uilleann pipes present a lot of their own exceptional challenges, but I'm definitely prepared for the difficulties ahead. I have no illusions this will be easy, and any instrument is a lifelong process.
When I say "hobby," I mostly mean in that there's a limit to the hours I can put in to a non-paying pursuit, and I don't exactly expect to turn uilleann pipes into my day job. I don't mean "hobby," in the sense of building model rockets.
The realism is appreciated though.

[dyersituations]

It looks like there are a couple "near," me in the sense of the same region of the country. I'm sure I can find someone to work with on reeds, but I won't lie, I do have some trepidation there. I'd love to get a maker who was at least in an environment like mine (humidity/elevation) who could do reeds and a chanter at the same time.

Then consider ordering from the closest maker that's in your price range. I purchased multiple chanters from areas of Europe that aren't that far off climate-wise from where I live, and none of the reeds worked well when they arrived. I have since either tweaked the reeds, had reeds sitting around that worked, or made new ones for those chanters.

I understand the uilleann pipes present a lot of their own exceptional challenges, but I'm definitely prepared for the difficulties ahead.

Uilleann pipes definitely need a level of commitment/obsession. I pretty much had to stop playing all of my other instruments to get decent on the pipes (I previously gigged on string instruments mostly). It's a serious time commitment. I do know some pipers that are also excellent at other instruments, but most of them play music for a living and have the time for practice. Sadly I have a day job that gets in the way...

[Ken_C]

Yeah, I came across Tim Britton, but he's well out of the range of what I can outlay to get started. Maybe one day, but I still have to go back to the wife with a number I can defend
I hadn't seen David Boisvert before, but it looks like his buisiness model might be a bit quirky for my needs. The whole "interests list," thing is awesome for the maker because he gets to do what he wants, and more power to him, but I'm already quite likely looking at a 6 months to a year wait for a lot of makers. I don't know if I can make a "sooner or later, if I find a project I'll enjoy," thing work. Part of the carbony appeal was the instant turnaround time.
Thanks a ton for the suggestions though!

IIRC David B. went to his model after he had a wait list (maybe with deposits? I don't recall) and then he lost a bunch of time to injury that kept him from pipemaking. My impression is that he concluded that a wait list with deposits was not fair to those waiting when the time and expense turned out to be so unpredictable.
Experts here please correct my impression if I have any of it wrong.
I know both these folks were not in your initial price range, but they are part of the network and may know U piping folks in your area with extra instruments they may want to sell, lend, etc. I found fishing around and waiting a little opened up chances at used sets before anyone could make me one and that worked well for me. Someone is always upgrading. Good luck.

Ken

[Rhaco]

It looks like there are a couple "near," me in the sense of the same region of the country. I'm sure I can find someone to work with on reeds, but I won't lie, I do have some trepidation there. I'd love to get a maker who was at least in an environment like mine (humidity/elevation) who could do reeds and a chanter at the same time.

Then consider ordering from the closest maker that's in your price range. I purchased multiple chanters from areas of Europe that aren't that far off climate-wise from where I live, and none of the reeds worked well when they arrived. I have since either tweaked the reeds, had reeds sitting around that worked, or made new ones for those chanters.

I understand the uilleann pipes present a lot of their own exceptional challenges, but I'm definitely prepared for the difficulties ahead.

Uilleann pipes definitely need a level of commitment/obsession. I pretty much had to stop playing all of my other instruments to get decent on the pipes (I previously gigged on string instruments mostly). It's a serious time commitment. I do know some pipers that are also excellent at other instruments, but most of them play music for a living and have the time for practice. Sadly I have a day job that gets in the way...

That makes sense. I imagine even with a similar climate, that kind of trip would beat the hell out of a reed. I do know a localish amateur but solid player who makes his own reeds. He won't be my go to for long, but if i needed to dial in a reed that didn't adjust to the trip well, I wouldn't be completely on my own.

That all makese sense. I do fall under that pro musician category, so it'll be hard but doable. In any given year, I think about 75% of my income comes from playing/teaching. I'm really not worried. I think this is a little like learning Chinese after you've learned Spanish and French. The difficulty level is ramped way up, but you are prepared for the level of commitment that will be required.

[Rhaco]

Yeah, I came across Tim Britton, but he's well out of the range of what I can outlay to get started. Maybe one day, but I still have to go back to the wife with a number I can defend
I hadn't seen David Boisvert before, but it looks like his buisiness model might be a bit quirky for my needs. The whole "interests list," thing is awesome for the maker because he gets to do what he wants, and more power to him, but I'm already quite likely looking at a 6 months to a year wait for a lot of makers. I don't know if I can make a "sooner or later, if I find a project I'll enjoy," thing work. Part of the carbony appeal was the instant turnaround time.
Thanks a ton for the suggestions though!

IIRC David B. went to his model after he had a wait list (maybe with deposits? I don't recall) and then he lost a bunch of time to injury that kept him from pipemaking. My impression is that he concluded that a wait list with deposits was not fair to those waiting when the time and expense turned out to be so unpredictable.
Experts here please correct my impression if I have any of it wrong.
I know both these folks were not in your initial price range, but they are part of the network and may know U piping folks in your area with extra instruments they may want to sell, lend, etc. I found fishing around and waiting a little opened up chances at used sets before anyone could make me one and that worked well for me. Someone is always upgrading. Good luck.

Ken

The networking thing is never a bad idea. I know a friend who got an antique set of Hendersons from a church that found them in a storage room. The price was the guy doing the cleaning of the storage area saying "oh, don't worry about it. Take me and the wife to dinner some time." I'll never totally get over the fact that I didn't belong to that church.

I just moved to this area (3 weeks ago), and I've been doing everything I can to meet anyone who plays a pipe. Got so loud about it at a local Irish pub I ended up playing for St Paddy's about 4 days after I arrived. But that is just a law of the universe: "if you own bagpipes on St Paddy's day, someone will ask you to play them."
I do have a local friend who plays smallpipes at his local "traditional music night," about 2 hours away from me, so I'll see where that leads.

[An Draighean]

I'm in Iowa right now

Another maker relatively near to you is Tommy Martin in St. Louis.

https://www.facebook.com/Pipertommymartin

https://irishpipes.wordpress.com/

[Rhaco]

I'm in Iowa right now

Another maker relatively near to you is Tommy Martin in St. Louis.

https://www.facebook.com/Pipertommymartin

https://irishpipes.wordpress.com/

Thanks for the rec! I do like that he is a little nearer to me.

[Rhaco]

Thanks for all the help everyone. I've been back and forth with a lot of these pipe makers and I think the best fit for me that I've found so far is Dirk Mewes out in Colorado. He seems like a great maker, and for someone who needs a little handholding *cough* me *cough* it's great to have someone who is so great with quick communication and keeping me up to date.

This is such a cool resource you've all created here. I plan on pestering you with many questions in the next couple years.

[An Draighean]

Thanks for all the help everyone. I've been back and forth with a lot of these pipe makers and I think the best fit for me that I've found so far is Dirk Mewes out in Colorado. He seems like a great maker, and for someone who needs a little handholding *cough* me *cough* it's great to have someone who is so great with quick communication and keeping me up to date.

I know Dirk, and besides being s super nice guy, he seems very dedicated to making the best possible instrument that he can. His latest work has impressed me.

This is such a cool resource you've all created here. I plan on pestering you with many questions in the next couple years.

Pester away, that's one way of getting necessary and/or useful information.

Enjoy your piping journey.