Good enough Uilleann Pipes for me to learn to play nicely?

[Ketil]

Hi!
Sverre, please just forget about the ebay (pakistani) pipes. I have seen and tried one. Completely useless. You might as well use your money as toiletpaper. Dette er helt sant! Helt forferdelige greier som du ikke kan få noe fornuftig lyd ut av.

https://banbadesign.co.uk/

Martin makes practise sets for 800 GBP. Great value and fantastic reeds!

[Ketil]

I have also heard great reviews of Kenneth McNicholls 3D printed chanters. I think they cost about 200 euros. If you get bag and bellows from Kelleher (great quality and service) you are good to go!

https://www.kmbagpipes.com/

Ketil

[Kuddel]

Hi
Also a good start for the beginner are the
pom practice sets by Andreas..

https://www.uilleann-pipes.de/en/instru ... e-set-in-d

Good luck Kuddel

[sverretheflute]

Thanks a lot for good answers and advices. Thank you for extended answers and help, like from you, dyersituations, and you RnaissenceGuy!

It's really hard to stay away from the pakistani ones. I've bought pakistani whistles, and loved to play them. I even have a pakistani Scottish practice chanter (without bag). But I understand it's far too much that can go wrong with the pakistani pipes with such a complex consruction. And good sound really matters. Så jeg får høre på deg Ketil.

The polymer chanters I just can't make myself to go for. Even if there's hardly any good reasons for avoiding them. 3D print sounds really smart. But with my whistles I never settled with other materials than wood or metal.

Pat Sky's concept is interesting. But it seems a bit complicated, at least if I buy the sets to mount at home. It also seems he has polymer hidden inside the tubes, and as said...

I end up with Martin's practice Chanter. It's best price and good quality, this man gets a lot of good words from customers. I consider to go up 100£ though, to the C Chanter, because I think it is more tender and rich in sound than the more loud and sharp D Chanter. If you guys have any comments on that I'm thankful. Are others than C to reccomend?

The ones who gave me the gift to jump into this didn't expect it to cost more than 500+. 900 + 25% tax into Norway is within my limits, but far more than I expected or wanted to spend on this. Because there is a danger that the instrument will end up on the shelf after a while. But I see this is serious business, serious makers and serious players. That lifts my standard too.

I have a goal to return to all those around 150 persons who provided for this, with a reasonable good performance of "Be thou my vision", or "the Lord's my shepherd" or another of those Celtic inspired hymns. And I can't move from my sound proofe apartment before it's accomplished.

[dyersituations]

I end up with Martin's practice Chanter. It's best price and good quality, this man gets a lot of good words from customers. I consider to go up 100£ though, to the C Chanter, because I think it is more tender and rich in sound than the more loud and sharp D Chanter. If you guys have any comments on that I'm thankful. Are others than C to reccomend?

It seems like many pipers prefer flat sets (C#, C, B, Bb), but it really depends on your usage. I personally like concert and flat sets equally, though I do especially love the mellower flat chanter sound. If you want to play with other people, a concert D set is usually required, unless you find someone with a C whistle or C chanter or down-tuning fiddle or whatever.

[sverretheflute]

I personally like concert and flat sets equally, though I do especially love the mellower flat chanter sound.

So with “flat chanter” you mean those C#, C, B, Bb, and that they differ from the sharper D, just to be sure I got you right.

I probably won’t play much with others, and if I do, it would rather be with synth, piano or guitar, not whistles and violins. The only trouble would be my own whistles, they are best in D.

[dyersituations]

So with “flat chanter” you mean those C#, C, B, Bb, and that they differ from the sharper D, just to be sure I got you right.

I probably won’t play much with others, and if I do, it would rather be with synth, piano or guitar, not whistles and violins. The only trouble would be my own whistles, they are best in D.

Yeah, the name "flat" is often applied to them since they are "flat" of D. Most pipers I know have at least a flat chanter. I play my C chanter often with my band, as they enjoy singing in Dm.

[sverretheflute]

I play my C chanter often with my band, as they enjoy singing in Dm.

That’s true, dm is a favorite for a lot.

[RenaissanceGuy]

I really like the aesthetic of Martin Gallen's pipes. Please let us know how you like your practice set!

[chaos97]

I would recommend any beginner getting a D chanter. The first reason being that there are so many recordings, tutors, and resources for learning now and pretty much all are taught in that pitch. For me at least, being able to play along with things like the Heather Clarke book or the NPU dvds was of huge importance and helped me heaps!

Another reason may be maintenance, you may have issues down the line & find that contacting the original pipe maker may not be best. I think there may be a higher likelihood of getting 'outside' help in regards to simple maintenance, like reeds, in D. I figure most people with some reed making skills will have more experience on the 'concert pitch' & most online resources for reeds are written for D.

Another thing I remember hearing at some point was along the lines of 'playing flat was more forgiving' and I don't think I agree with that at all, One thing is that many flat chanters will play best with a variety of different fingerings than you will find in the basic tutor. I remember when I first started playing a flat chanter, I had to relearn a lot of muscle memory type things. Things I was usually doing for tone and color were way more effective and in some situations would completely shift the note out tune! Maybe others will disagree, but I think there's enough for a beginner to learn already and maybe a flat chanter will just add distractions.

[RenaissanceGuy]

^ Interesting point on fingerings. In my limited experience, I've even found this to be the case even with concert-pitch chanters from different makers. I got used to certain fingerings with my Kenneth McNicholl D chanter, and then I needed to make some adjustments when I got a CJ Dixon D chanter.