Chiff and Fipple Forums

If your ear tells you the note doesn't sit well on the drones, then your ear is probably right. With just intonation, the note is flatter than equal temperament because the equal temperament C# would be dissonant against the drones. But if the note is flattened too much, then you end up with the sa...

My c# always is off the tuner but sounds ok when I play. Have you tried more or less pressure on that note to see if affects tuning ? Yup. The pressure doesnt seem to make much of a difference. Also the back D is fine, which I know is greatly affected by pressure. If it's fairly common to be so fla...

In highland piping, I've long heard the advice was always have the reed blade plane at 90 degrees to the bore line of the finger holes. M Ya know, I've never heard that, but I've never seen it any other way. I wonder if it's also because of the way we test the reed in the chanter with our mouths. S...

Hey folks. Im looking for some insight into an issue with my C#. I understand it is supposed to be slightly flat compared to some other notes according to this site http://www.upreeds.com/?q=content/tuning-0, however it's coming up at least twice, or even three times flatter than what that site sugg...

Hey folks! I've got a couple announcements I'd like to share. 1. The Irish Pipers Club - Seattle will be hosting the annual West Coast Tionól next month, Feb. 14-16. Special guests will be Joey Abarta and Cillian Vallely. 2. You can find more info and purchase tickets on our brand new website! http:...

Bit late to the game here, but have you heard of Dan Houghton? https://danhoughton.bandcamp.com/ He uses both small and border pipes. A good range of influence in his music, some traditional, some of his own more contemporary work. He also played (maybe still does?) with a band called Cantrip that i...

Is there anyone out there that currently has a set of these pipes? I am very interested in them. I have some experience with McCallums products and am very impressed with their work, and Fred seems genuinely interested in getting a good set of pipes produced, and available to folks at a pretty good...

Hey folks. Has anyone experienced their border pipes taking excessive air to keep steady? I got a set from Fred Morrison last month that I really have to flap away to keep going. I've checked for leaks and found none. The chanter itself takes a decent amount of air, but when I kick in the drones it'...

Hey Folks! Big thanks to everyone who has taken the survey. I got some very useful input from you all! I'll be sure to let you all know once we've got it up and running again. Hopefully, it won't be long. To anyone who hasn't done the survey, please feel free to do so. Your short answers are especia...

Chatting to Fred on his recent trip to Dublin and the subject came up. He is still selling Uilleann Pipes made by McCallum and he is very much involved. They were originally selling a 1/2 Set but they have now started producing full sets. People are buying them too. I don't think this will be a cor...

Hi everyone. I'm working with the Seattle Pipers Club to design their new website. In order to design a site that is truly useful to uilleann pipers of all backgrounds and experiences, I've developed a VERY short survey I hope you can all fill out. It should take about 2 minutes or less. Your answer...

Ah! Thank you! I hadn't heard it called "Quiet Land of Erin" anywhere before. I definitely want to play it as sung as well, so double helpful for that input. It reminds me of learning Piobaireachd on the GHB. My original instructor insisted on learning the canntaireachd for each piobaireac...

Hey Folks. Hope I'm not breaking any rules about music requests here... I'm wondering if anyone can help me find music for the song Airde Chuain. Specifically, there is a version sung by Griogair Labhruidh on his album Dal-riata (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kd91UCozqso) that I love. In his versi...

Very helpful! You could create your own, transcribing favourite recordings, especially if you can read music. With that, you have the tunes you WANT to learn, and before you know it, you have a book to publish. This is essentially what I'm doing now with a few tunes. However, my instructor has infor...

Hi folks. I'm wondering if there are any books out there with music actually written for the uilleann pipes. As in they have the various grace notes and ornamentations marked. I'm well aware of thesession.org, but as I am brand new to learning the pipes, seeing the music clearly written as I'm inten...