Mystery Chanter?

Uilleann Pipes
1

Forwarded on behalf of George Adams:

I was looking for a flat pitched (C) chanter having tried and listened to many off the top makers concert ones, which I found (to my ear) sounded to thin / shrill / aggressive / way to narrow a tonal range or just plain disappointing not to mention the “feel” of the instruments. This chanter changed all of that for me. Its a mature and sensitive instrument in all respects (but not a “flat or narrow bore” one.Thats a different instrument - to me).

What does stand out to me is the turning just bellow the top ivory mount. Given the thickness of the wood at that point its an act of gross stupidity or supreme confidence in the makers skills and materials. Also the bottom third of the chanter “bells” out more than any i’ve seen, the same is true of the bottom mount (adding more “meat” to that part) could this account for its fuller tone? its certainly very elegant. Oh! it also plays four notes into the third octave, is that normal?.

I would love to have a set of drones and top piece made in keeping with the style, which I consider to be very distinct. It would be very helpfull to identify the maker to see what he did with the “low end”.

At Wicklow 2000 Paddy Keenan and John Rooney both agreed that the maker knew what he was doing and that it was a good one, John Rooney adding that if I ever wanted to sell it to let him know. I then showed resident reed maker for the weekend Dave Hegarty who agreed with what had been said but had never seen this style of ornamentation and hadn’t a clue about it’s maker.

On showing it to John McSherry and after him playing on it for no more than a minute or so he offerd to swap it for his own !!!. Eventualy finding pipe maker Dave Williams there I thought with his knowledge and experience he would point me in the right direction regarding it’s maker - no luck.

Having repaired fiddles and guitars and appreciating fine craftsmanship all of this response along with other good comments left me wondering about the origins of this “mystery” chanter.

The length of the chanter without top piece is 14 5/16 or 364 mm overall (as close as I can get with a tape measure). The internal bore at the bottom is a hair over 1/2 in. (just under 13 mm ) and has a V shaped sprung brass tuning insert ( to tune bottom D ? ). It is ebony (very straight grained throughout its length, quarter sawn) with four brass keys and bottom ferrule.

The ivory mounts at the top and bottom show signs of a fair age (yellowing and discoloration and some chipping on the bottom mount ). The condition had been very neglected although structurally it was fine, for example the keys were locked in their mounts and must have been untouched and unplayed for very many years in unfavorable conditions to build up the amount of verdigree had to cleaned off ( there is still some traces under key springs etc.)The top piece has been replaced with a simple brass tube.

thanks geo

2

Disclaimer: I couldn’t tell the difference between a set of Coynes and my granny’s toothpick collection. That said:

I would hazard a guess that it’s by a mainly GHB maker who also made Uilleann pipes. The turning, particularly of the ivory, looks like something you would normally see on a GHB drone mount. Some GHB chanters are (or used to be, rather) turned down that thin at the top as well. It could also explain the flare of the chanter - again, typical of GHB.

Did Starks of London make Uilleann pipes? I know they made other stuff; fultes and the like, and of course they invented the Brian Boru pipe. I’m not sure off-hand if the dates fit, but the bottom mount reminds me of a couple of Starck sets I’ve seen.

Cheers,
Calum

3

Sorta reminds me of Crowley’s work a little bit, not the decorative ivory parts but the turning of the chanter and shape of the key blocks. It could be a one off genetic experiment from Crowley’s shop that was abandoned for some reason, but that’s pure speculation.

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Notice also that the back D appears to be scalloped, while the others are not!

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I saw this same mystery chanter posted on another web site last year, I forget where exactly. Much of the same description too re. the people who looked at it, played it, and wanted it.

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I think it was here:
http://www.uilleann.nl/

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I searched this previous discussion:
http://chiffboard.mati.ca/viewtopic.php?t=5728&highlight=mystery&sid=72d81a139844daa58a8ed7165f62a905
looks like the original pictures were taken down

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Whoever made it, it’s a beautiful and unique chanter, and despite its years of neglect, looks like it will give many years of service. So, good for George that he found a chanter he really likes, that can be so difficult.

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The Globestyle Irish CD “The Gentleman Pipers” has a very ornate concert pitch set on its cover, with very fancy turnings and many construction aspects (tapered ferrules, flattened tube on the bass drone) remeniscent of the old flat sets. It might simply be an old flat set someone made a wide bore chanter for, but the chanter and set look to have much in common. This chanter reminds me of these pipes, in the turnings and color of the ivory, and key shapes.
The rare British Isles makers after Coyne etc. sometimes made quite ornate stuff. Williamson of Belfast is one, I believe Wilbert Garvin has a set of his. Some of the Highland pipe makers also made Irish pipes. These were always in the old style, keys in blocks, in contrast to O’Meally and the American makers who copied Taylor. John Brogan and John Clarke are two more names that come to mind. There are pictures of some of these makers on the uilleann.nl site.
It looks like an old chanter, but who knows? Maybe it’s just a Johnny Burke or the like. Is that a seam in the bottom ferrule, also? Thus a rolled ferrule?