What do people think when it comes to useing a UP practice set (bag, bellows, chanter) for learns, or using a Practice chanter (just chanter).
i play the GHB, and the small pipes. so bellows and bags arnt a problem. i dont want to invest too much right now, so i’m thinking of messing around with a UP p-chanter for a while then getting a practice set. Do any of you think UP p-chanters are worth getting?
There are no viable practice chanter options for the Uilleann pipes, you go straight to the real thing.
i dont plan to play along with other people and instruments, just to learn the fingering and basic tech. to it
Bag pressure and coordinating the use of the bellows are a very important part of learning.
i think basicly what i’m asking is are the finger spacing acurate (even w/o extra keys). and could they make a ok-for-learning tool?
and you got the reply there are no viable options for practice chanters.
The UPs are very partcular about pressure, especially around back d and up into the 2nd 8ve. You need to get a real chanter - as a previouys poster said, there are no viable practice chanter options. Also check out the FAQ on pakistani sets.
Or to put it less mildly, those mouth blown chanters are so bad, you need a barrometer to measure how hard they suck. 
Seriously, save the money and get a good basic starter set. You’ll do yourself a dis-service by trying to learn on a bad instrument.
Marc
I’m all for starting off with a practice chanter.
I think it is the best way to get into uilleann piping.
But with the term practice chanter I mean a chanter that is very easy to play and easy to reed. Something that is optimized to help you get started. Cut down on keys and cosmetics and optimize the easiness or playability.
If you are starting out on pipes I would even sacrifice sound characteristics for playability. Don’t try to buy what you think you would like to have when you get good, get something that is good to practice on and you might stick with it and become a good piper.
As you progress you will found out for yourself what type of chanter that will be the right choice for you, could even be flat pitch in the end.
If it is to big of an investment to get a good chanter, start to save up for it and buy a whistle.
/MarcusR
You can’t learn the fingerings if you cannot play the instrument. Meaning, you must have a bag, bellows and a working reed. Anything else will not teach you a bloody thing.
And don’t buy one of those mouth blown practice chanters, they are a massive waste of money, and again, you will not learn a bloody thing.
Why would you want to learn the fingerings if you were not going to play the Uilleann Pipes?
Paddy, do it right, or do not do it at all.
UP 2 nw I a gre wit al da ad vi c u bn givn. sae v yo mon e an gt d rel tin. UP’z d serv all yor ah tin ton. Don cut an e cor nrz or u b sr e. do it ri an hav lts of fun!
And just as it probably took Tony twice as long to work out how to write the above which looks like a time-saving way of writing, so too will trying to learn on a sub-standard, time-saving, money-saving instrument take twice as long than if you do it on a better instrument.
Probably… 
Im a GHB piper with an eye towards the Up’s.. Forgive me if I had the wrong idea altogether… It was my impression that a “practice chanter” for you lot, is an Irish Whistle. Not the $10 things at the music store.. but a good medium end , well made whistle that is priced more than Fiddy, and not quite a C-note.
While one learns how to play the whistle… the Aspiring UP piper saves money for a proper practice set that consists of Chanter, reed, bag, a short tube in between, bellows, and the safety belt / S&M rig that binds the piper and everything else together as one. As I recall, this is in the $800 to $1500 range. There is no option.
The mouth blown UP PC thing I have seen ofered for sale looks like a nifty gadget for GHB Pipers that might not know better. There are lots of GHB pipers who dont know any better about lots of things… So the market will always be there. 
Seriously, I have had GHB Pipers look at me like I was daft when I suggest that a Practice chanter reed IS a reed of sorts, and can in fact be manipulated.. much like one can manipulate any other reed. I have given up on explaining that one. 
has anyone used the uilleann whistle from song of the sea? i dont need one to learn how to play i need one so i can work on tunes but do it without the loudness of the pipes. i have a few free periods during my day and i have had some complaints about the pipes. (the volume not the actuall playing 
) i do keep a whistle with me most of the time. i guess that will have to do for now.
It’s in the key of A
the closest thing to a practice chanter for UP is a D whistle…time for some WhOA…
Dave
Would it be feasible for Paddy to buy a chanter and use his smallpipe bellows and bag?
Incidentally, my wife is a Finn from Dublin. Where are you from?
Andrew
My very earliest foray into uilleann piping was back in 1998 when I borrowed a friend’s Daye penny chanter for a couple of weeks and hooked it up to the chanter stock of my Moore A smallpipes. I seem to recall there was some electrical tape involved…The drones were also blocked off, of course. It sorta worked, but I would certainly say it’s worth it to spend a little bit more money and just get a complete practice set. I remember that when I tried to play with the chanter hooked up to the smallpipes, I had a hellish time trying to get and sustain the 2nd octave. Some years later, after I had been playing my own set of uilleann pipes for a while, I played this same penny chanter again and it flew effortlessly up the scale. It could be that the bag on the smallpipes wasn’t intended to function at the necessary pressure that the penny chanter required…Or I just didn’t know what I was doing…Or both. I dunno. Anyway. If you want to try UPs, get yourself a real practice set from a reputable maker. I would say that’s best because then if you like it, you can get said maker to stick some drones and then maybe later some regs on yer set. If you don’t like it, you can sell the practice set and expect to get a good price for it. If you’re a little bit more iffy, go with a Daye penny chanter practice set. They play very well, are reasonably priced, and you can still expect to sell it with little difficulty if you don’t like it or if you later upgrade to a more traditional-looking wood set.
Get ye a flat set! You know you want it, but now you can “justify” it. Besides, imagine going to the fiddle player and telling them they need to relearn the band’s tunes in B, or B-flat 
dave boling