Yes this is (obviosly) my first post. Drinks are on the house! Seriously though…I have been playing the Irish War Pipes for some years now and also enjoy the low whistle (a brilliant Kerry whistle I might add!) and now have been bitten by the bug to play the uilleann pipes.
After following the advise from a friend and laying down until the feeling goes away… I still want to learn!
I picked up a Pakki practice chanter and Heather Clark’s book on uilleann piping and have self taught myself some of the rolls, grace notes and a handful on tunes allready.
Now the fun part…I have a budget for about $800 for a practice set and was looking at Boston uillean pipe works and CJ Dixon. Both are in my price range.
I am NOT looking for pipe maker bashing - I just want to know if these or others are of good quality in sound and craftmanship.
Thanks again for input in advance…and remember only ONE drink each on the house!
I’ve a Dixon rosewood chanter and I’m very happy with it. It’s easy to play (not requiring too much pressure on the bag) and relatively quiet compared with my Thompson chanter.
Pat Sky is in Chapel Hill, NC. Even if you don’t buy one of his budget sets, it would still be good for you to get some direct input from such an experienced player to help you get started on the right foot.
I’m sure you’re right about getting some guildence from Pat Sky. I looked at his site and it said his “budget pipes” are not recommended for upgrades. I was hoping to eventually add drones after I got more comfortable with my chanter playing.
Any more sugestions or favorable comments on Dixon or UPB?
Thanks for pointing that out to me…great stuff to sift through. Have you played or heard about the Uilleann pipes of Boston? They post an endorsement from Pat Darcy…By the way, how far away are you from Greensboro, NC?
I have played UPs made by Mark Hillmann, Seth Gallagher (my D 1/2 set and C 3/4 set) and chanters/sets by Nick Whitmer, DM Quinn, Tim Britton, Vignoles, and I believe a C chanter by Charles Roberts (that pushed me over the edge to go “flat”).
I live about 2.5 hours away from Greensboro.
The distance between Sparta and Greensboro is about 100 miles according to tripquest.
I remember him posting something about this. Pat Sky wrote that his budget pipes can actually be upgraded, it was just that he thought that buyers should buy the best chanter they could before upgrading to drones.
I recently found myself in your shoes and looking for a high quality practise set with a very limited budget. I found my answer in a Handmade Practise set by Seth Hamon. The Chanter is eboney and is tune of D, the bag and bellows are both top quality and the customer service is fantastic.
He can be found on this forum under TEXASBAGPIPER.
The Pat Murray stuff seems to only have gotten better, and is one of the best feeling, sounding and playing chanters in this arena I’ve had the opportunity to play. Murray’s also added the option of a top quality leather bag instead of the usual vinyl - MacHarg I believe. I’ve not seen one of Pat Sky’s first-hand yet, but by all accounts, they’re right on the money too.
I had the opportunity to play a Sky chanter a few months back. They are very good chanters (says my limited experience), and have a nice tone. I think Pat would be the wisest choice for you, given your relative closeness to each other. 30 plus years of pipe making ought say something.
I played one of Pat’s chanters Monday, but the reed(s) my “student” had aren’t quite there yet.
I got it adjusted so that it was in tune, but the reed is a little balky on hard D and anything above octave A.
I agree with everyone else and suggest you use Pat as your pipmaker/guru as he would be availible to “finish” the reed to your satisfaction.
That will ease the frustration level/learning curve and would be well worth increasing your budget for your pipes, especially if you want to add keys on your chanter in the future.
I am 6 hours away from one of my pipe makers and even further from Seth’s workshop, so I am unable to run over there to get something fixed up for me. I have to do it all myself.
Thanks for the insight. That’s exactly what I was looking for. Pat sent me an e-mail saying his budget practice set would be ready in only 2 months. I am still kicking around some other pipe makers - depending on price and finish - but no matter what my final decision, I’ll sure to learn a lot from Pat.
Hey, I have an offer to buy a new practice set from Michael Vignoles for under $900…anybody played any of his pipes or know of him as a pipemaker? Thanks again!!!
I have a student with a set of Michael’s pipes. My first impression was that this particular set wasn’t put together all that well, and the reed was pretty poor. Now, that being said, we didn’t spend much time looking into things, and it could be that a bit of hemp, some light adjustments and a polish could tune it up nicely. Also, I can’t say in all fairness that the reed came from Vignoles…it may well have been made after first delivery as my student got this set second hand at best, and it has no doubt been tinkered with before he received them.
“Reach for the Sky”…I love puns! :roll: I guess I should consider myself lucky to live within 1 hour from a well known and experienced piper. I hope he has a few minutes to put up with a nubie like me.
…By the way, when I play my low whistle I perfer jigs and hornpipes over reels. They seem to have more of a swing and feel to them. Any thoughts???
