Chiff and Fipple Forums

What is the evidence saying he used a reed from 1938 at all? M

Liam O'Flynn said so in 1986 at a piping workshop in Philadelphia. I assume he had this information from Sean Reid. Still I suppose that m4malious may suspect that Liam had cause to lie about this.

C&F Liam O'Flynns pipes thread:
Post by oleorezinator » Wed Dec 29, 2004 1:14 am
"In 1986 i attended a piping workshop in Philadelphia that O Flynn conducted. at one point during the evening he showed us the reed in his D chanter. he told us that the reed had been made in 1938! the reed was black with dirt on the inside. it sounded beautiful. Does anyone know if that reed is still playing?"

Apologies for the poor quality of the image of Liam O'flynn's reed and for anyone who hasn't seen it before here are the measurements..
Staple - id 3.9mm lenght 57mm
Reed- ol 85.5mm width 13.4mm wrapped to 60mm.
But of course, as M's keen intellect has deduced measurements only tell you the size of the reed, not when it was made.
RORY

Steampacket wrote: ↑Sat Jul 17, 2021 3:14 am I don't know, but why would you want to ...

Why wouldn't you want to copy it? It's an iconic set, which is, IMHO, up there with the O'Flynn/Reid/Rowsome set, and the Ennis/Coyne set. Certainly the latter has been copied. The fact that it may be sharp of modern concert pitch is important, but most current makers base their designs on LR's work, but allow themself certain "improvements" to correct tuning issues.

Alain Froment's D sets have many of the external features of Leo's set (mounts, chanter top, etc.).

Steampacket wrote: ↑Mon Jul 19, 2021 6:59 am

What is the evidence saying he used a reed from 1938 at all? M

Still I suppose that m4malious may suspect that Liam had cause to lie about this.

Hmmm...so wrong, in so many ways...
M

Steampacket wrote: ↑Sun Jul 18, 2021 7:59 am

The first thing we both noticed was the chanter length was a full 14 and 1/4 inches long - Liams chanter was of course (is still) 14". Anyhow, we tried a number of his reeds in the longer chanter and it was always well flat of D. Talking with Liam about it was how I formed the view that Leo likely adjusted his design to meet the "standard" that had emerged... M.

If Liam's Rowsome chanter made in 1936 was 14in. long and the reed was made in 1938, how did Liam manage to play in modern concert pitch A=440.
I understand that Liam used other reeds in the chanter later on, but how did he get the 1938 reed to play in tune at A=440? Has the Sean Reid Rowsome chanter been altered internally?

Maybe he had a rush up the bore?

Why wouldn't you want to copy it? It's an iconic set, which is, IMHO, up there with the O'Flynn/Reid/Rowsome set, and the Ennis/Coyne set. Certainly the latter has been copied. The fact that it may be sharp of modern concert pitch is important, but most current makers base their designs on LR's work, but allow themself certain "improvements" to correct tuning issues. Alain Froment's D sets have many of the external features of Leo's set (mounts, chanter top, etc.). PJ

I've heard of many of Leo's sets being measured and reproduced, but I haven't heard of anyone having measured Leo's own set. Has it been done? Has anyone tried to build a set based on Leo's personal set? PJ

A misunderstanding here apparently. I assumed PJ that you wondered why no one has made, or plans to make, an exact copy/replica of Leo's set that included even the chanter length and internal bore measurements. But I see you mean just copy the external design/features of Leo's chanter, regulators, drones, and stock.

No problem, Thomas.

To the extent that an exact replica (internal and external) of any set is possible, I would certainly like to see one of Leo's set. But failing that, a copy of the external design of Leo's set (with modified internal specs) would also be nice to see.