spillane pipes

Captain-Morgan · Post by **Captain-Morgan** » Wed May 17, 2006 10:39 am

Does Davy Spillane have sets of pipes out there that others play?

I was looking over his site (<a href="http://www.davyspillane.com" target="_blank">www.davyspillane.com</a>) and it suggests that he makes and sells pipes, but I’ve never heard of his pipes being played or his name mentioned as a maker (but I don’t get out much so…).

Thanks!
CM

Joseph E. Smith · Post by **Joseph E. Smith** » Wed May 17, 2006 10:42 am

I recently reeded a Spillane chanter, I thought the instrument well made with good tone. And yes, he does make pipes and there are sets out there.

goldy · Post by **goldy** » Wed May 17, 2006 5:31 pm

I know a piper in England who owns a Spillane chanter. I've not seen or heard his chanter in person, but have an audio tape of him playing a few jigs and reels in 1996. It was well tuned, but I have been told by a Queensland fiddle player that when he last saw the chanter, it had masking tape reducing various tone holes. The chanter on the audio tape sounds pretty harsh in tone, but it could have been down to the acoustics of the room and the recording equipment. I guess the Spillane chanters have potential to sound great since we can hear it in Spillane's recordings (although the mellow tone heard is said to be down to the recording equipment).

Conclusion:
For every positive I've said, I've added a "but", so my input is that of a 'fence sitter', but like I said, I've never seen or heard the chanter in person so my input probably amounts to nothing more than a confused tooing and froing between positives and negatives in an attempt to be diplomatic.

Joseph E. Smith · Post by **Joseph E. Smith** » Wed May 17, 2006 6:46 pm

I found the Spillane chanter to be similar to a Lambe chanter that I had reeded at the same time. Both chanters were fun to reed and play, with a brightness of tone that was also rich and without any harshness I could attest to.... well, beyond what one may expect from concert pitched chanters. Popping was fun for both and the tuning was spot on through all octaves. Both fit the hands well.

I thought both chanters were 'keepers'.

maze · Post by **maze** » Wed May 17, 2006 7:19 pm

joe, who the heck has a spillane chanter?

at some point, i need you to tell me what to do with my standing dead and get some arrundo advice... i have too much of the stuff... but that is another discussion.

Joseph E. Smith · Post by **Joseph E. Smith** » Wed May 17, 2006 8:14 pm

maze wrote:joe, who the heck has a spillane chanter?

at some point, i need you to tell me what to do with my standing dead and get some arrundo advice... i have too much of the stuff... but that is another discussion.

Send an email to me, we'll discuss your cane. The Spillane chanter was part of a collection of sticks belonging to a piper's club.

It is the second one up from the bottom of the photo.

myrddinemrys · Post by **myrddinemrys** » Wed May 17, 2006 8:29 pm

once in awhile a set shows up on ebay. I did get a quote a long time ago . . . his practice sets are expensive.

Captain-Morgan · Post by **Captain-Morgan** » Wed May 17, 2006 9:23 pm

Joseph E. Smith wrote:I found the Spillane chanter to be similar to a Lambe chanter that I had reeded at the same time. Both chanters were fun to reed and play, with a brightness of tone that was also rich and without any harshness I could attest to.... well, beyond what one may expect from concert pitched chanters. Popping was fun for both and the tuning was spot on through all octaves. Both fit the hands well.

I thought both chanters were 'keepers'.

This might be a dumb question, but do most chanters that you have reeded begin with the same basic reed dimensions and then you slowly customize each reed to each chanter? I only ask because the first chanter I had had some issues and a lot of people tried reeding it to no avail, and the maker told me that I had to send it back to him because only he knew how his reeds were made….(even so his reed still didn’t play “acceptably”)
Thanks,
CM

lundblad · Post by **lundblad** » Thu May 18, 2006 1:49 am

Strange, this talk about Spillane's recording equipment...
At a Brendan RIng workshop in Copenhagen last year Brendan told us at some point that when he met D. Spillane and he tuned his pipes he was amazed how well balanced they were, and that the intonation was spot on.
Spillane and Glackin were in Sweden a couple of years back, and the gig was really great. He is a extremely skilled piper...
I think there is a Swedish guy that plays a halfset by Spillane.
Rob

MarcusR · Post by **MarcusR** » Thu May 18, 2006 3:20 am

lundblad wrote: I think there is a Swedish guy that plays a halfset by Spillane.

The guy is Pär ("ojvoj" here on C&F) lets see if he chips in. I have heard him play this set many times and it really was a nice sounding set. He kept the drones but uses a Rogge chanter instead of the original Spillane.

edit
Here is a pic of Pär's Spillane/Rogge set (from his website):

Cheers!

/MarcusR

Joseph E. Smith · Post by **Joseph E. Smith** » Thu May 18, 2006 4:38 am

Captain-Morgan wrote:
This might be a dumb question, but do most chanters that you have reeded begin with the same basic reed dimensions and then you slowly customize each reed to each chanter?

Sometimes, but not always. Each chanter has its own charateristics (length, ID at the bell and reed seat) and these ususlly dictate length of staple and slip. I also have studied a few reeds by certain makers, so I have their measurements to consult, and a few templates to design slips by.

giggleswicksam · Post by **giggleswicksam** » Thu May 18, 2006 4:58 am

I know a chap with a Spillane chanter and it's very dependable and has good intonation. I've only heard it once, but unlike the other bloke refered to previously he sold his Rogge and kept the Spillane.

danepiper · Post by **danepiper** » Thu May 18, 2006 6:59 am

I have a Spillane chanter. I got it in 1990 . It played very well, until I destroyed the reed. I have made several good reeds for it since. and more many bad.Today I am a bit clever and do not touch a good reed. I am playing now with a fairly good reed.
I have measured the spillane chanter. The throat is 4.8 mm bell is 13 mm
lenght of chanter is 378 mm. Reed : stable 47 mm, cane 46 mm lenght of reed 75 mm.
Chanter has a mellow, crisp, strong ,rich sound ,not harsh.

Regards

Ole

tommykleen · Post by **tommykleen** » Thu May 18, 2006 8:22 am

Captain-Morgan wrote: I only ask because the first chanter I had had some issues and a lot of people tried reeding it to no avail, and the maker told me that I had to send it back to him because only he knew how his reeds were made….(even so his reed still didn’t play “acceptably”)
Thanks,
CM

We are going to see what Joe (of Flojoe Reeds: I think "Flojoe" is a better choice than the original "Duljoe", and several of the focus groups agree!) is made of this weekend. Maybe he can reed the unreedable chanter to which you refer.

Now, Captain, get back to that b-c-b triplet...

t

Joseph E. Smith · Post by **Joseph E. Smith** » Thu May 18, 2006 9:07 am

tommykleen wrote:
Captain-Morgan wrote: I only ask because the first chanter I had had some issues and a lot of people tried reeding it to no avail, and the maker told me that I had to send it back to him because only he knew how his reeds were made….(even so his reed still didn’t play “acceptably”)
Thanks,
CM
We are going to see what Joe (of Flojoe Reeds: I think "Flojoe" is a better choice than the original "Duljoe", and several of the focus groups agree!) is made of this weekend. Maybe he can reed the unreedable chanter to which you refer.

Now, Captain, get back to that b-c-b triplet...

t

I have a blank made and ready to scrape for that particular chanter... but I will have more than enough stuff should that reed blank fail. Fear not, I'll get good and hammered trying.

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