Hi everyone i was thinking of buying an uilleann pipe practice chanter but when i researched them i found a lot of them come from pakistan and when i read reports about them they were all bad. nearly all the reports said the chanter couldnt reach the second octave. Could anyone recomend where i could get a good one or should i even bother. Thanks a lot
Not only can they not reach the second octave. They are horribaly out of tune..stay away from pakistani chanters..They will put you off pipes for good..There are enough good pipemakers/ practice sets already out there without going for the Spicy variety.. Conatact NPU online, sign up or go to a Tional.. In NPUs monthly magazine there are ALWAYS pipes for sale.. Even marcus music in belfast has both a Half set and Practice set for sale as we speak.. and both are decent.. I had a chanter for sale a while back but had second thoughts as it is WHOPPER
I already have a practice set I just thought one of these would be handy for learning off tunes and improving my ornamentation without having to strap up my pipes
i have an old practise set at home.do not worry,the set is irish and it can reach the second octave and if your interested i have a nice half set here for sale too.
Eddie, the only thing a UP "practice chanter" is good for is separating the uninformed from their money : ) If you need a "step down" instrument for learning tunes try a quiet (non-Susato) whistle, it's similar enough that tranferring most tunes learned on the whistle to the pipes isn't too much of a leap.
if you mail me i can probably set you up, we have two practise sets at home, both pretty much unused im afraid to say, due to a certain younger brothers lack of enthusiasm for our nations coolest instrument
Yes the entire idea of an "uilleann practice chanter" is a non-Irish one. Anybody who actually PLAYS or MAKES uilleann pipes would never have done such a thing because the entire concept is wrong-headed.
Practice chanters can exist for the Scottish pipes for the sole reason that on the Scottish pipes the fingering of the chanter and the blowing of the pipes are two completely different issues. In blowing the Scottish pipes the world's best pipers are simply trying to blow as dead-steady as possible; an air compressor which delivers a steady pressure will achieve out of a set of Scottish pipes the same tone as the best piper in the world.
But the uilleann pipes are not like that at all! The uilleann pipes are more like a flute, saxophone, or trumpet in that the blowing is inseperable from the fingering.
So anyone making an uilleann practice chanter, or wanting one, is a person simply unfamiliar with the nature of uilleann pipes.
Oh I know the guy in Scotland who makes those plastic/resin uilleann practice chanters. I visited his booth at the NAMM show and I visited his shop in Edinburgh. He's a Scottish piper who hasn't a clue about uilleann pipes. His uilleann practice chanters and practice sets are both worthless.
Now also at the NAMM show I played a Pakistani uilleann practice chanter (has a rubber hose at the top to blow on) and it actually sort of worked. The back D was worthless so I took one home (the Pakistani guy gave it to me for experimentation) and I reamed out the throat somewhat and voila! it gave a decent back D, a decent scale, and played up into the second octave more or less in tune. The next day I gave the modified one back to the Pakistani guy and tried to explain that they needed to widen the throat. I don't know if they did or not.
Anyhow if you're serious about learning the uilleann pipes, don't mess this this sort of thing.
Go out a get a REAL uilleann "practice set" or "one-quarter set", that is, a REAL uilleann chanter, with a real bag and bellows to wind it.
Andreas Rogge makes a very nice learner's set with a resin/polypenco chanter which plays very well.
I get it now he wanted to blow into it..sure just wack out yer proper chanter and blow into that..or dont..Just play yer pipes! Someone on this site suggested altering a Generation Bb whistel to be more like a chanter ie add a back D and an extra hole on the bottom. Not sure if that was a nonsense/ no need to try this myself..Did the guy not try and charge u for reaming his chanter? Im suprised he let u take it away. Why bother even thinking about Spicy pipes when there are so many quality practice and half sets out there..
Uilleann pipe practice chanter???
Uilleann pipe practice chanter???
Hi everyone i was thinking of buying an uilleann pipe practice chanter but when i researched them i found a lot of them come from pakistan and when i read reports about them they were all bad. nearly all the reports said the chanter couldnt reach the second octave. Could anyone recomend where i could get a good one or should i even bother. Thanks a lot
# Posted on April 5th 2009 by eddienolan
Re: Uilleann pipe practice chanter???
Not only can they not reach the second octave. They are horribaly out of tune..stay away from pakistani chanters..They will put you off pipes for good..There are enough good pipemakers/ practice sets already out there without going for the Spicy variety.. Conatact NPU online, sign up or go to a Tional.. In NPUs monthly magazine there are ALWAYS pipes for sale.. Even marcus music in belfast has both a Half set and Practice set for sale as we speak.. and both are decent.. I had a chanter for sale a while back but had second thoughts as it is WHOPPER
# Posted on April 5th 2009 by Trucks_Mulligan
Re: Uilleann pipe practice chanter???
I already have a practice set I just thought one of these would be handy for learning off tunes and improving my ornamentation without having to strap up my pipes
# Posted on April 5th 2009 by eddienolan
Re: Uilleann pipe practice chanter???
You could try James Daily in Glasgow he makes super pipes and his chanters have a brilliant tone.
http://www.uilleann-pipes.com/
# Posted on April 5th 2009 by brians
Re: Uilleann pipe practice chanter???
i have an old practise set at home.do not worry,the set is irish and it can reach the second octave and if your interested i have a nice half set here for sale too.
# Posted on April 5th 2009 by Máirtín Quigley
Re: Uilleann pipe practice chanter???
Eddie, the only thing a UP "practice chanter" is good for is separating the uninformed from their money : ) If you need a "step down" instrument for learning tunes try a quiet (non-Susato) whistle, it's similar enough that tranferring most tunes learned on the whistle to the pipes isn't too much of a leap.
# Posted on April 5th 2009 by Seosamh Ui Sinan
Re: Uilleann pipe practice chanter???
if you mail me i can probably set you up, we have two practise sets at home, both pretty much unused im afraid to say, due to a certain younger brothers lack of enthusiasm for our nations coolest instrument
# Posted on April 6th 2009 by fishtyfiddle
Re: Uilleann pipe practice chanter???
Yes the entire idea of an "uilleann practice chanter" is a non-Irish one. Anybody who actually PLAYS or MAKES uilleann pipes would never have done such a thing because the entire concept is wrong-headed.
Practice chanters can exist for the Scottish pipes for the sole reason that on the Scottish pipes the fingering of the chanter and the blowing of the pipes are two completely different issues. In blowing the Scottish pipes the world's best pipers are simply trying to blow as dead-steady as possible; an air compressor which delivers a steady pressure will achieve out of a set of Scottish pipes the same tone as the best piper in the world.
But the uilleann pipes are not like that at all! The uilleann pipes are more like a flute, saxophone, or trumpet in that the blowing is inseperable from the fingering.
So anyone making an uilleann practice chanter, or wanting one, is a person simply unfamiliar with the nature of uilleann pipes.
Oh I know the guy in Scotland who makes those plastic/resin uilleann practice chanters. I visited his booth at the NAMM show and I visited his shop in Edinburgh. He's a Scottish piper who hasn't a clue about uilleann pipes. His uilleann practice chanters and practice sets are both worthless.
Now also at the NAMM show I played a Pakistani uilleann practice chanter (has a rubber hose at the top to blow on) and it actually sort of worked. The back D was worthless so I took one home (the Pakistani guy gave it to me for experimentation) and I reamed out the throat somewhat and voila! it gave a decent back D, a decent scale, and played up into the second octave more or less in tune. The next day I gave the modified one back to the Pakistani guy and tried to explain that they needed to widen the throat. I don't know if they did or not.
Anyhow if you're serious about learning the uilleann pipes, don't mess this this sort of thing.
Go out a get a REAL uilleann "practice set" or "one-quarter set", that is, a REAL uilleann chanter, with a real bag and bellows to wind it.
Andreas Rogge makes a very nice learner's set with a resin/polypenco chanter which plays very well.
# Posted on April 7th 2009 by Richard D Cook
Re: Uilleann pipe practice chanter???
I get it now he wanted to blow into it..sure just wack out yer proper chanter and blow into that..or dont..Just play yer pipes! Someone on this site suggested altering a Generation Bb whistel to be more like a chanter ie add a back D and an extra hole on the bottom. Not sure if that was a nonsense/ no need to try this myself..Did the guy not try and charge u for reaming his chanter? Im suprised he let u take it away. Why bother even thinking about Spicy pipes when there are so many quality practice and half sets out there..
# Posted on April 7th 2009 by Trucks_Mulligan