I would like to buy an Uilleann pipe (practice set), I'm going to start playing it and I would like to ask you if you know about a good model (and cheap) for a beginner.
Am I the only one who starts to get fed up with all the queries posted about where to get a set of "good and cheap" uilleann pipes?
I mean come on, if you're looking for a cheap instrument, take up the tin whistle or something.. I don't really see the point of buying cheap instruments? A musical instrument is something you're probably going to use every single day, perhaps many hours a day? For that reason I think it makes sense that you really should spend all the money that you can when buying a new instrument!
Well, I understand the desire for a good and cheap instrument, if you are trying something for the first time. People naturally don't want to incur a huge financial loss just for the pleasure of trying something out.
Kikolo3000 - your right to be looking for a practice set. That is where your savings will come from, rather than starting on a full set. You would'nt buy a learner driver a Rolls Royce would you?
I would advise you to buy the best chanter you can afford. For preference, buy it from a real person "in the flesh" so you can hear it. There are various makers that can fit keys to chanters if you want them later, and the chanter does not need to have blocks ready made to take them.
Ensure that it plays in tune over both full octaves. If the seller can't make it do that, assume that nobody else can either and walk on by.
The bag and bellows are abviously important too, but are cheaper to replace. They need to be 100% free of leaks. You can test this by inflating them and blocking the outlets with a finger. If they deflate, they have leaks - walk on by
If you start off with the best possible practice set you can afford, you can have drones and regulators added afterwards. This helps you save money later. If there is nothing wrong with your chanter, you will not need to replace it will you?
Lastly, you might find it pays to buy a chanter made by a known reputable maker. That makes it easier to get repairs done, reeds made (that work!), and matching and balanced drones and regulators when your ready. The bags and bellows can be made by anyone that makes good staunch bags and bellows.
Providing that you follow ALL of the above, there is nothing wrong in buying second hand. Just be as careful as you would buying anything else that was "pre-owned". Second hand should be cheaper for you.
If you can, talk to as many pipers as possible before you actually go shopping. It will give you a bit longer to save up!
I hope that helps - and to the rest of you on here - please feel free to tell the originator of this thread if you think I have missed anything or am giving unsound advice.
How about for a given value of 'good' or for a given value of 'cheap'?
Never mind the begrudgers, Kikolo3000. While you can't get pipes that are both good and cheap, you can get something good enough for not too much money. That's about as much as you can hope for.
email Fred Morrison at info@fredmorrisonpipes.com and see what he tells you.
I'm not begrudging or discouraging anyone to start playing the uilleann pipes, even if they are on a tight budget! On the contrary, I just think it's great that people want to learn it, since the ulleann pipes by far is my favourite instrument!
@ ormepipes. Isn't it a better idea to actually ask an uilleann piper if it's okay to try their set, if someone wants to get an idea of what the instrument is like, instead of buying a cheap instrument on your own?
I mean, I wouldn't spend a single penny on an instrument that I have never played before, if I'm not 100% certain that I both want and more importantly am able to even play it!
I don't think he means cheap, he probably means affordable. Uilleann pipes are very expensive, and if someone doesn't know if they want to play them permanently or not, it is quite understandable to see why someone wants to acquire an affordable set. It is awful to invest a lot of money in an instrument that you are not sure if you will like it or not.
As for that, Prof. P is correct. Daye or Sky chanters are both nice and affordable sets for beginners.
To a raw beginner,actually trying a set for 10 minutes is no use at all, its more like fighting an octopus than anything except, well, fighting and octopus! - but I had made the assumption that the post was submitted by someone who had never actually held a set. I don't know why I assumed that, I just did!
As a raw beginner, you have to spend money on an instrument you have never played before, simply because you don't have the knowledge to play it.
And I should mention that "cheap" and "expensive" are a bit abmiguous. A chanter at £1000.00 is cheap, if its a good one. One at £500.00 is expensive if its completely unplayable.
Find out what brand of pipes, played by a piper you have listened to and admire, are available and for how much. Learn all you can about them. Do all your homework.
(Remember, in the chanter the reed is everything, so make certain you either can access a reedmaker who can fit these pipes, or decide whether you will commit to making your own reeds.)
Then commit to geting the money together and making an informed, rational purchase.
You might also want to see if you will have a teacher available before you get you starter set, just as an afterthought.
I'd recommend a used set. There are tons out there. Uilleannobsession.com is a good place to look, and a good place to ask questions. Chiff & Fipple, too.
Otherwise, find the closest pipemaker to you and get hold of him.
And if I may quote what Kila's piper said to a friend of mine, "you'll go mad!"
Buying a Uilleann pipe
Buying a Uilleann pipe
Hi!
I would like to buy an Uilleann pipe (practice set), I'm going to start playing it and I would like to ask you if you know about a good model (and cheap) for a beginner.
Thanks
# Posted on October 20th 2011 by Kikolo3000
Re: Buying a Uilleann pipe
Forget about the 'good and cheap' , you can't get them both. Try Dave Daye or Pat Sky, theirs will probably be the cheapest serviceable ones.
# Posted on October 20th 2011 by Prof. Prlwytzkofski
Re: Buying a Uilleann pipe
Am I the only one who starts to get fed up with all the queries posted about where to get a set of "good and cheap" uilleann pipes?
I mean come on, if you're looking for a cheap instrument, take up the tin whistle or something.. I don't really see the point of buying cheap instruments? A musical instrument is something you're probably going to use every single day, perhaps many hours a day? For that reason I think it makes sense that you really should spend all the money that you can when buying a new instrument!
Just my two cents..
# Posted on October 20th 2011 by Mattias Holm
Re: Buying a Uilleann pipe
Well, I understand the desire for a good and cheap instrument, if you are trying something for the first time. People naturally don't want to incur a huge financial loss just for the pleasure of trying something out.
Kikolo3000 - your right to be looking for a practice set. That is where your savings will come from, rather than starting on a full set. You would'nt buy a learner driver a Rolls Royce would you?
I would advise you to buy the best chanter you can afford. For preference, buy it from a real person "in the flesh" so you can hear it. There are various makers that can fit keys to chanters if you want them later, and the chanter does not need to have blocks ready made to take them.
Ensure that it plays in tune over both full octaves. If the seller can't make it do that, assume that nobody else can either and walk on by.
The bag and bellows are abviously important too, but are cheaper to replace. They need to be 100% free of leaks. You can test this by inflating them and blocking the outlets with a finger. If they deflate, they have leaks - walk on by
If you start off with the best possible practice set you can afford, you can have drones and regulators added afterwards. This helps you save money later. If there is nothing wrong with your chanter, you will not need to replace it will you?
Lastly, you might find it pays to buy a chanter made by a known reputable maker. That makes it easier to get repairs done, reeds made (that work!), and matching and balanced drones and regulators when your ready. The bags and bellows can be made by anyone that makes good staunch bags and bellows.
Providing that you follow ALL of the above, there is nothing wrong in buying second hand. Just be as careful as you would buying anything else that was "pre-owned". Second hand should be cheaper for you.
If you can, talk to as many pipers as possible before you actually go shopping. It will give you a bit longer to save up!
I hope that helps - and to the rest of you on here - please feel free to tell the originator of this thread if you think I have missed anything or am giving unsound advice.
# Posted on October 20th 2011 by ormepipes
Re: Buying a Uilleann pipe
"Am I the only one who starts to get fed up with all the queries posted about where to get a set of "good and cheap" uilleann pipes?"
No. ; )
# Posted on October 20th 2011 by Seosamh Ui Sinan
Re: Buying a Uilleann pipe
How about for a given value of 'good' or for a given value of 'cheap'?
Never mind the begrudgers, Kikolo3000. While you can't get pipes that are both good and cheap, you can get something good enough for not too much money. That's about as much as you can hope for.
email Fred Morrison at info@fredmorrisonpipes.com and see what he tells you.
m.d.
# Posted on October 20th 2011 by emmdee
Re: Buying a Uilleann pipe
I'm not begrudging or discouraging anyone to start playing the uilleann pipes, even if they are on a tight budget! On the contrary, I just think it's great that people want to learn it, since the ulleann pipes by far is my favourite instrument!
@ ormepipes. Isn't it a better idea to actually ask an uilleann piper if it's okay to try their set, if someone wants to get an idea of what the instrument is like, instead of buying a cheap instrument on your own?
I mean, I wouldn't spend a single penny on an instrument that I have never played before, if I'm not 100% certain that I both want and more importantly am able to even play it!
# Posted on October 20th 2011 by Mattias Holm
Re: Buying a Uilleann pipe
I don't think he means cheap, he probably means affordable. Uilleann pipes are very expensive, and if someone doesn't know if they want to play them permanently or not, it is quite understandable to see why someone wants to acquire an affordable set. It is awful to invest a lot of money in an instrument that you are not sure if you will like it or not.
As for that, Prof. P is correct. Daye or Sky chanters are both nice and affordable sets for beginners.
# Posted on October 20th 2011 by pipersgrip
Re: Buying a Uilleann pipe
Mattias Holm,
To a raw beginner,actually trying a set for 10 minutes is no use at all, its more like fighting an octopus than anything except, well, fighting and octopus! - but I had made the assumption that the post was submitted by someone who had never actually held a set. I don't know why I assumed that, I just did!
As a raw beginner, you have to spend money on an instrument you have never played before, simply because you don't have the knowledge to play it.
And I should mention that "cheap" and "expensive" are a bit abmiguous. A chanter at £1000.00 is cheap, if its a good one. One at £500.00 is expensive if its completely unplayable.
# Posted on October 20th 2011 by ormepipes
Re: Buying a Uilleann pipe
There is always the factor that buying a good one it is easier to on sell it
# Posted on October 20th 2011 by mcknowall
Re: Buying a Uilleann pipe
Kikolo3000:
Find out what brand of pipes, played by a piper you have listened to and admire, are available and for how much. Learn all you can about them. Do all your homework.
(Remember, in the chanter the reed is everything, so make certain you either can access a reedmaker who can fit these pipes, or decide whether you will commit to making your own reeds.)
Then commit to geting the money together and making an informed, rational purchase.
You might also want to see if you will have a teacher available before you get you starter set, just as an afterthought.
Now, go become a good piper.
Good Luck.
# Posted on October 21st 2011 by Piece
Re: Buying a Uilleann pipe
I'd recommend a used set. There are tons out there. Uilleannobsession.com is a good place to look, and a good place to ask questions. Chiff & Fipple, too.
Otherwise, find the closest pipemaker to you and get hold of him.
And if I may quote what Kila's piper said to a friend of mine, "you'll go mad!"
But you'll have fun!
# Posted on October 26th 2011 by Marc C
Re: Buying a Uilleann pipe
Esteban Castaneda makes affordable practice sets. ecpipes@gmail.com
# Posted on January 15th 2012 by Daan