Uilleann Pipes Puns

Every damn movie I watch with Great Highland Bagpipes in them shoves fucking uilleann pipes down my throat and I fucking hate it. Sure uilleann pipes are great but they have completely different styles to the classic regimental base of Scottish pipes. They are played on the lap with entirely different fingerings systems and a set of regulators that play cords. Sure they are technically bagpipes but they are a completely different beast. I'm so tired of braveheart music being requested on the highland bagpipes when that shit can't be played. While I'm on the topic of music requests for bagpipers, if you ever have the chance to meet a bagpiper DO NOT ASK FOR AMAZING GRACE it is asked for every damn time. Amazing grace is boring as all fuck to play and very annoying to have to maintain for appearances. If you'd like to give an actual request and you want a slower song maybe request some piobaireachd (genre not a song). If you want a fast song try a hornpipe or a jig. I promise if you are talking to a piper worth anything you will be significantly more impressed by what they can produce for you. Furthermore, you do happen to know a bagpiper and you find the video of the Australian guy with the mohawk playing ACDC or the unicycling guy dressed as Darth vader DO NOT SEND IT TO THEM I guarantee you they have already seen them all at least twice. On top of all this do everyone a favor and do not try to mimic us playing by making shitty donkey noises with your mouth. We hold our instrument in great respect and see it in the same vein as the world sees classical instruments akin to the violin and it really rubs me wrong sometimes to see people constantly mock it as "dying cat noises". If you dislike the bagpipes (which is totally understandable they're not everyone's cup of tea) move on or ask the piper in question to move. Bagpipes are legitimate instruments that can have rather complex music theory to make up for its lack of dynamics that is accompanied by difficulty in maintaining a note and even keeping drones in tune. Please respect them like one.

I'm looking to start on uilleann pipes but I'm unsure of what makers are good to buy. I'm looking for a maker sort of equivalent in quality to McCallum or RG Hardie but for Uilleann pipes (i.e. mid range and good quality). I'd like to play Irish music, particularly in the styles of The Bothy Band, Ceoltóirí Chuallann and Planxty so if there are any particular types of wood or other components that I should go after for that kind of sound please let me know.

Edit: I'm in Australia but I'm happy to buy from overseas makers if they're better.

Also, are there any industry standard woods I should look for and woods to avoid (sort of like buying african blackwood sets and avoiding rosewood sets for the GHB)?

They made an announcement on their instagram, and there’s now a category for uilleann pipes under the bagpipes & smallpipes tab. Henderson’s Uilleann Pipes

At the moment only one item is listed-a practice set.

I'm composing an orchestral piece that includes Uilleann Pipes but not sure what the standards are for writing for the instrument. There aren't that many examples online of Uilleann Pipes sheet music, hoping someone here will be able to give me a hand.

1. Do I need to notate the drone with a bass stave when composing for the Pipes or is that indicated with a text instruction like "+ Drone" while I notate the melody?

2. My piece is in D, and the Pipes being played will be "concert pitch" which is D for the pipes - do I notate the part in D major (2 sharps) because that's how it sounds or notate it in C because that might be how it feels to play?

3. There's a key change towards the end but I still want the main melody being played (no drone) by the pipes. Can I notate a melody in E major or is pipes only really played in the key the instrument is tuned to?

There aren't that many examples online of Uilleann Pipes sheet music, hoping someone here will know.

Hey all!

I've been thinking about picking up the instrument recently, but everything I read online says how difficult it is to tune it, going to such lengths like taping holes, putting wires in the chanter, wrapping the reed and more. I've also heard from several different sites that its really susceptible to changes in humidity and temperature, so after you get it nice and set up it may go out of tune easily because of the weather.

I've played other instruments and I keep good care of my mandolins, guitars and accordions, but I've never had any kind of bagpipe before. Also, I move frequently and play outdoors often, so I'm worried about just *how* much I have to dedicate to maintaining the instrument. Especially considering that I may not have any local teacher or have one for long so I'll be relying on myself and an online teacher at best most of the time.

So I am just trying to get a more or less accurate idea of the maintaining commitment I'll be making before I sign up for lessons with a teacher and place an order for a practice set. I know the internet has a tendency to be a place to air grievances so I want to make sure I'm not being led astray because of that.

Thanks for your comments all.

S4 E27: Oscar & Malvina, A chat with Nicolas Brown This week’s episode features a couple tracks off Nicolas Brown’s new album, “Good Enough Music for them that Love it” and a nice long chat with Nicolas about the tunes, his eighteenth century set of pipes and the history of Uilleann Piping.

Tunes: O’Farrell (et.al) Oscar & Malvina Sett for the Pipes Aird (et. al) Battle from Oscar And Malvina Listen on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/wetootwaags-bagpipe-and-history-podcast/id129776677 Listen on Itunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/wetootwaags-bagpipe-and-history-podcast/id129776677 Listen on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/5QxzqrSm0pu6v8y8pLsv5j?si=QLiG0L1pT1eu7B5_FDmgGA https://www.wetootwaag.com/s4e27

On the first episode of season five I look at the Strathspeys that show up in a couple uilleann or pastoral pipe music collections in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries and talk a bit about Strathspeys in general, but I’ll most certainly have another episode about it. To start this year out right Jarlath Henderson & Innes Watson’s Strathspey playing starts us off, and we have some cracking Fiddling from Paul Anderson.

Tunes:

James Aird: Irish Hautboy

Jar and Innes: Top Gallantsail (Comp Innes Watson), John Stephen Of Chance Inn (Comp Angus Fitchet),
Travers Jig (trad), Gustys Frolics (trad: Mick Dohertys Version)

O’Farrell: Roys Wife of Aldivalock

O’Farrell: Rothemurchus’s Rant

Paul Anderson Playing: The Rothiemurchus Rant (Bremner) , Dogs Bite Chapmen (Traditional he Says) and The Fairy Dance (Nataniel Gow)

From Sutherland: Haughs of Cromdale and Merry Maid’s Wedding

O’Farrell: Ewe with the Crooked Horn

George MacLellan: The Little Cascade

Neil Gow: Lady Baird’s Strathspey

Drummond Castle MS: Allastor

Joseph Dales: Jenny Sutton

https://www.wetootwaag.com/s5e01

You can find the show wherever you listen to podcasts.

I begin this week’s episode with the Popular William Dixon tune Saw Ye Never a Bonny lass, on Uilleann and Highland pipes, I then play a couple tunes from the Irish Piper Fitzmaurice who lived in Scotland at the turn of the 18/19th century which inspires many tunes named after Roslin Castle.

Tunes:

William Dixon: Saw ye Never a Bonny lass

Vickers Manuscript: Kiss’d her under the Coverlet

Fitzmaurice: Loose the Belt

Hamilton’s Universal Tune Book: The Berlin Waltz

Fitzmaurice’s Trip to Roslin Castle

William McGibbon: Rosline Castle

James Manson (David Glen): Roslin Picnic

Donald MacDonald: Roslin Castle, MacPharlane’s lilt

Angus MacKay: Roslin Castle

O’Farrell: Pay The Reckoning (Jackson’s Bottle of Brandy, Bobbing for Eels)

You can find the show wherever you listen to podcasts, of by following the link:

https://www.wetootwaag.com/s5e02

This week’s episode is the first of at least two that discusses the eighteenth century Scottish Music Publisher Robert Bremner. I discuss Bremner’s opinions on vibrato in music as well as how he thinks psalms should be performed. I also discuss and play tunes from his books of music published with Allan Ramsay and William McGibbon as well as Bremner’s stand alone collection of Scottish Reels and Country dance tunes, likely published around 1757.
Tunes:
Robert Bremner: Elgin, Aberdeen Or St. Paul’s, Grant’s Rant, The Carle Came over the Craft, Blue Britches, Miss Blair’s Reel, Mary Scott, Blue Britches, Cuzzle Together.
William McGibbon: She Rose and Let me in, Cumbernauld House, Bottom of the Punch Bowl
Daniel Wright: She Rose and let me in
Listen on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/wetootwaags-bagpipe-and-history-podcast/id129776677
Listen on Itunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/wetootwaags-bagpipe-and-history-podcast/id129776677
Listen on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/5QxzqrSm0pu6v8y8pLsv5j?si=QLiG0L1pT1eu7B5_FDmgGA
https://www.wetootwaag.com/s4e32

I am looking at getting uilleann pipes, but I don’t know a good place, or website to get them on. I am from New England, if that helps to find a store.

I'm looking to learn the uilleann pipes and I have some questions that I hope some of you can answer.

1. Is it really that difficult to learn them? By "learn them" I mean "become reasonably good and know how to play a variety of tunes well".

2. Does it help at all to also know how to play the tin whistle or recorder, or something similar? I know a lot of pipers play them as well and I was wondering if it could be useful for this.

3. How expensive is it? I can rent a beginner's set for €100 for a year, is this good value? I've seen them for sale for upwards of a thousand. What's a reasonable price?

I would like to take up the uilleann pipes and am looking for an instructor in my neck of the woods, is there something like a directory online? I found this site, but I don't think it's been updated in a long time. I tried to contact the instructor listed in my city (Fort Wayne, Indiana) but the email bounced back, and when I googled him I found an obituary

I've found some links for online instructors, but I'd really like to try and find in-person instruction if I can (for after the epidemic passes, of course)

I apologize if this is the wrong sub for this kind of question

Hi Folks! Long time lover of the Uilleann pipes and 15 year player of Great Highland Pipes. I'm THIIIIIS close to getting a Penny Chanter and some kind of half/ or 3/4ths set to get started. Before I make that move I wanted to ask this group a few questions:

1. Have any of you done the Great Highland to Uilleann change? if so, is it harder than learning from scratch? i.e. different fingerings/idioms etc
2. Should I grab a pennywhistle or low whistle to start learning the different ornamentation and how to read the music?
3. Given that I've played bellows smallpipes before, should I go straight to a full or 3/4 set?

Thanks!

Hi there! I have a character costume that I'm constantly trying to improve, and one of the things I'm finding very difficult is finding pipes. I don't need the pipes to be functional, but I do want them to look nice, so a lot of the cheap ones online just don't look right. Ideally, I would love to give new purpose to a set that doesn't function or has some other defect. I'm not going to be attempting to play them. Alternatively, suggestions on how to create model versions of either instrument would be helpful as well. Thanks!

Edit: for anyone interested, here is my costume so far! The skirt is actually the tartan of my maternal grandmother's clan. Other upgrades include a nicer mask, more feathers, and a shortsword. (:

Cheers all - I've been doing videos on YouTube for what seems like 1000 years and someone recently suggested I join the 21st century and get on Reddit. Not sure how I missed this community, but here I am now I suppose. Just posted this one yesterday and thought it came out well. Thanks to my friends Fiachra O'Regan (pipes) and Frances Cunningham (bouzouki).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xqS487A3ArI

Of course our beloved uilleann pipes have been commonly used in movie soundtracks of the last couple decades whenever the composer wants some kind of bagpipe sound.

But I've been on the lookout for those rare times when we actually see an uilleann piper in a movie. Besides the Titanic dance in third class, here are some earlier examples I've found online:

R.L. O'Mealy scene in "The Devil's Rock" (1938). The whole film is also viewable here on the Northern Ireland Screen Digital Film Archive.

Patrick Maxwell in "Back Home in Ireland" (1946) - I hesitated to count this as a "movie." It's more of a publicity film about the US army stationed in Northern Ireland during World War II, and historical links between that area and America. Skip to the 27 minute mark for Maxwell's appearance. If you watch his fingers you can tell that a different audio recording was imposed over the film footage.

Leo Rowsome scene in "Broth of a Boy" (1959). And the whole movie here.

Leo Rowsome in "Playboy of the Western World" (1963) - In the JM Synge play, the main character Christy Mahon wins some local village sports matches and receives a few prizes including "A bagpipes!" Stage versions tend to use a cheap Highland pipes prop for this. But skip to about 1 hr 8 min here in Brian Desmond Hurst's film adaptation, and Mahon is awarded a full set of uilleann pipes! Then at about 1:08:48, Leo Rowsome comes on stage and plays for a dance. This is the only color footage I've seen of Leo! The set of pipes can also be seen a couple more times as the film progresses.

Is anyone aware of other footage of pipers in the movies?

I'm composing an orchestral piece that includes Uilleann Pipes but not sure what the standards are for writing for the instrument. There aren't that many examples online of Uilleann Pipes sheet music, hoping someone here will be able to give me a hand.

1. Do I need to notate the drone with a bass stave when composing for the Pipes or is that indicated with a text instruction like "+ Drone" while I notate the melody?
2. My piece is in D, and the Pipes being played will be "concert pitch" which is D for the pipes - do I notate the part in D major (2 sharps) because that's how it sounds or notate it in C because that might be how it feels to play?
3. There's a key change towards the end but I still want the main melody being played (no drone) by the pipes. Can I notate a melody in E major or is pipes only really played in the key the instrument is tuned to?

There aren't that many examples online of Uilleann Pipes sheet music, hoping someone here will know.

This week’s episode is the first of at least two that discusses the eighteenth century Scottish Music Publisher Robert Bremner. I discuss Bremner’s opinions on vibrato in music as well as how he thinks psalms should be performed. I also discuss and play tunes from his books of music published with Allan Ramsay and William McGibbon as well as Bremner’s stand alone collection of Scottish Reels and Country dance tunes, likely published around 1757.
Tunes:
Robert Bremner: Elgin, Aberdeen Or St. Paul’s, Grant’s Rant, The Carle Came over the Craft, Blue Britches, Miss Blair’s Reel, Mary Scott, Blue Britches, Cuzzle Together.
William McGibbon: She Rose and Let me in, Cumbernauld House, Bottom of the Punch Bowl
Daniel Wright: She Rose and let me in
Listen on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/wetootwaags-bagpipe-and-history-podcast/id129776677
Listen on Itunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/wetootwaags-bagpipe-and-history-podcast/id129776677
Listen on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/5QxzqrSm0pu6v8y8pLsv5j?si=QLiG0L1pT1eu7B5_FDmgGA
https://www.wetootwaag.com/s4e32

This week’s episode is the first of at least two that discusses the eighteenth century Scottish Music Publisher Robert Bremner. I discuss Bremner’s opinions on vibrato in music as well as how he thinks psalms should be performed. I also discuss and play tunes from his books of music published with Allan Ramsay and William McGibbon as well as Bremner’s stand alone collection of Scottish Reels and Country dance tunes, likely published around 1757.
Tunes:
Robert Bremner: Elgin, Aberdeen Or St. Paul’s, Grant’s Rant, The Carle Came over the Craft, Blue Britches, Miss Blair’s Reel, Mary Scott, Blue Britches, Cuzzle Together.
William McGibbon: She Rose and Let me in, Cumbernauld House, Bottom of the Punch Bowl
Daniel Wright: She Rose and let me in
Listen on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/wetootwaags-bagpipe-and-history-podcast/id129776677
Listen on Itunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/wetootwaags-bagpipe-and-history-podcast/id129776677
Listen on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/5QxzqrSm0pu6v8y8pLsv5j?si=QLiG0L1pT1eu7B5_FDmgGA
https://www.wetootwaag.com/s4e32

This week’s Episode Features an O’Farrell Duet on Uilleann Pipes between Ryan Behnke and myself and a guest track from Ryan’s Trio Unwelcome Visitors. I also look at the Scottish Strathspey Highland Harry Back Again.

Tunes:

O’Farrell: Love and a Pipe Duet, Humours of Ardmore

Donald MacDonald, Highland Harry Back Again

Angus MacKay: Highland Harry Back Again

Robert Burns: My Harry was a Gallant Gay

Guest Track from Unwelcome Visitors: Young Tom Ennis, Jimmy Neary’s, The White Petticoat.

Listen on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/wetootwaags-bagpipe-and-history-podcast/id129776677

Listen on Itunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/wetootwaags-bagpipe-and-history-podcast/id129776677

Listen on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/5QxzqrSm0pu6v8y8pLsv5j?si=QLiG0L1pT1eu7B5_FDmgGA

https://www.wetootwaag.com/s4e19