Breaking News since latest revision, marked with ****
Prior Revision 27 February 1998, marked with **
Prior Revision 29 August 1997, marked with *
Copyright 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998 David C. Daye
Feel free to copy any and all portions for individual desktop use and/or
your individual study of piping. You may not republish all or portions
of this collection in any form, or distribute it in any form, without permission.
You must obtain permission for each item you wish to use even if I have
already permitted any use in the past. You may establish electronic pointers
or links to this page.
Sound files of David playing Highland and uilleann
pipes
All the sound files are in Windows .WAV format, 16-bit mono sound. Several
are sampled at 11 KHz, somewhat muffling the top end or treble a bit. 3
are sampled at 22 KHz because I'm trying to illustrate tone. This makes
them potentially large (sorry) so I kept the durations rather short (a
few bars).
ALL
Artificial Reed Basics 10 KB -- General notes on making double- and
single reeds for drones and various single-octave pipes.
ALL Pipe Bag Building 15 KB --
New text document, showing different shapes and seam constructions, diagrams
& photos.***
ALL
Chanter Modify 37 KB -- tips for (partly) filling chanter holes, preserving
finish.
All Chanter Reed Dull Tone 25 KB -- One common
cause of dull tone, may occur early in manufacture; remedy. **
ALL
Desk Lathe 71 KB --Electric drill clamped on desk, with end of work
inserted into clamped wood block, for making tapered mandrels etc. Suggested
by Benedict Koehler.
ALL
Double Reed Marking 43 KB -- Marking reed blades with data on cane
type, dimensions, dates, staple data for future reference.
ALL
Drone Reed Maker 32KB -- Photo of lever device for making cut in drone
reed tubes.
UP
Bridle Options 19 KB -- different bridle positions per different blade
designs.
UP
Bridle Photo 40 KB -- closeup of one type of sliding bridle. Grips
both edges & faces, easy to adjust.
UP
Chanter Bottom 11 KB -- a wrap-around bottom ferrule for making bell
hole smaller at extreme bottom, for better tuned hard & soft bottom
D. Made by Dave Williams.
UP
Chanter Reed Maker 140 KB -- kitchen cutting board with cane-measuring
holes, trough & backstop for gouging, width & length measurement
marks, slots for forming sheet metal staples. Photo shows markings to translate
"float
test" waterline mark to sink-percentage.
UP-SP
Drone Move 22 KB -- re-mounting small drones for better microphone
pickup position.
UP
Octave Fixes 25 KB -- discussion and diagrams of common causes for
difficulty getting into or maintaining the 2nd octave; suggestions for
remedies and avoiding problems in future.
UP
Learning for Highland Pipers 10 KB -- Thoughts & experiences about
making a big musical change.
UP Chanter Reed Elevation 30 KB
-- Rescuing newly tied reed blades whose lip opening is becoming too small.
**
UP
Rush Holder 45 KB -- photo of thin tube strapped to drone to hold wire
"rushes" used for tuning chanter
UP
Scrape 1 30 KB -- chanter reed scrape diagram and explanation, based
on bassoon reedmaking.
UP
Scrape 2 35 KB -- method for creating bassoon-based scrape shown above.
UP
Scrape 3 33 KB -- common variations on the long-style scrape shown
above.
UP
Staple 1 37 KB -- non-destructive staple tricks to flatten (parts of)
2nd octave.
UP
Staple 2 35 KB -- flairing brass tube to simulate rolled staple, sharpen
2nd octave.
UP
Bass Drone Shorten 75 KB -- a wrap-around endpiece for fitting into
sessions & other cramped locations better. In place on drone at left;
normal endpiece shown above at right with round resonator, at its normal
length.
UP Chanter Reed Reverse Taper --
60 KB Blades narrower at top than at middle. Easier hard D, better tuned
E's, when trying to use softer cane in recipes meant for harder cane. Tested
on wide bore concert D chanter by David Quinn. ***
UP
Blade Fill 19 KB -- coating blade interiors for tone, octave ease,
retard humidity response.
UP
Blade Grain 31 KB -- reducing humidity damage to 2nd octave ability.
UP
Make a "Squinnter" Chanter 15 KB -- very inexpensive, easy-to-make
uilleann pipe chanter, using wood planks rather than lathe-turning, by
the Australian pipemaker Craig Fischer.*
UP
Make a Penny-Chanter 20 KB -- very inexpensive, easy-to-make uilleann
pipe chanter, also info on other home-buildable components of uilleann
pipes
UP-SP
Plastic Reed 30 KB -- a few ideas for plastic SP or UP-regulator reeds.
UP-SP Plastic Chanter Reed 10 KB -- A successful
first attempt at 2-octave plastic double reed using novel preparation.*
UP
Scrape 8 KB -- One method, with diagrams and explanations, for making
long-style chanter reed scrape and break-in for easy 2nd octave.
ALL
Grow Your Own Reeds 3 KB -- Sources, photos, and tips for buying, growing,
harvesting reed cane. New root photo
ALL
Cane Density Measuring Jig 10 KB -- Diagram of jig to read sink-percentage
of any length tube or strip after it is dunked & waterline is marked.
ALL
Carrying Case 33 KB -- Photo of electric guitar "gig bag"
(soft case) holds full UP or GHB very inexpensive ($15-$50 US) compared
to bagpipe cases ($100 or more). (Not for sale here.)
ALL
Pressure Meter 30 KB -- sketch of how to make water-filled tube to
measure operating pressure and/or steadiness.
UP Microphones
3 KB -- Mic-ing uilleann pipes, ideas from REC.AUDIO.PRO
UP
Chanter Measurements 10 KB -- David Quinn 1984 "Liam O'Flynn (Leo
Rowesome)" pattern of chanter
UP Chanter Measurementst 10 KB
-- C# old flat chanter owned by Kevin Rowsome, possible Harrington **
UP Chanter Measurements 12 KB --
Taylor chanter in Ireland, bore shape diagram showing deliberate irregularities
**
UP Chanter True 12 KB -- Taylor
chanter, bore shape diagram shown to accurate 1:1 scale. Notice that the
bore at this scale appears to be almost completely straight conical ****
Make
Your Own Whistle 2 KB -- updated: cheap, balanced Irish whistle,
great-sounding "Infra Whistle"
Whistle
photo 40 KB -- whistle under construction with steps in telescoped
tubing and some holes & tuning tape showing.
X-Ray Photo Top 146 KB -- Upper bore of David
Quinn unnumbered late 1980's chanter. ***
X-Ray Photo Bottom 122 KB -- Lower bore of
David Quinn unnumbered late 1980's chanter. ***
Instructional Help for Highland & Uilleann Pipes ****
A separate web page with extensive notes on the pitfalls of self instruction
in the demanding traditional Highland bagpipe style. Discusses tools for
assessing progress, ideas for practicing and improving technique, links
to some of the illustrations listed below. Not a tutor, rather a guide
to be used with any of the fine tutors available on the market.
Miscellaneous Diagrams and Instructional Notes
Bag
17 KB -- 1st attempt at holding and blowing full bagpipes.
Hold
27 KB -- GHB or UP chart, extra tips on finger & hand posture, for
beginners.
Move
30 KB -- GHB or UP chart, how to move fingers for melody & grace notes,
for beginners.
GHB
Birl 2 KB -- Notes on making the tap-&-curl birl.
Confidence
7 KB -- GHB document, tips for student & teacher on instilling confidence
in the student.
Exercises
2 KB -- GHB text file, some tortuous melody and grace note exercises, all
levels of skill.
Musicians
2 KB -- GHB text file, fingering issues for people with previous music
expertise.
