Uilleann pipes

Uilleann pipes () are a unique form of bagpipes originating in Ireland. The uilleann pipes bag is inflated by means of a small set of bellows strapped around the waist and operated by the right arm. The bellows not only relieve the player from the effort needed to blow into a bag to maintain pressure, they also mean that relatively dry air is used to power the reeds, reducing the adverse affects of moisture on tuning and longevity. The uilleann pipes are distinguished from many other forms of bagpipes by their sweet tone and wide range of notes — two full octaves — together with the unique blend of chanter, drones and "regulators" (typically three extra chanter-like pipes, fitted to the mainstock and equipped with keys) which allow for the playing of simple chords and a rhythmic accompaniment.

The uilleann pipes are quieter than the Irish Warpipes or Great Highland Bagpipes. They are usually played indoors, and are always played sitting down.

History

The first bagpipes in Ireland are synonymous to the Highland pipes that are now played in Scotland. These would be the ancient Irish pipes, known as the Irish Warpipes or Great Irish Warpipes, and in Irish, the píob mhór ("great pipes"). They are attested to in the 5th century Brehon Laws, and are also depicted on High Crosses carved almost 1500 years ago. In ancient Irish annals a cuisleannach was a pipeblower.

The Uilleann or Union pipes developed around the beginning of the 18th century, the history of which is here depicted in prints of carvings and pictures from contemporary sources. The Uilleann pipes developed at about the same time as the Northumbrian smallpipe, after the pastoral pipes. Which may have influenced the development of the Uilleann pipes. The pastoral pipes are bellows blown and played in a seated position. The conical bored chanter is played open along with three drones and (as with most examples of the instrument) with one regulator. The Uilleann Pipes may have developed with ideas on the instrument being traded back-and-forth between Ireland and Britain, around the 18th and early 19th century. The major difference between the two being that the Uilleann Pipe chanter is played in a closed, partially staccato style. Whereas the Pastoral Pipes are played in an open, legato style. This occurred, roughly, around the 18th and early 19th century.

Earliest surviving sets of uilleann pipes date from the second half of the 18th century but it must be said that datings are not definitive. Only recently has scientific attention begun to be paid to the instrument and problems relating to various stages of its development have yet to be resolved.

Tuning

The instrument most typically is tuned in the key of D, although "flat" sets do exist in other keys, such as C♯, C, B and B♭. The chanter length is what determines the overall tuning; accompanying pieces of the instrument, such as drones and regulators, are tuned to the same key as the chanter. Chanters of around 362mm (14 1/4") length produce a bottom note on or near D above middle C on the piano (where A=440 Hz, i.e. modern "concert pitch"). The modern concert pitch pipes are a relatively recent invention, pioneered by the Taylor brothers, originally of Drogheda, Ireland and later of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in the late nineteenth century. Concert pitch pipes typically have wider bores and tone holes than the earlier "flat" pitch sets and as a consequence are a good deal louder, though by no means as loud as the Highland pipes of Scotland. They were developed by the Taylors to meet the requirements of playing in larger venues in the United States; today they are the most common type of uilleann pipes encountered, though many players still prefer the mellower sound of the earlier style narrow-bore pipes, which exist in pitches ranging from D, through C♯, C, and B down to B♭. The D pipes are most commonly used in ensembles, while the flat-pitched pipes are more often used for solo playing.

A set of uilleann pipes is sensitive to bag pressure, temperature and humidity changes, and player skill, all of which can affect tuning; even the most accomplished players find it difficult to play in tune all of the time. Uilleann pipes can nevertheless blend well with other instruments, most notably the fiddle and bodhrán, an Irish drum. In the hands of a master they can even play in concerto form with a full symphony orchestra. Like pipe organs, uilleann pipes are not normally tuned to even temperament, but rather to just intonation, so that the chanter and regulators can blend sweetly with the three drones.

Instrument variations

Starting out - The "practice set"

This consists of a) the pipe bag, b) the bellows and c) the chanter. The chanter is available in keys ranging from the "concert pitch" D chanter in half-note steps downward to a B♭ chanter, the latter of which regularly is referred to as a "flat set" (as are any sets below the key of D).

In order to play the pipes effectively, the student must master the art of pumping the bellows, keeping a proper pressure on the bag and playing the chanter simultaneously. Therefore, the beginning student will normally play on this practice set for about a year before advancing to a "half set". Despite their names, "practice sets", are also used by some professional pipers in order to play just the chanter with other musicians, either live or in recording sessions.

The next level - the "half set"

This is distinct from other forms of bagpipes, in which the drones are carried over the shoulder or over the right arm.

The drones can be switched off. This is made possible by a key connected to the common stock. The piper is able to switch on and off various drones individually (applying slightly more pressure to the bag and tapping the end of a drone) or all of them at the same time using this key. This makes the instrument more versatile and usable not only as a half set but also as a practice set applying the use of the drone switch. The drones, unlike the chanter and the regulators, use a single-bladed reed (the actual part creating sound—mainly scraped from cane).

Another step - the "full set"

A "full set" is, as the name mentions, a complete set of uilleann pipes. This would be a half set with the addition of three "regulators". These are three closed chanters also protruding from the common stock. A regulator uses keys (five on the tenor and 4 on both baritone and bass) to accompany the melody of the chanter with (limited) chords or single notes for emphasis on phrases or specific notes. The regulators (regs) are added to the common stock: the tenor and baritone regs on top of the drones and the bass reg on the side of the stock (facing the knee of the piper). A student of the pipes will not upgrade to a full set for at least three years, due to the difficulty of playing a melody, pumping the bellows, keeping constant pressure on the bag and playing the regulators at the same time. The regulators obviously cannot be played with any finger of either hand so they are played with the heel of the right hand. Some pipe makers also add another E regulator or a "double bass" regulator. The regs use the same double-bladed reed as the chanter.

A final occasional variant, the three-quarter set, omits the bass regulator, which is less commonly used.

The chanter

The chanter is the main part of the uilleann pipes. It is used to play the melody. The uilleann pipe chanter differs from any other bagpipe chanter. It has nine note holes (example given of a D pitched chanter): Bottom D, E♭ (E-flat), E, F♯, G, A, B, C♯, D' (also called "back D"). Many chanters are fitted with six or seven keys to allow accurate playing of all the semitones of the scale. The chanter is set on the right knee thus closing off the bottom hole (usually with a strip of leather placed over the knee, called a "popping strap", which provides for an airtight seal, or sometimes by way of a simple gravity operated flap valve). To achieve the "bottom D" the chanter is lifted off the knee. For all other notes (except for off-the-knee passages, special effects, or to vary the volume and tone) the chanter stays on the knee. For a full chromatic scale either cross-fingering or additional keys can be used. One characteristic of the chanter is that it can produce staccato notes, because the piper seals it off at the bottom; another is the great range of different timbres that can be achieved by varying the fingering of notes and also raising the chanter off the knee, which gives the uilleann pipes a degree of dynamic range not found in other forms of bagpipes. Also a type of vibrato can be achieved by tapping a finger below the open note hole on the chanter. The bottom note also has two different "modes", namely: "soft D" and the "hard D". The hard bottom D sounds louder and more strident than the soft D and is accomplished by applying slightly more pressure to the bag and flicking a higher note finger as it is sounded. The hard D is used more frequently.

The chanter uses a complex double-bladed reed, similar to that of the bassoon. Unlike the bassoon, or indeed most reed instruments, the uilleann pipe reed must be crafted so that it can play two full octaves accurately, without the fine tuning allowed by the use of a player's lips; only bag pressure and fingering patterns can be used to maintain the correct pitch of each note. It is for this reason that making uilleann pipe chanter reeds is such a demanding task. Uilleann pipe reeds are also often called "the piper's despair" for the immense difficulty of maintaining, tuning and especially making the double reed of the regulators and, most importantly, the chanter.

Etymology

Originally called the "union pipes" when they appeared at the beginning of the 18th century, perhaps to denote the union of the chanter drones and regulators, the name gradually fell from use. The term "uilleann" came into use in the nineteenth century, the correct pronunciation being "illen". The use of "uilleann" was perhaps a rebellion against the term "union" with its connotations of the Act of Union 1800.

William Henry Grattan Flood, an Irish music scholar, believed the name "uilleann" came from the ablative declension of the Irish word for "elbow" : uillin (i.e. 'of or by the elbow'). He cited to this effect Shakespeare's play The Merchant of Venice published in 1600 (Act IV, sc. I, l. 55) where the expression "woollen pipes" appears. It was however shown by Breandán Breathnach that it would be difficult to explain the anglicisation of the word 'uillin' into 'woollen' before the 16th century (when the instrument did not exist as such) and then its adaptation as 'union' two centuries later. See "Folk Music and Dances of Ireland", Cork, The Mercier Press, 1971, p. 77. Much more likely is the fact that many bagpipe bags of that earlier type were made from goatskins which still had the fur attached.

References

Brian. E. McCandless. “The Pastoral Bagpipe” Iris na bPiobairi (The pipers review) 17 (Spring 1998), 2: p. 19-28.

O'Farrell's Treatise on the Irish Bagpipes (The Union Pipes) 1801

External links

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