The Uilleann pipes are strongly associated with Ireland.
Uilleann rhymes with “chillin’”. If it helps, you can pretend the Run DMC song You be Illin’ is about these pipes.
Ruby Pipes
I’ve been designing 3d printable uilleann pipes, which I’ve named the “Ruby pipes” after our little dog. There’s a silhouette of her head hiding in various places on the parts.
Differences from the Great Highland Bagpipes
Most people are familiar with the Great Highland Bagpipes (GHB), from Scotland. I think in Ireland these are sometimes called “war pipes”.
Compared to the GHB, the uilleann pipes are quieter, played sitting down, and can be played alongside other instruments1.
How They Work
The bag is inflated with a bellows under the opposing side elbow. If the player covers all holes on the chanter (the melody pipe) and places it on their knee, the chanter stops sounding. This allows for stacatto notes, and some interesting ornaments. Lifting off the knee also causes subtle changes in the tone.
A “full set” of uilleann pipes consists of seven instruments:
- Chanter: double reed, melody
- Tenor drone: single reed, usually sounding D₃
- Baritone drone: single reed, usually sounding D₂ (I’ve heard rumors of G₂ baritones)
- Bass drone: single reed, usually sounding D₁
- Tenor regulator: double reed, plays C, B, A, G, F♯
- Baritone regulator: double reed, plays A, G, F♯, D
- Bass regulator: double reed, plays C, B, A, G
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Standard tuning is is A₄ = 400Hz, GHB are tuned with 470Hz ≤ A₄ ≤ 480Hz. In addition, GHB are designed to be very loud, making it difficult to hear other unamplified instruments. ↩︎
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