Onward march!

I needed a week to recover from the mania that ensued from the completion of the drones! Then, this week, I reassembled the bass drone loop with the wrap in the other direction. It just fits better, and it matches what seems to be the more common convention.

Other than that, I have begun working on brass keys. The keys will be for chanters and regulators, and will have tempered brass leaf springs. The brass for the springs will be made "springy" by running it through the rolling mill.

The next major goals are to build a better chanter than the one I made before, with three keys, followed by a full set of regulators. Of course, the regulators have thirteen keys.
Here we go!

-Dirk

Video and sound.

Here is a video clip. The playing's not very good, but it's me :

Video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NDep0wNMObk

I'll put a new sound file up soon.

Two more pics:

Pictures and sounds.

Here are some photos and a video clip to demonstrate the uilleann pipe drones I constructed in the shop. This is my first prototype set of drones. Next come the three regulators, and of course , the chanter for this set.

Though I have made a couple of chanters before, they were not ones I would want to play myself. So, the goal is to produce a fully-keyed chanter that performs reasonably well. The regulators must meet similar criteria.

Many thanks go to Bill Haneman and to David Quinn,
who provided so much valuable instruction. Without them, this set would have been far less than what it is. For instance, Bill's excellent article on constructing a hollow main stock, and David's classic article on the Taylor drones were relied-upon. In addition, both David and Bill taught a week-long seminar on uilleann pipe making that I attended at the 2009 Willie Clancey Summer School. If my first instrument is playable at all, it's a testimony to their teaching and writing ability. Thanks again!

-Dirk

These are images taken on my cell phone camera as I worked on the hollow mainstock for the set. In a while, I'll take some photos of the half-set, now that it is playable.

Big day! I got my first half set of drones tied-in and playing last night. This morning , I played an air for Debbie. I'll post some pictures shortly.