Shuttle Pipes, Help

[Josh Quinn]

I am considering purchasing a set of Shuttle Pipes. I suppose the reason I'd like to go with them is simply because they claim to be maintenance free and also would be a good practice meduim during Winter time.
My wife considers GHB and kids playing ball. She loves to watch both, just don't do it in the house. I hear this is a quiet alternative.

What maker should I shoot for? I have only seen John Walsh's on the market.

Thanks,
KSG :hatoff:

[Jürgen Rech]

karl,

i wonder if there is another maker for shuttle pipes. as far as i know is john walsh the inventor of this kind of pipes - and if he's clever, he owns the patent :thumb:

i just purchased a shuttle pipe - a used one from "our" ladypiper from l.a. it was really kind of pick up and play. need a lot less pressure - that i had (have) to learn - and stop flapping my right ellbow like a chicken :lol: with no bellows under it. very easy to tune. bass drone only for practising, tenor for a nice sound for playing in public. the third drone (e) only makes sense when all the tunes of a set are in a. with three drones on you hardly can hear the low notes of the chanter.
for your situation i don't hesitate to recommend this pipes.

jürgen :)

[Matt Buckley_dup1]

Originally posted by Jurgen Rech:

i wonder if there is another maker for shuttle pipes. as far as i know is john walsh the inventor of this kind of pipes - and if he's clever, he owns the patent :thumb: The "shuttle" drone design is ancient, and was used in particular with the ancient French court
pipes. John may have been the first individual to use a highland-scale chanter with the shuttle drone design, but he didn't invent the shuttle design.

[Ian Lawther]

Matt is correct in his statement that shuttle pipes are a much older instrument than the Walsh variety. They were prominent in the French court c. 16th century, particularly on the musette de coeur (http://www.hotpipes.com/pipe0025.html) .

Apart from John Walsh the only regular maker today that I know of is Dave Shaw (http://www.daveshaw.co.uk/html/shuttle_pictures.html) in northern England, though his generally have a Northumbrian rather than highland fingering. They are also bellows blown.

Ian

[PiperLasne]

Walsh Shuttle Pipe advantages/disadvantages
I have owned a set of Walsh Shuttle pipes 4 years.

Advantages: easy to play, pressure of bagpipe is very very low and easy to overblow without a little bit of practice. The drones have a nice soft sound to them. No maintenance is required...mine have played without problems for 4 years. Practicing with it is more enjoyable than a practice chanter, but keep in mind that the holes on the chanter are not counter sunk.

Disadvantages: The chanter reed really needs more volume. The low A is hard to distinguish from the drones. The E is troublesome in getting to tune right. Obviously the chanter holes are way too small to tape so you have to play a lot with the depth of the reed. They don't play well along with other instruments due to the volume issue.

[Jeff Wolf]

You might consider John's mouth blown small pipes as an alternative. About the same price, still maintenance free, and a bit more volume. Delrin stocks and drones vice wood. I find them a little less pressure sensitive than the shuttles. Just as easy to tune.

[Jake M.]

Ray Sloan, a fine pipe maker, has recently gotten into the mouth blown piping arena. You may want to check out his pipes. His bellows blown pipes, and other instruments, are some of the best I've seen! Good luck!

[badpiper]

hi karl
i purchased a set of john walsh shuttle pipes and am quite pleased with them. though i rarely play them. i've found them great for practice marching to new tunes (low ceilings). i would recommend buying the two drone style both because it's a bit cheaper and also because of less noise for the chanter to compete against.

[mike baker]

Hi Karl:

my two cents worth:

I'm a big fan of Johns' shuttle pipes. I've been playing them since the first few sets came out. (played with John in the 78th Frasers, while he was developing them)
they are near zero maintenance, once you have the drones tuned, try to resist the temptation to immediatley tune them when you take them out of the box, play for 10 minutes or so, and they'll usually be right back where you left them.
As for taping holes to correct notes, I do it all the time! I've had to bore out the high A on my set, but this is the only note that required this, although currently have tape on f,e and c. I play them 10 to 12 hours a month or so.
I've got the same "at home" issues, and the quiet (relatively speaking) is appreciated by my family.
Shuttle pipes are sensitive to blowing/pressure variations, but I find this actually helps with GHB blowing steady.

Have fun, and enjoy your shuttle pipes!!

[Reinhold]

hallo,
the Walsh Shuttle Pipes are nicely made and real fun to play. But after a year I sold mine and bought a Deger Pipe for the money.
reinhold

[mikepipe]

HI,
Think about chamber pipes, nice mellow sound and great instrument to play indoors.Same as GHB but smaller scale . Synth. reeds and low playing pressure makes it quite maintenance free.Deger
el. pipes is also good alternative to practice.
Check Killberry sites about Chamber pipes.
But remember; hungry growes when eating ...
Cheers,
Mikepipe

[Kenny]

Hello there,

Just noticed this thread.

I had to jump in and say that Dave Shaw's shuttlepipes are BRILLIANT.

The chanter is NOT Northumbrian but most definately Highland in fingering. Also extra keys can be added for extra notes if required.

I have had a set in 'D' now for about 10 years. My friend Andy has a more complex Shuttle set up which can be set up for for A,D and, I think, C.

To hear them played, check out either of Macumba's CDs. There are two ShuttlePipe tracks on each.

By far, the most superior Shuttle pipe on the market today.

Cheers

Kenny