Voor mezelf begon het allemaal met de klank van de schalmei die zich - tegen de achtergrond van de brompijpen - tot een enorm rijke emotionele expressie leent. Veertien was ik en op slag verliefd. De standaard chanter in re is als een soepele hoge alt die je kunt laten zingen, laten vloeien als water. Je kunt hem ook afvuren als een volautomatisch vuurwapen, met reeksen staccatonoten die anders slecht door snaarinstrumenten kunnen worden geproduceerd. Elke noot heeft zijn typische klankkleur. Als er één muziekinstrument is dat de menselijke stem qua emotionele expressie en kleurenpalet benadert, is dit het wel de Ierse doedelzak. Om dan nog te zwijgen van de zogenaamde flatsets met hun nauwe boringen en gedempte klank in lage toonaarden. Sonore tenoren, zijn dit. Maar het duurde nog tot mijn eenendertigste eer deze liefde werkelijkheid werd. De klik kwam er pas toen er plots een echte PipeMaker (Arie DeKeyzer uit Nevele) uit de lucht viel en nog wel vlak bij huis. Door andere instrumenten te bespelen – onder meer de mondharmonica, nog zo’n emotioneel beestje - was intussen het vertrouwen gegroeid dat de Uilleann Pipes geen frustrerende brug te ver zou worden. De tijden zijn intussen veranderd. Niemand hoeft nog zeventien jaar te wachten op de muzikale liefde van zijn leven. Er bestaat nu een vereniging die het bespelen van de Uilleann Pipes promoot: Vzw Firbolg is wat dat betreft als een efficiënt huwelijksbureau, die een muzikant met een geschikt instrument in contact brengt.

Uilleann Pipes voor dummies

Spreek nooit over ´een Uilleann Pipe´, want dat bestaat niet. Je hebt ze enkel in de meervouds-vorm: een set van pijpen, met elkaar verbonden door een zak en een gemeenschappelijke lucht-stroom. We hebben te maken met een van de meest gesofisticeerde doedelzaktypes die ooit zijn ontwikkeld. Oorspronkelijk ontworpen als nieuwigheidje voor de barokmuziek, vonden de Uilleann Pipes al snel hun weg naar de Ierse traditionele volksmuziek. Wellicht werd ooit zelfs de klassieke muziek uit Beethovens latere periode op de Uilleann Pipes gespeeld. In de hoofdzetel van de Pipers Club te Dublin bevindt zich namelijk een antiek instrument, voorzien van sleutels voor het produceren van kwartnoten. Intussen is de Ierse doedelzak zo goed als volledig uit de klassieke muziek verdwenen. In de traditionele muziekscene is hij des te populairder.
De Uilleann Pipes worden zittend op een stoel bespeeld. Een volwassen set (of full set) bestaat uit een zak (die onder de linkerarm wordt geklemd), een blaasbalg (die aan de rechterarm is bevestigd en via een buisje zijn lucht naar de zak pompt), een schalmei (of chanter), drie brompijpen en even zoveel regulators. Deze laatste zijn feitelijk drie extra schalmeien die naast de brompijpen op de benen liggen, schuin van links naar rechts. Ze worden met kleppen bediend. Terwijl men op de chanter speelt, kan men zodoende begeleidingsakkoorden of zelfs een tweede stem spelen door met de handpalm de juiste kleppen in te drukken. Dit is een unicum in de doedelzakwereld.
De oorspronkelijke naam voor de Ierse doedelzak was overigens ´Union Pipes´ wat verwees naar de samenwerking tussen meerdere schalmeien, verenigd in één instrument. De hedendaagse naam ´Uilleann Pipes´ werd aan het begin van de twintigste eeuw door Ierse nationalisten aan het instru-ment opgedrongen. Uilleann is Keltisch voor elleboog. Het verwijst naar het vele werk dat beide ellebogen verrichten bij het bespelen van het instrument. De nationalisten slaagden in hun opzet om de Engelse naam naar de vergeethoek te verbannen.
Een volkomen onjuiste, maar in poëtisch opzicht zeer rake vertaling van de naam Uilleann Pipes is ´Howling Pipes.´ Goeie spelers kunnen hun schalmei laten huilen als een vos, blaffen als een vos en zingen als een elf.
De schalmei heeft een bereik van twee octaven en wordt met een gesloten vingerzetting bespeeld. Het uiteinde van de schalmei rust op het rechter bovenbeen, de eindopening is daardoor afgesloten. Bij het spelen van de grondtoon wordt hij opgetild. Voor de overige noten worden telkens één of twee vingergaten geopend, of het duimgat. Doordat de eindopening van de chanter op het been rust en daardoor wordt afgesloten, kan men stiltes produceren tussen de noten door. Ook dit is een unicum in de doedelzakwereld.
Er bestaat een grote rijkdom aan technieken die op de Uilleann Pipes kunnen toegepast worden: lange, korte en dubbele rolls, crans, open en gesloten triplets, glijdende noten, passages die met een open vingerzetting en een open schalmei gespeeld worden, alternatieve vingerzettingen voor sommige zeer expressieve noten… Je hebt echt een ervaren leraar van doen van wie je regelmatig les krijgt om alle mogelijkheden te ontdekken en onder de knie te krijgen.
Wie pas begint, start met een zogeheten practice set, een vereenvoudigde versie van de Uilleann Pipes die enkel uit een zak, een blaasbalg en een schalmei bestaat. Later volgt de half set. Deze heeft ook brompijpen. De full set is zoals de naam suggereert een volledig instrument. Naast brompijpen heeft deze tevens drie regulators. Een three quarter set bestaat ook. Deze heeft twee in plaats van drie regulators.
Oorspronkelijk waren de Uilleann Pipes binnenhuisinstrumenten met een gedempte klank. Deze was ontstaan door de nauwe boring waarmee zowel de schalmeien als de brompijpen waren ge-maakt. Deze flat sets stonden daarenboven in de lage toonaarden Do, Si of Sib. Pas aan het eind van de negentiende eeuw ontstonden in Amerika de instrumenten in Re. Met hun wijde boringen en hun hogere toonaard waren deze geschikt om tezamen met ander luide instrumenten ten dans te spelen in de grote concerthallen van toen. Intussen zijn dit de standaardinstrumenten geworden waar de meeste muzikanten op spelen. Maar tegenwoordig worden de oude flat sets terug meer en meer populair bij vooral gevorderde pipers.
Daarmee is lang nog niet alles verteld over de Ierse doedelzak. De Engelstalige tekst hieronder, is iets uitgebreider.

Henk Coudenys, 28 november 2014

Introduction: Uilleann Pipes for dummies

Never speak of ´an Uilleann Pipe’, because that doesn’t exist. Uilleann Pipes are al-ways plural: either you have a set of them, or you have none. The Uilleann Pipes are one of the most sophisticated sets of bagpipes. They are originally developed to play classical music from the Baroque period, but they have become very common and popular in Irish traditional music. So, nowadays, they are synonymous to ´the Irish Bagpipes’.
A complete set of Uilleann Pipes consists of the bellows, a leather bag, a tube between bag and bellows, the chanter, the drones and the regulators. The bellows are attached to the right arm and are used to pump air in the bag that is held tightly under the left arm. This bag is rounded on the rear end and has a sort of trunk on the front side in which the chanter is fastened. On that chanter ...basically a hollow stick with eight holes - the notes to play a melody are produced. The sound comes from a double reed inside the chanter, through which the air is pumped by increasing pressure on the bag.
The piper sits down on a chair and holds the bottom of the chanter against his right upper leg, so that the opening at the bottom of the chanter is closed. In the middle of the bag, on the right side, a partly hollow wooden block is attached, which holds both the drones (usually three of them) and the regulators. Drones and regulators are laid on the legs of the piper, from the left side to the right.
So, the air that is taken in by the bellows, is pushed through a flexible tube towards the bag and from there onwards to the chanter as well as through the block to both the drones and the regulators. The right arm pumps in the air into the bag, in very much the same way as we breathe: the more air one needs, the more one pumps. The left arm keeps the pressure constant. This means that the piper presses less hard on the bag while pumping the air towards the bag, and slightly harder while the bellows ´breathe in’.
The drones produce a constant tone that accompanies the melody, but they can also be switched off by means of a switch that is assembled on the block. Inside each drone, we find a single reed that makes the sound.

From Union Pipes to Uilleann Pipes

Originally the Irish Pipes were called Union Pipes. This name contained a logic of its own: this set of bagpipes united a main chanter and three extra chanters (the regula-tors) all of which were to be played at the same time.
Somewhere during the second decade of the former century, the English name Union Pipes was abandoned by Irish nationalists and replaced by a new name in Gaelic: Uil-leann Pipes. Uilleann is the Gaelic word for elbow. The name refers to the fact that both elbows do a lot of work while playing the pipes. The right one serves the bel-lows, the left one rules the bag. This is not unique to the Uilleann Pipes. Other types of bagpipes such as the Northumbrian Pipes and the Baroque Musette have that too, whereas the union of several chanters in one instrument, however, is quite unique.
Anyway, we’re all used to the name Uilleann Pipes nowadays, so why make a fuzz about it? We could also speak of Alien Pipes or of Howling Pipes, referring to the ghostlike squeaks and the howling sounds they can produce, but that is merely a poetical approach.

The Regulators

The regulators are in fact a set of extra chanters on which - in theory - a second mel-ody can be played by pushing their keys with the palm of the right hand, while the main melody is played on the chanter by covering and opening up the holes of the chanter with the fingers of both hands. Usually a set of Uilleann Pipes has two or three regulators (exceptionally four). Each of them contains four or five keys, cover-ing the holes that one needs to produce the notes. Here too, the sound is made by the air that flows through a double reed.

From practise set to full set

A practise set consists of only the bag, the bellows and the chanter. For absolute be-ginners, this is enough to start with, but it is strongly recommended not to play on a practise set for too long. If you do, you might get the bad habit of controlling the pressure on the reed of the chanter by pumping the bellows instead of pressing the bag. To avoid this evil, a developing piper should switch to a half set after utmost one year, so one must learn to keep the drones constant while playing a melody. This can only be achieved by keeping the pressure on the bag constant, independent of the air flow produced by the bellows.

A half set consists of the bellows, the bag, the chanter and the drones. Actually this is already a fully grown instrument. Most other types of bagpipes consist of no more than this, but this is not the case for the Uilleann Pipes.

On a three quarter set you’re provided with the extras of two regulators (a tenor regulator and an alto). Only the bas regulator is absent. We speak of a full set when there are at least three regulators. Exceptionally there are four.
Only master pipers can play both slow and as fast pieces whilst playing extra notes or chords on the regulators. In reality it’s a hell of a job to get that far. Many pipers turn to a full set, but only the most talented few – and amongst them only they who practise a great lot – get skilled enough to play on the regulators subtle accompany arrangements to the tune. In their case they add something of great musical value to the music. Alas, too often the extra notes or the rhythmical bumping on the regulators (that are played by good musicians who are nevertheless not masters on the regulators) are disturbing.

The fingering

The chanter is played by means of a closed fingering. Basically, only one or two holes are left uncovered at the same time to produce a note. Except for the lowest note, the chanter is held closed on the upper leg. A standard set of Uilleann Pipes is built in the key of D. This means that the lowest note is the low D. To make the low D sound, the chanter is lifted up from the leg while all finger holes are kept closed.
Basically, there are eight holes in the chanter: one on the backside placed high on the chanter, and seven on the front of the chanter. The hole on the backside is to be closed with the thumb of the left hand. From bottom to top, we can number the front holes from 1 to 7, number 8 is the thumb hole at the back. Hole number 1 is to be covered with the tip of the little finger of the right hand. Holes 2, 3 and 4 with the middle part of respectively the ring finger, the middle finger and the forefinger of the right hand. Holes number 5, 6 and 7 are to be closed with the middle part of respectively the ring finger, the middle finger and the forefinger of the left hand, while the left thumb closes the back hole.
When one closes all the holes, while the chanter rests on the leg, there is no sound at all. This allows the uilleann piper to produce silences in between the notes, which is a unique characteristic of the uilleann pipes amongst all the other bagpipes.
As said before, the low D needs coverage of all the holes, while lifting up the chanter. For all the other notes, the chanter rests on the right leg and the bottom opening of the chanter is shut that way. E is produced by opening holes 1 and 2 only, F sharp by opening only hole 3, G by opening 3 and 4, A by opening only 5, B by opening 5 and 6, C sharp by opening only hole 7. To produce a high D, the thumb of the left hand is lifted from hole 8, while the bottom of the chanter is held on the leg and all other holes are kept closed. Now we can go up to a high B by using the same fingering as for the notes of the lower octave while slightly raising the pressure on the bag.
C natural is played by opening holes 3 and 7 at the same time. This is for the lower octave only. A high C natural can be obtained with the help of a special key, which off course can be used to play the low C as well. For the other notes - those in be-tween the basic notes of the scale of D - such as F natural, G sharp and B flat, keys are needed as well.
E flat on the other hand, can be played by opening hole 1 solely, both in the lower and the higher octave. In the higher octave, E flat is also called the ´ghost D’, because of the unique sound of this note.

Special techniques

The music that is typically played on the Uilleann Pipes is enriched with the use of rolls, long rolls, short rolls, crans, sliding notes, open and closed triplets, silences, grace notes, the use of the ghost D as a grace note. One can also play selected se-quences of a melody with an open fingering while the chanter is lifted from the leg. This can be done in both the lower and the higher octave. While playing with the open fingering, one needs to keep hole 1 closed, to maintain more or less the right pitch of the notes.
In addition to the normal fingering, there are at least two more ways of producing the C natural by means of alternative fingerings.
None of these special techniques can ever be learned from a written description, nor by watching a video, although you will find lots of descriptions and demonstrations on youtube and in manuals. A good teacher is needed to guide you through the special techniques and ornamentations.

Flat sets and the concert pitch

Originally the Irish bagpipes were so called ´flat sets’. These were solo-instruments, made in the lower keys of C, B or B flat. The bore of the chanter was narrow and straight, which guaranteed a subtle sonorous sound and a low volume.
At the end of the nineteenth century, Irish immigrants in the USA developed a new type of Uilleann Pipes, by making them in the higher pitch of D (and sometimes even E flat or E). The bore was widened and made conical. These pipes had a far louder volume, which allowed the pipers to play in a company, together with other relatively loud instruments such as the accordion and the banjo. These new Uilleann Pipes could be used to play in big concert halls, with a lot of public. The key of D consequently was called the ´concert pitch’. From that time onwards, the key of D became the standard pitch for the Uilleann Pipes.
Nowadays, the flat sets are becoming more and more popular again, especially amongst seasoned pipers.

Development of the Uilleann Pipes and related bagpipes

Until the 18th century, the bagpipes that were played in Ireland closely resembled the Scottish pipes: mouth blown instruments with two or three drones that produced quite a lot of noise. Similar bagpipes were common all over Europe.
Two influences lead to the development of the modern Uilleann Pipes and their adap-tation in Irish traditional music: baroque music and politics.
I suppose that baroque ensembles were often in search for new instruments to surprise their public and keep them interested. This was also the period of the Enlightenment in which everything was to be carried to a higher level. Scientific innovations and new techniques made this possible. There was competition everywhere, amongst pipe makers as well as musicians. This lead to the development of the very sophisticated Baroque Musette in France, the Pastoral Pipes in France and England and eventually the Uilleann Pipes.
In between the older mouth blown bagpipes and these new instruments, we find other bellows blown types such as the Northumbrian Pipes, the Scottisch Border Pipes and the Scottisch Smallpipes. The Pastoral Pipes are considered to be the direct ancestors of the Uilleann Pipes. Originally they seem to be invented in France, but they became popular in England.
Although utterly different in appearance, the Uilleann Pipes and the Baroque Musette have an important similarity: a closed fingering. All other types of bagpipes are played with relatively open fingerings.

Now we come to the influence of the social and political situation in Ireland on the integration of the Uilleann Pipes in Irish traditional music. Ireland had been ruled by the English crown for many centuries, during which uprisings and rebellions were very common. When a band of rebels marched their way through heather, villages and towns, they were often accompanied by a piper. This lead, at a certain stage, to a total prohibition of playing the bagpipes, as all pipers were considered to be potential rebel leaders.
On the other hand, bagpipes were not only used for rousing the people, but also to play dance tunes. So the pipers left their War Pipes behind and turned to the soft and sweet toned Union Pipes, that were played sitting on a chair. Whenever a crowd gathered around a piper, sitting on a cross roads, playing dance music, they could hardly be accused of marching and rebelling. On the other hand, another theory says that even the Uilleann Pipes were not tolerated in rural Ireland. At first it was probably an instrument of the gentry that only become popular amongst traditional musicians at a later stage in history.
Anyway, at a certain stage in history the English oppressors came to tolerate this new type of bagpipes and the traditional pipers not only adapted it, but started to exploit its possibilities. This eventually lead to the rich repertoire of piping tunes that use the full two octaves of the instrument.

Innovations

Although tradition has already provided us with very fine instruments, new develop-ments are still being made. Some full sets and half sets have one or two extra drones in a different pitch. For instance, a set in D can have an extra drone in G or A. In some cases it accompanies the normal drones, on other sets they can be switched on and off independently.
Full sets with a fourth regulator - a counter bass - exist as well. The late Dave Wil-liams used to build them, but this idea was not entirely new: in the beginning of the twentieth century, Richard Lewis O’Mealy had already built some full sets with an extra long and deep bass regulator.
The newest inventions are made by our Belgian pipe maker Arie DeKeyzer: C-chanters with a wide bore and a big volume, D-chanters with a narrow bore and a tempered volume and last but not least a new way of tuning the regulators. For this, the technique to tune the keys of the saxophone was adapted to the keys of the regulators: with a screw one can change the width at which the key opens, which influences the pitch of the note.

Conclusion

Nowadays more and more musicians are interested in learning to play the Uilleann Pipes. Some use them in modern pop music, in classical music or new age stuff, oth-ers cling to the tradition. Traditional techniques are handed down, new techniques are invented. The Uilleann Pipes are an instrument from the past that smoothly finds its way to the future.