UilleannKeys - Traditional Irish Bagpipes Keyboard icon

App Detail » UilleannKeys - Traditional Irish Bagpipes Keyboard

Published by: Michael Eskin

iPad App - Designed for iPad

Price: $2.99
Current Version: 5.0
Released: April 10, 2011

What's New

The app now supports both Audiobus and Inter-App Audio for use with GarageBand and other multi-track recording apps.

Added pitch bending areas on the top right and left of the screen.

New keyboard graphics.

App Description

UilleannKeys is an authentic sounding 3/4 set of Irish Uilleann Bagpipes chanter, drones, and two regulators in the form of a standard two octave piano keyboard.

The app plays in all of the popular keys for the Uilleann pipes: D, C#, C, and B.

The app supports both Audiobus and Inter-App Audio for use with GarageBand and other multi-track recording apps.

The Uilleann pipes are a complex, bellows blown bagpipe that is commonly used in traditional Irish music. It is heard quite often in movies with Irish themes because of its very unique sound.

The range of the chanter is from D4 to B5 (referenced to D, transposed to the selected key).

Touch the drone puck image to switch the drones on and off.

Touch the keys to play the chanter and regulators. Chanter keys light up green, regulator keys (the lowest two keys) light up red when touched.

Play the regulator chords on the top and bottom halves of the lowest two notes (C and C#) on the keyboard.

The regulator chords available are (referenced to a standard D set, actual pitch depends on the selected key):

F#/D
G/D
A/F#
B/G

Finger vibrato for expression, as is done on the real instrument, can be added by sliding back and forth vertical along the length of the chanter keys. The note C has an extended pitch bend range as typically used when playing a real chanter. The low (bottom) D note is generally not played with vibrato on the real instrument, so vibrato is not available on that note in the app.

Bend the pitch up or down as much as one semitone by touching the pitch bend areas at the top left and right of the screen.

The reverb level and volume balance between the drones, regulators, and chanter may be adjusted using the sliders. All settings are saved when the app exits.