App Detail » Uilleann - Irish Bagpipes

Published by: Michael Eskin

iPad App - Designed for iPad

Price: $4.99
Current Version: 8.7
Released: November 18, 2011

What's New

This app has been updated by Apple to display the Apple Watch app icon.

Performance improvements.

The "Note Bending" On/Off control also now controls the enabling or disabling of reacting to MIDI Pitch Bend messages.

The app responds to MIDI Pitch Bend messages (two-semitone range) on the Chanter channel. The Note Bend control enables/disables the feature.

Regulator pairs respond on the next MIDI channel after the chanter starting on MIDI note 60.

More robust support for using the app as a sound module via CoreMIDI with other MIDI file player apps.

App Description

Uilleann is an extremely authentic sounding Full Set of Traditional Irish Bagpipes that may be played like the real instrument on screen or with a hardware MIDI chanter.

The app emulates the chanter, three drones, and regulators of a full set of Uilleann pipes. It plays in all the traditional keys of D, C#, C, B, and Bb, and is fully tuneable as much as +/- 50 cents.

The Uilleann pipes are a bellows driven set of bagpipes with a two octave range.

The chanter fingerings are based on those used for the Uilleann pipes and will also be familiar and intuitive for players of the tin whistle and Irish flute.

The app supports traditional finger vibrato, and note bending effects.

MIDI Chanter Setup:

Connect your MIDI chanter first using a hardware MIDI interface, then launch the app.

Touch the MIDI icon on the lower left corner to set the MIDI channels and lowest note for your MIDI chanter (55 to 79).

MIDI default parameter values are based on the Fagerstrom Uilleann Technopipes:

Drone channel: 15

Chanter channel: 1

Lowest Note: 69

The app responds to MIDI Pitch Bend messages (two-semitone range) on the Chanter channel. The Note Bending control enables/disables the feature.

Regulator pairs respond on the next MIDI channel after the chanter starting on MIDI note 60.

MIDI settings are saved on exit.

How to Play:

IMPORTANT: Since this app requires as many as 9 fingers on the screen at the same time, before playing, disable "Multitasking Gestures" on your iPad (in the Settings app, under the General section, turn the Multitasking Gestures switch to the off position).

Touch the 'i' icon at the upper right corner of the main screen to show/hide the controls.

Touch the '?' on the upper left corner to show/hide the on-screen help labels.

Select your instrument key from the key selector and adjust the fine tuning with the tuning slider.

The number to the left of the tuning shows shows the tuning offset in cents. To reset the tuning to zero, just touch the number.

Touch the drone puck to start/stop the drones.

To play the chanter, touch the three holes of the left side of the chanter starting with the tips of your left index, middle, and ring fingers.

Next, touch the four holes on the right side of the chanter with the tips of your right index, middle, ring, and little fingers.

Touch the green "Octave" bar on the left side with your left little finger to play the notes one octave higher.

The regulators are played with the right thumb on the circles between the right side of the chanter and the bottom control bars.

Use the TB/BB select to choose between Tenor+Baritone or Baritone+Bass regulator pair chords

The chords in TB mode are as they would be on the real instrument: D, G, D, G, and A

In BB mode they are None (to align with the TB chords), G, D, G, and A

Use the Regulator Volume slider to set the balance of the regulators against the chanter and drones.

The regulators use the same Reverb Send setting as the chanter.

Optional pitch bending of the chanter notes is done by first turning on "Note Bending" in the controls, then sliding the finger up or down very slightly on the root tone hole for the note.

Touch the blue "Back-D" bar at the bottom left center with your left thumb to play the second octave "Back-D" on either a press or release based on the setting of the "Back-D Mode" control.

Touch the red "Stop" bar at the bottom right center with your right thumb to stop the chanter sound while closing all the holes for traditional staccato closed piping techniques. It represents the bottom of the chanter that is closed with the leg.

Touch the purple "Bend" bar on the lower right with your right little finger to bend the pitch or play finger vibrato. You may also perform finger vibrato on the chanter for most notes with the right middle and/or ring fingers.

Chanter image based on my Kirk Lynch concert pitch chanter. Drone puck image courtesy of Mike DeSmidt. Crowley drone sample courtesy of Vinnie Kilduff.