Do the Most Interesting Musical Pipes Come from Ireland?
Learn how Ireland's uilleann pipes are made—and what makes the sound of this traditional instrument so unique—in one of our most popular stories of all time.
Dear Friends,
This month, we’re bringing back some of our most popular stories from the Archives while our small team takes a few weeks off.
Today, we’re taking a virtual trip to the Emerald Isle to highlight one of the most popular stories in Craftsmanship’s nearly 10-year(!!!) history of publishing. Like most of our long-form narratives, this feature contains several layers of bonus material in the form of sidebars, short videos, and audio. The original story also inspired our audio producer, Pauline Bartolone, to follow up with pipe-maker John Butler a few months ago about the tools and techniques of his craft, which you can experience in this short video, “An Irish Pipes Maker and His Tools”:
We hope you’ll enjoy reading and listening to: “Do the Most Interesting Musical Pipes Come from Ireland?” written by Larry Gallagher and photographed by Ruth Carden.
Uilleann pipe music is built around melodies, which tend to be relentless and serpentine, heavily ornamented with a variety of trills, warbles, and slides.
Thank you for reading and sharing our stories, for supporting our work with a paid subscription if you can, and for being part of the Craftsmanship community. We couldn’t do this without you.
Sincerely,
The Craftsmanship Team
Our latest Substack exclusive:
In our latest Secrets of Mastery episode, you’ll hear from Andy Graham, a Bay Area-based musician, instrument maker, patent-holder, and inventor of new instruments—such as the electric stringed didgeridoo, the slapstick, and the nixa wobbler, just to name a few—Graham takes us on a brief but fascinating tour of sound.
Listen to: "The Joy of Experimentation," with Andy Graham
New on our website:
Uniting Navajo traditional songs with the dynamic currents of contemporary jazz and jazz improvisation, the trumpet master, Delbert Anderson (Diné/Navajo), weaves a vibrant tapestry of sound.
Read our latest multimedia profile: Hitting All the High Notes: Delbert Anderson Trumpets On, written by RoseMary Diaz.
“The Secrets of Mastery” is a series of brief, intimate conversations with artisans, innovators, and other pioneers about what it takes to master their craft, and why handmade matters. It’s available only for our paid subscribers here on Substack.
If you haven’t done so already, you can upgrade your subscription now for just $6/month, or $60/year, and get access to all of our premium content, including the entire Secrets of Mastery series. Thank you for supporting independent journalism!
Craftsmanship Magazine focuses on master artisans and innovators whose work informs our quest: to create a world built to last.
In addition to our Substack offerings, you’ll find a rich archive of in-depth reported features, audio stories, photo essays, Field Notes, and documentary shorts on our free website—along with community resources like our Artisans’ Directory, our guide to U.S.-based craft & folk schools, and much more.