Nice, Martin.
This is no tin whistle –
what are you playing here?
It's called the uilleann pipes.
Uilleann pipe, right. They're like a bagpipe, I can see.
What's the difference between that and a bagpipe?
Well, first of all they are called uilleann
because uilleann is the Irish word for ‘elbow’
so they're actually the elbow pipes.
They use a set of bellows instead of blowing into them.
The chanter has two octaves whereas the highland pipes have one.
They have a set of drones.
That's the drone.
That's a drone.
Then you have what is called regulators or accompaniment -
they're a bit like chords playing on a guitar.
Let's hear the regulator
And then what's that bit?
The chanter.
The chanter is the main melody part.
Bellows via tube into the bag supply the air for the chanter
and supply the air for the rest of the instrument.
So this is more for your melancholy songs.
Slow Irish is what you are striking at there.
A lot of the old Irish, slow Irish songs were in Gaelic
and the pipes imitate a lot of those.
When I was learning to play slow
I was told to suss out an Irish singer
and listen to them and mimic the voice.
This is my favourite Irish instrument
but it is just too difficult to play.
What are we going to hear now, Martin?
A tune called 'Eamonn an Chnoic'.
Which means?
Ned of the Hills.
Take it away.