Welcome

Hello and welcome to the official website of James O'Grady, Uillean Piper, Fiddler & Whistler. James has reached a wide audience touring with world renowned acts such as Capercaillie, The Oysterband and Sin-É. James is spending the summer of 2007 touring with Cara Dillon, see the Tour Dates for more information.

James O'Grady has a unique talent honed by playing with other folk musicians at the top of their game

The Uillean Pipes

Uilleann pipes are the characteristic national bagpipe of Ireland. The uilleann pipes bag is inflated by means of a small set of bellows strapped around the waist and the right arm. Found in other European bagpipes (ex. Northumbrian pipes, Scottish smallpipes), the bellows not only relieves the player from the effort needed to blow into a bag to maintain pressure, they also allow relatively dry air to power the reeds, reducing the adverse affects of moisture on tuning and longevity. Some pipers can smoke, converse, or sing while playing as well. .

The Uilleann pipes are distinguished from many other forms of bagpipes by their sweet tone and wide range of notes — the chanter has a range of two full octaves, including sharps and flats — together with the unique blend of chanter, drones, and "regulators." The regulators are equipped with closed keys which can be opened by the piper's wrist action enabling the piper to play simple chords, giving a rhythmic and harmonic accompaniment as needed. There are also many ornaments based on multiple or single grace notes. The chanter can also be played staccato by resting the bottom of the chanter on the piper's knee to close off the bottom hole and then open and close only the tone holes required. If one tone hole is closed before the next one opened, a staccato effect can be created because the sound stops completely when no air can escape at all. The Uilleann pipes have a different harmonic structure, sounding sweeter and quieter than many other bagpipes, such as the Great Irish Warpipes or Great Highland Bagpipes. The Uilleann pipes are usually played indoors, and are almost always played sitting down.

Thanks for visiting.