The History of Growth - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 5 Words: 1396 Downloads: 5 Date added: 2017/06/26 Category Business Essay Type Analytical essay Level High school Did you like this example? History of Growth Since 1914, the first scheduled air service began in Florida, air travel industry has been facilitating economic growth, world trade, global integration and tourism industry over the last century. In North American, airline industry has undergone a significant development since the end of World War II. As the important of air transport has been recognized through the war, the demand for civil air transport grew explosively. Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "The History of Growth" essay for you Create order Many airlines had opportunities to increase their fleets and operate new routes (Airline for America, 2007). In 1978, Congress passed the Airline Deregulation Act that transferred the control right over airline industry from the government to the market. The deregulation and liberalization widely spread from U.S. to the entire world that helped shape the evolution of the competitive international airline industry (Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 2007). In Canada, the government fully deregulated airline industry in 1987 and adopted the Blue Sky Policy to encourage the liberalization of Air Transport Agreements in 2006(Transport Canada, 2012). At the beginning of the 21st century, airline industry experienced a financial crisis because of the global economic recession. Even worse, the September 11 terrorist attacks aggravated the industryà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s difficult situation. The safety and security issues became critical to both airlines and passengers. From 2001 to 2005, th e net losses of U.S. airline industry were over $40 billion (Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 2007). In 2008, the whole airline industry once again faced serious challenge from high fuel prices and the à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“Great Recessionà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ . The operating profitability in 2008 is dropped from 4% gain in previous year to a disappointing loss of 1% (International Air Transport Association, 2010). Life Cycle: Maturity The current life cycle of Canadian airline industry is in the stage of maturity. The industry growth has decelerated and the competition is aggressive. The industry performance often fluctuates with the economy. As the result of the low industry profitability, cost management and efficiency improvement became the major strategic targets of airline industry instead of capacity growth. According to the data in Airlines Industry Profile: Canada (2005), the global economic downturn resulted in the Canadian airline industry presenting a negative compound annual rate of change of 4.4% over the 2000 to 2004 period. The demand of industry declined until 2003 that remained unchanged in the period 2000-2004. Facing the brutal market competition, airline mergers and acquisitions have been prevailing across the entire industry. In 2000, Air Canada increased their market share by the acquisition of and merger with their largest competitors Canadian Airlines. Although the performance had been im proved over 2005-2008, following the global airlines industry trend, Canadian airline industry suffered another decline in 2009 because of the high fuel price, disappointing demand and the economic recession. Over the last five years, the industry revenue growth was slightly below the Canada GDP growth after the recession. The data of Airlines Industry Profile: Canada (2014) showed that the compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of the industry in the period 2009-2013 was 7.1%, while GDP grew at the compound annual rate of 8.5% over the same period. Looking forward, the growth of the industry is predicted to slow down with a CAGR of 3.8% for the next five years. Structure Legacy carriers often refer to airlines that established before the deregulation. They usually own more luxury aircrafts and offer first and business class seating with higher level of services. After the airline industry deregulation, legacy carriers started to use a hub-and-spoke system to organize their flights. The system allows airline to select some airports in major cities as hubs and connect to other cities as spokes. It provides less number of routes with more frequent services which increases the transportation resource efficiency. In addition, the system also allows legacy carriers to provide international long-haul flights. Therefore, in order to take advantage of competition among the major international gateways, domestic carriers have built alliance relationship with foreign carriers. Canadian air carriers can benefit from the alliance because of its important geographic location (Madore Shaw, 1993). Today Star Alliance is the largest global airline alliance with 26 member airlines including Air Canada. Competing against legacy carriers, low cost carriers have played a key role in short-haul domestic routes by using point-to-point system. Instead of stopover at hub, point-to-point system reduces connections and travel time. The low cost carriers expanded their significant market share during economic crisis in 2000. They offered lower fares and less services to attract price sensitive consumers. The most successful part of low cost carriers is the higher labor productivity than legacy carriers. The flexible work culture and cross-utilization employees create a labor cost advantage for low cost carriers (Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 2007). Economics Airline industry is one of the lowest returns on invested capital among all the industries, which on average the returns hardly meet investorsà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ earning expectation. The averaged ROIC of global airline industry is 4.1% over the period 2004 to 2011, which is enable the industry to pay for its debt interest costs and small dividend. However, it was still far below the average cost of capital of 7.5 %( IATA, 2013). According to the IATA Industry Statistics (2014), the revenue of global commercial airlines in 2013 was $710 billion, and the net profit was 10.6 million, only a 1.5% margin on revenues. The global airline industryà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s fuel cost accounted for 30% of the total $690 billion operating expense, which continues to be the largest proportion of operating cost. The total fuel bill of $210 billion, compared with the industry profits of 10.6 billion, showed that the entire airline industry facing the structural issues that squeeze the profit too thin. F or North American market, the net profit in 2013 was $7 billion, and EBIT margin was 5.3% on revenues, which was higher than the other regions (IATA, 2014). In Canada, the airline industry value was $17255.6 million last year, and the market volume was 59.5 million passengers. For Canadian airline industry, domestic is always the largest segment of the total volume (Martketline, 2014). Technology Since the rising fuel price and air pollution are two most important issues for aviation, the airline industry has been developing technologies that would improve the aircrafts fuel efficiency throughout the years. According to the International Civil Aviation Organization environment report (2010), compared with aircraft in 1985, modern aircraft has reduced 15% fuel burn and deliver 40% lower carbon dioxide emissions. In 2007, the government of Canada launched the Strategic Aerospace and Defence Initiative (SADI) to encourage research and development of strategic innovative projects in the aerospace and defence sectors. The SADI has invested $300 million to improve aircraft engine technology and fuel consumption (Finance Canada, 2013). Three significant technologies in aircraft design are prevailing in the industry. The first is weight reduction, which can maximum the carrierà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s load factor using same amount of fuel burn. Future aircraft will have 70% advanced mate rial, including à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“composite wings and parts of the fuselageà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  to reduce 15% weight. The second is aerodynamics improvements that reduce friction drag and maintain optimal laminar flow. The potential application areas are wings, nacelles, empennages and winglets. The last one is engine-specific performance improvement, which can provide clean and efficient power. The achievement of engine improvement in last ten years provided 2% fuel consumption improvement. As the technology matures, new engine is expected to save 15% fuel consumption (ICAO, 2010, p.74-75). Reference: Airline for America. (2007). Airline Handbook. Retrieved from https://www.airlines.org/Pages/Airline-Handbook-Chapter-1-Brief-History-of-Aviation.aspx International Air Transport Association. (2010). Airline Profits 2008. Retrieved from https://www.iata.org/whatwedo/Documents/economics/Airline_2008_Profits_Feb2010.pdf Transport Canada. (2012). The 2006 Blue Sky Policy: Objectives, Principles, and Approach. Retrieved from https://www.iata.org/whatwedo/Documents/economics/Airline_2008_Profits_Feb2010.pdf International Air Transport Association. (2013). Profitability and the air transport value chain. Retrieved from https://www.iata.org/whatwedo/Documents/economics/profitability-and-the-air-transport-value chain.pdf Massachusetts Institute of Technology. (2007). Airline Industry Overview. Retrieved from https://web.mit.edu/airlines/analysis/analysis_airline_industry.html Madore, O., Shaw, J. D. (1993). The Canadian airline industry: its structure, performance and prosp ect. Retrieved from https://publications.gc.ca/Collection-R/LoPBdP/BP/bp329-e.htm#A. Industry Marketline. (2014). Airline Industry Profile: Canada. Retrieved from https://web.b.ebscohost.com.proxy.lib.sfu.ca/bsi/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?si[email  protected]/* */vid=15hid=112 Datamonitor. (2005). Airline Industry Profile: Canada. Retrieved from https://web.b.ebscohost.com.proxy.lib.sfu.ca/bsi/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?si[email  protected]/* */vid=2hid=112 Finance Canada. (2013). Budget Plan 2013. Retrieved from https://www.fin.gc.ca/new_template/2013/doc/plan/toc-tdm-eng.html International Civil Aviation Organization. (2010). ICAO Environmental Report 2010. Retrieved from https://www.fin.gc.ca/new_template/2013/doc/plan/toc-tdm-eng.html Fact sheet: https://www.iata.org/pressroom/facts_figures/fact_sheets/Documents/industry-facts.pdf

Petsmart Financial Analysis - 1010 Words

Abstract This paper covers PetSmart and undertakes a financial analysis of this company. The companys cash flow is analyzed, including its working capital, NOPAT and its EVA. There is also a qualitative analysis that leads to the conclusion that PetSmart has reliable financial statements and would make a good investment. Body a. The statement of cash flows provides valuable, reliable information about the nature of PetSmarts cash flows. Overall, this analysis reveals that PetSmart is a reasonably safe investment. b. Free cash flow is the net cash flow from operations less the capital expenditures (Peavler, 2012). Free cash flow is important because it is the cash flow that is beyond what is necessary to maintain assets in place and to finance expected new investments (Richardson, 2006). Free cash flow is used to finance existing operations, expand existing operations, pay down debt, pay out dividends and to maintain existing assets in place. The free cash flow of PetSmart is $400.263 million, according the PetSmarts 10-K for the year ended January 29, 2012. This information is found on page 30. c. PetSmarts operating current assets are found on the balance sheet on the latest 10-K (p.41). They are defined as the current assets that are used to finance the firms activities, therefore excluding short-term investments. For PetSmart, they are as follows: Cash equivalents 342892 Receivables, net 53899 Merchandise inventories 644864 Total $Show MoreRelatedBusiness Report : Marketing Report955 Words   |  4 PagesBusiness Report: PetSmart Introduction PetSmart is a leading retail store that sells specialty pet products and services. It operates more than 1200 stores in North America and is regarded as the biggest player in the pet supplies and services industry. It came to Canada in 1996 and its store is located at Quinn drive Sarnia. They sell consumables (i.e. pet foods and treats), hard goods (i.e. pet accessories) and also live small animals such as birds, hamsters, fish etc. they do not sell dogs orRead MoreSummary Of Phoenix Arizona, Petsmart Essay2300 Words   |  10 PagesHeadquartered in Phoenix Arizona, PetSmart was founded in 1986 by Jim and Janice Dougherty and employs approximately fifty-three thousand employees with an estimated seven billion dollars in annual revenue (Forbes, 2016). Although an immense amount of money, consider Danielle Kurtzleben’s (2013) U.S. News article title which affirmed â€Å"Americans spend over $60 billion annually on their pets† (para 1). In other words, PetSmart has corn ered a little less than thirteen percent of the American marketRead MoreGardner Distibutinc Company Swot Analysis977 Words   |  4 PagesGardner Distributing Company SWOT Analysis Gardner Distributing Company purchases, sells, and distributes Iams premium pet food products (68 percent of sales), pet supplies (14 percent of sales), and lawn and garden supplies (18 percent of sales). The management team has developed a purpose, mission, and objectives; but the strategies of the firm are not clear. Defining the firm s strategies will require an understanding of the business and the two industries in which the firm operates. It willRead MoreInventory Management1906 Words   |  8 Pagesof their organization’s inventory system to the team for analysis and comparison. Each team-member, Donna, Nikki, Jerome, Jennifer and Adrian, provided a brief description of their company’s inventory system as well as a list of advantages and disadvantages. The companies include PetSmart, Starbucks, Newlife, AVON and GameStop. Each Inventory system was chosen based on the needs of each organization. PetSmart’s Inventory System PetSmart and there Out of Stock inventory system, is one of the largestRead MoreMarketing Plan6055 Words   |  25 PagesMarketing Plan: Phase I, II, III, and IV Lora, Jina, Tina, and Josie MKT 421 Jon Smith 1/25/2008 Executive Summary Petsmart would like to introduce a new product called CuddleSmart. This product has been developed in order to aid desired pet owners to control allergies caused by cats and dogs. A four-phased plan has been developed to market the new product. Phase 1 – Development of CuddleSmart †¢ Development of product – 63% of 112.9 American households have family pets. 15% of AmericansRead MoreAn Open Air Shopping Center Located At 1345 U.s.1337 Words   |  6 Pagesvisibility and easy access to the Route 1 shopping corridor, which includes retailers such as Costco, Target, Walmart, Macy’s Furniture, Modell’s, Burlington Coat Factory, Babies R Us, Barnes Noble, PetsMart, and Bed Bath Beyond. The intended market for the site is retail customers. The analysis of the market area and site demonstrated that the land use can involve retail project targeting retail customers. To support the retail development, it is essential to keep in mind two factors such asRead MoreIndividual Learning Project1536 Words   |  7 Pagesthe low? – 8.84 and 3.22 6. Who is the company’s transfer agent and where are they located? – Bank of New York Mellon Shareowner Services located in New York 7. Who are your company’s competitors? – Tiffany CO., Staples, Tractor Supply co., Petsmart, Dick’s Sporting Goods, Cabella’s, Five Below, Hibbet Sports, Office Depot, Office Max, Barnes Nobel. Market Information: 8. On which stock exchange is your corporation’s stock traded? – New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) 9. What is the currentRead MorePet Servicing Center Essay903 Words   |  4 Pagespercent), according to a 2014 study by Wakefield Research. The opportunity is there. The market entry strategy The market entry strategy for a pet business domestically, here in Greenwood is simple. Our company will piggyback off companies like Petco, Petsmart and others, by offering similar services at a lower price. Yet, in order to compete in today’s world we must enter many foreign markets. Big name companies try to consolidate their orders in order to take advantage of bulk buying; we will do theRead MorePetsmart Analysis5575 Words   |  23 PagesA Financial Ratio Quarterly Trend Analysis of Petsmart, Inc. Stock symbol: PETM Listed on the Nasdaq Prepared for: In partial fulfillment of the requirements of the course: By: 1.0 Introduction This report provides a financial quarterly trend analysis for Petsmart, Inc. The U.S.-based company, together with its subsidiaries, operates as a specialty retailer of products, services, and solutions for pets in North America. The company offers consumables, which include pet foodRead MoreCase Study : Blockbuster And Blackberry Essay1610 Words   |  7 Pagesaccessories for animals in the Midwest. It import and exports animals to 30 states and 22 countries which makes it the biggest distributor in America. It competes in a very small niche of the pet store market, which makes it different than Petco or PetSmart. It legally is able to sell exotic pets from all over the world which has proven to be its biggest asset. According to an Anti-Smuggling Statute violators â€Å"Shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than 20 years, or both.† (18 USCA  §

Biomes in South Africa free essay sample

Vegetation, vegetation and fire influence positive and/or negative actions imposed on one another. Climate affects vegetation by means of any form of precipitation (rain, snow, fog, etc). Climate also affects the different types of vegetations that will burn after long periods or seasonally due to the variables of precipitation. Fires can be caused through natural impacts or through human endeavors. Fires usually arise after long dry hot periods in windy weather when humidity is relatively low. Under such extreme conditions intense fires occur. These fires can spread to far distances with burning everything in its path. Lightning is another natural way to cause fire. Human activities in contrast either deliberately or unintentionally ignite fires. With respect to the deliberate fuelling of fires, certain biomes require fire to germinate and adapt to living under these conditions, therefore humans have to ignite fires to maintain the routine of fire in fire-scarce biomes. The biomes of South Africa that fire plays the most important role in are the Fynbos, Savanna, and Grassland biomes. There are four other biomes that rarely burn. Fire is the most important in the Fynbos biome; the reasons will be touched upon in the following paragraph. Fynbos (fine-leaved bush) biome This biome describes evergreen scrublands with a deficiency in trees and grasses. There are two major types of vegetation: Fynbos and Renosterveld. There is high endemism of 80%. The range of the mean annual precipitation is between 250-800mm. Due to the high rainfall occurrence fires are then important to allow for the specific fynbos vegetation growth. There are several factors influencing fire dynamics in fynbos: global warming, grazing practices, and fire management. Fynbos must burn between 6 and 46 years of age in order to uphold its plant species. With the above said, plants have become adapted to two ways in which to manage fires: re-seeders or re-sprouters. Re-seeders are mostly practiced. Cones encase seeds that are fire-resistant hence protecting the seeds from desiccation and burning completely. These seeds are then released after the fire. The fire enables the seed to then germinate and become adapted to that environment. Most fynbos are flammable due to them containing flammable oils. These oils come from the seeds of the plant which get their nutrients from the soil and precipitation. The parent plant species die after the fire indicating a low life span and reproduction can only occur with seeds there-on-after. There are also many species that are adapted to re-sprout after the fire. Without the presence of fire, the fynbos species will age and die out. To great extents of fire burning, fynbos can become eliminated. Grassland biome Grasslands are biomes that dominate in large quantities of grass. Grasslands do not get high rainfall therefore they are said to be semi-arid. Precipitation ranges between 400-1200mm per annum. In the grassland biome fire is regarded as a secondary determinant. Fires and grazing are important factors influencing grass dominance given that under wet conditions it helps prevent trees from thriving in this region. In drier areas, trees may not grow but fire still plays a role in allowing other species to grow as well as recycle nutrients to the soil. Burning of grasslands is prescribed in areas of high biomass where grassland curing poses a wildfire threat. Farmers and nature conservators also burn grass masses to provide grazing and is known as a method called maintenance burning. There is great biodiversity in the grassland biome. These organisms are well-adapted to the environment and are fire-tolerant. Savanna biome The savanna biome is identified as a ground layer consisting of grass whilst the upper layer consists of woody plants and a lack of trees. The mean annual precipitation is in the range of 230-1250mm. Grasses fuel fire. The temperatures in savannas are high therefore savannas are only found in warm or hot regions. Due to the hot dry periods fires occur and this does not allow for the growth of trees and other plant species, if fires weren’t present then the savanna would dominate as tropical forests. Other than the grassland biome, fire and grazing are also important in the savanna because these allow for the dominance of grass. Fires in the savanna are also viewed as a cleansing medium in which old growth of grass is burnt-off. Taxa in this region have become well-adapted to living under these harsh conditions therefore they grow back to assist in continuing this vegetation type. Biomes of South Africa where fires rarely occur and are of little importance; namely: forest, succulent karoo, nama karoo and the thicket biomes. Forest biome The forest biome consists of canopy trees and other herbaceous and woody plant species. Vegetation is absent due to insufficient sunlight which is blocked out by the tall trees. The mean annual precipitation is 525mm in winter rainfall areas and 725mm in summer rainfall areas. Fires rarely burn due to the high rate of humidity. When temperatures reach a maximum, forest biomes can completely burn out-destroying the vegetation profile. Succulent karoo Succulent shrubs dominate this vegetation. There is a lack of grasses, trees and tall shrubs. There is low rainfall in the range of 20-290mm per year. This range indicates summer aridity. The aridity without the influence of other factors does not permit for fires to occur. As no fires occur, the biome is regarded as succulent. Nama karoo The vegetation is dominated by grassy shrublands. The rainfall is 100-520mm per annum. It is relatively low. Summer rainfall is a primary determinant. Grasses are needed for the fuelling of fire but in this biome grasses are present to a very small extent. Hence no fires are present. Thicket biome It contains shrubs with low trees and forest characteristics. The mean annual precipitation is 250-1500mm. There is rain throughout the year in the core area. There is summer rainfall. Due to the humidity, no fires occur. It is then said to be succulent with high humidity. Fires are not delimiting factors therefore insignificant in this biome. With the above information, you can conclude that fires are important in specific biomes with some complex and others not so complex influencing factors being mainly climate and precipitation. The other biomes mentioned rarely burn due to delimiting factors that do not necessarily require other certain factors for burning due to the nature of each biome. Whether fire is caused by humans or natural origins, it is not always taken to have devastating effects on certain biomes as these biomes exist in accordance with fire. Author: Kerina Ramparsad

Irish Traditional Music Essay Example

Irish Traditional Music Essay The Harp The harping tradition in Ireland flourished from medieval times until the seventeenth century. It was fostered and developed among the powerful and wealthy Irish and Anglo-Irish families. Harpers were employed along with poets and orators, known as reacoirs, to provide entertainment for the families. As the families acted as patrons to the harpers, they would often have solo pieces, known as planxties, written in their honour by their harper. One famous song is Planxty Kelly. The occupation of a harper was a very prestigious one. The harping tradition was passed on, father to son, for many years and was one of very few viable career options for blind boys at the time. However, after 1600, as the great families went into decline, there was a loss of patronage and harpers were left unemployed. The harping tradition then became a nomadic one, as harpers would travel from county to county, playing for money and food. There were two styles of harp: the Bardic harp and the Neo-Irish harp. The Bardic harp had between 29 and 31 strings made of wire, which were played with the nails. Usually around 70cm in height with a curved pillar and a hollow soundbox, the Bardic harp was the more resonant of the two. The Neo-Irish harp typically had 34 strings made of nylon or cat gut, which were played with the pads of the fingers. They were taller (about 91cm in height) than the Bardic harp, but less resonant. In 1792 the Belfast Harp Festival was setup with the aim of preventing the decline of the harping tradition. We will write a custom essay sample on Irish Traditional Music specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on Irish Traditional Music specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on Irish Traditional Music specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer It consisted of eleven harpers from the age of 15 to 97, playing pieces in their own particular style. One player that was the light of the day was Denis Hempson, age 97, being the oldest player there. Edward Bunting was commissioned by the Belfast Harp Society to record the lifestyles of the harpers as well as recording and writing down the music from the festival to preserve it for future generations. This method, unlike the oral tradition which had existed up until then, did not allow for particular nuances in style and some of these were lost. There was a harping revival in the second half of the twentieth century. The role of the harp as a traditional instrument was led by Maire Ni Chathasaigh, who had solo albums such as â€Å"The New Strung Harp† and Laoise Kelly who release the album â€Å"Just Harp† Uilleann Pipes The uilleann pipes are the characteristic national Bagpipe of Ireland. Their current name (they were earlier known in English as union pipes) is a part translation of the Irish language term pioba uilleann (literally, pipes of the elbow), from their method of inflation. The uilleann pipes are distinguished from many other forms of bagpipes by their sweet tone and wide range of notes together with the unique blend of chanter, drones, and regulators. The bag of the uilleann pipes is inflated by means of a small set of bellows strapped around the waist and the right arm. The bellows not only relieve 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 effects of moisture on tuning and longevity. The chanter is the part of the instrument that plays the melody. Its somewhat like a low whistle except it is not placed in the mouth. Air is pumped through the bellows which is attached to the players right elbow, hence the name. To achieve the bottom D the chanter is lifted off the knee, exposing the exit of the chanters bore, where the note is produced. The chanter is set on the right knee thus closing off the bottom hole. Many players use a strip of leather placed over the knee, called a popping strap, which provides for an airtight seal. A great range of different timbres can be achieved by varying the fingering of notes and also raising the chanter off the knee, which gives the uilleann pipes a degree of dynamic range not found in other forms of bagpipes. A type of simultaneous vibrato and tremolo can be achieved by tapping a finger below the open note hole on the chanter. The bottom note also has two different modes, namely the soft D and the hard D. The hard bottom D sounds louder and more strident than the soft D and is accomplished by applying slightly more pressure to the bag and flicking a higher note finger as it is sounded. Many chanters are fitted with keys to allow accurate playing of all the semitones of the scale. Most uilleann chanters are very responsive to half-holing or sliding, which is the practice of obtaining a note by leaving a fingerhole only half covered. This is why many chanters sold in Ireland are sold without keys. The chanter uses a double reed similar to that of the oboe and bassoon. The regulators are equipped with closed keys which can be opened by the pipers wrist action enabling the piper to play simple chords, giving a rhythmic and harmonic accompaniment as needed. History The uilleann pipes developed around the beginning of the 18th century, the history of which is here depicted in prints of carvings and pictures from contemporary sources. The earliest surviving sets of uilleann pipes date from the second half of the 18th century but it must be said that datings are not definitive. Many of the early players in Ireland were Protestant, possibly the best known being the mid-18th century piper Jackson from Co Limerick. The pipes were certainly frequently used by the Protestant clergy who employed them as an alternative to the church organ. Tuning The instrument most typically is tuned in the key of D, although flat sets do exist in other keys. These terms only began to be used in the 1970s, when pipemakers began to receive requests for pipes that would be in tune with Generation tin whistles which are stamped with the key they play in: C, B? , etc. The chanter length determines the overall tuning; accompanying pieces of the instrument, such as drones and regulators, are tuned to the same key as the chanter. The D pipes are most commonly used in ensembles, while the flat-pitched pipes are more often used for solo playing. It is noteworthy that Irish music was predominately solo music until the late 19th century, when these fixed-pitch instruments began to play more of a role. Performers Davey Spillane of Moving Hearts has also recorded solo albums. Liam Og O Floinn of Planxty has also featured as soloist with Shaun Davey in The Brendan Voyage and with RTE orchestras. Paddy Maloney is with The Chieftains. Others from past and present include Seamus Ennis, Paddy Glackin and Paddy Keenan.