David M. Quinn began making uilleann pipes in 1975, and worked on his own until 1988. He spent ten years in Taiwan, returning in 1998 to form a pipemaking partnership with Benedict Koehler. He is one of a small number of makers who have worked in the style of the Taylor brothers (makers of the pipes played by P. J. Touhey) and has written extensively on the techniques and peculiarities of that style of instrument. He is the author of The Piper’s Despair, a manual of reed making, and served for several years as technical editor of the Seattle Pipers’ Club newsletter.

He works now in Waterloo, New York, where he lives with his wife Lynne and their talented cats.