Taking up the bagpipes (Gibson or McCallum Chanter?)

[Profane James]

Thanks for the advice. What do you think of delrin pipes? They seem to be popular, less prone to aging, and require less maintenance. How do they sound compared to Blackwood?

In regard to the pipes, not practice chanter, From my travels on the internet about the subject, it seems to be a highly subjective matter. when subjected to blind testing, no definitive conclusion on if anyone can tell the difference. Is there a difference? Probably. Is one bad and the other good? Doubt it. There seem to be pros and cons to both. One fact that exists, is that delrin/poly does not absorb moisture like wood does, so those that prefer wood have noted that water logged reeds are less of an issue with ABW - but even that depends on how wet if a blower you are.

[tulloch]

I have three McCallum practice chanters and one Gibson. The Gibson and one of the McCallums are plastic. Both are good. I have a standard and a long McCallum in blackwood. My standard McCallum in blackwood is the most enjoyable to play and I play it a lot. I play the others a lot too. I haven't seen a Gibson in wood. I really, really love the McCallum wood chanters.

[Macman]

I've decided upon taking up the bagpipes. I see two Long Practice Chanter bundles with extra reeds and the green book and everything. One is made by Gibson. The other is made by McCallum. Both are world renown for making good instruments.
Which one do I get?
Piper's Opinions Very Appreciated.

EDIT. Oops, I was mistaken. I have a Dunbar practice chanter, not a Gibson.

[TRWXXA]

I'm a baby piper, if at all, but I will offer my only suggestion. Make sure the PC is the long type, with counter sunk holes. This makes the transition to the actual chanter easier. I'm sure the official pipers of the forum will chime in directly.

FWIW, I purchased my Dunbar chanter package (No.2 Practice Chanter Outfit) from this guy:

http://www.hotpipes.com/pract3.html

Thanks for the information Mr. James, and everyone here. After a false start a couple decades ago, I have decided to give The Pipes another try.

I just order the Dunbar #2 package as well. I like the idea of the o-rings replacing the hemp, which, I quickly learned the last time, is a messy PITA for a beginner (BTW: Does anyone have a good link to a pipe maintenance reference?).

I am one of those guys who hates learning things through traditional methods. I gave up piano and guitar lessons because I hated wasting time learning music theory and scales. I was just naturally gifted with good manual dexterity so exercises just bored the poop out of me. I just want to play music. And frankly, I hated paying good money to be bored (hey... I am of Scottish descent).

Taught myself guitar, can't read a lick of music. I got a cheap set of pipes and a PC (pretty much fit only for kindling) as a gag birthday gift many years ago. Taught myself all the notes, then managed to pull off barely passable renditions of Going Home and Amazing Grace on both of them. Can't wait to give it another go with quality equipment and learning materials.

[Profane James]

I hear ya. I've been that way as well. I've never played wind instruments, so I find myself at a total loss initially. The whole thing really is a world on its own, the scale, the sheet music, the pitch - baby steps for me.

[HighlandPark]

Duplicate post to below please delete!

[HighlandPark]

Thanks for the advice. What do you think of delrin pipes? They seem to be popular, less prone to aging, and require less maintenance. How do they sound compared to Blackwood?

First practice chanters. I play a Dunbar but Gibson and McCallum are also great. If I was to purchase another, I would choose to Gibson; I think that the sound is a little more musical due to Gibson using a different bore design. The Gibson may be a little heavier, too. BTW, I play McCallum and Gibson pipes.

Re your delrin pipes question, I also play delrin Dunbar pipes. These days I usually use my Dunbars for travelling. But I like them a lot. Delrin (poly) and acetyl (another type of plastic) vs. wood is a cat with a long tail. There is much misinformation on these plastic pipes out there. However, if you look at the facts, poly pipes are great, IMHO. For an in depth comparison of poly vs. wood bagpipes, please see the articles on my webpage, Bagpipe Ecology.

Have fun with it.

[Blupiper]

My practice chanter is the Gibson long. It is bulletproof, has a good tone and an in-tune top hand (an important feature not on all PC's) and serves me well. Is there any way you can try any out? Test drives (to further extent the Ford/Chevy analogy) would help you find which sets best in your hand, etc. Good luck.

JMB

[craigclan]

I use a McCallum long poly chanter . When i took lessons most people played those . If you want a really nice chanter check out David Lindsey on Facebook .He makes some really really nice ones . Not cheap but nice

[Kamilavalamp]

Thanks for the information Mr. James, and everyone here. After a false start a couple decades ago, I have decided to give The Pipes another try.

I just order the Dunbar #2 package as well. I like the idea of the o-rings replacing the hemp, which, I quickly learned the last time, is a messy PITA for a beginner (BTW: Does anyone have a good link to a pipe maintenance reference?).

I am one of those guys who hates learning things through traditional methods. I gave up piano and guitar lessons because I hated wasting time learning music theory and scales. I was just naturally gifted with good manual dexterity so exercises just bored the poop out of me. I just want to play music. And frankly, I hated paying good money to be bored (hey... I am of Scottish descent).

Taught myself guitar, can't read a lick of music. I got a cheap set of pipes and a PC (pretty much fit only for kindling) as a gag birthday gift many years ago. Taught myself all the notes, then managed to pull off barely passable renditions of Going Home and Amazing Grace on both of them. Can't wait to give it another go with quality equipment and learning materials.

Try the 5-String Openback Banjo and play clawhammer style,
That was my first instrument and I didn't have the patience to learn songs note by note so I learned clawhammer, You just learn some chords and then bang out the tunes using your manual dexterity and judgement to make em sound right. You can also play Irish tunes on it as well if you tune the 2nd string to a C.
Here's a video of me playing at a party.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sLMXRSoL2ug