440Hz pipes

[ohiopiper]

Spent a few hours messing around with it today. Here's my results so far.

The chanter in question is a Gael 474, the reed an Abbedour medium. Drone reeds are Husk cane.

The drones are perfect pitch right at the hempline, pushing them down about an inch and a half gets them to 478, normal pitch.

I wrapped TONS of hemp around the reed an seated it out quite a bit until the high A was right about 440, give or take a few hertz. I've threaded the reed seat, so adjustment isn't too much of a problem. Semed a tad unstable, so I didn't fine tune it just yet. Good thing. The low A was somewhere in the ballpark, nothing a little tape couldn't fix. The enitire right hand was passable, showed promise of being able to be tweaked a bit. Then I clamped down my right hand and let fly with an E. Jumpin' Jehosophat! Who let the dying cow in my house!?

I'm not really willing to carve up the chanter, so maybe my experimentation is at an end for now. I'm off to Dunsire forums to glean more info about reed choices for these chanters. I just used what I normally play in my Dunbar Elite.

[highland mafia]

Thats the trouble isn't it?? Getting drones where you want isn't to difficult. And getting low A down low is also not to bad but the top hand is gonna bew the tricky bit.. You should see if you can find a junker of a chanter, something you can carve up.. Cause to be honest I think you're gonna have to carve the top holes..
Good luck Id love to hear how it goes..

[Pyper]

My instructor needed a 440 chanter for a gig. Starting with a 466 chanter, eventually got to 440, but it was a lot of effort and probably didn't sound as good as a 440 chanter would have.

But stick wires up the chanter, like guitar strings. They'll lower your pitch some.

[OC Richard]

I should mention that pipers often get into terminology issues when playing with "normal" musicians, in the matter of pitch vs key.

The chanters which pipers call "466 chanters" are pitched in A=440, but play in the key of B flat.

I know this sounds like an oxymoron, but for example clarinets can be bought in the key of B flat, pitched either to A=440 or A=442, and clarinets can be bought in the key of A, pitched either to A=440 or A=442.

(Highland pipers would call these four clarinets 466, 469, 440, and 442 respectively, which "normal" musicians would find strange.)

So in "normal" musical terms, the chanter that pipers call a "466 chanter" is in the key of B flat, in the pitch of A=440.

The chanter pipers call a "480 chanter" is likewise in the key of B flat, but in the pitch of A=453.

The difference arises because "normal" musicians use A as the reference note, while pipers use whatever the so-called "low a" happens to be as the reference note (usually somewhere around B flat).

So if you're playing along with a pipe organ, playing Amazing Grace or Highland Cathedral, use a so-called 466 chanter. If the organ is in tune to A=440, you'll be in tune if you're at 466, and those tunes will come out in the key of E flat Major.

Normal music pitch name = piper's pitch name

440 = 466
442 = 469
445 = 472
448 = 474
450 = 477
453 = 480
455 = 483

I have this chart taped onto the back of all my electronic tuners and it's saved much time and trouble over the years.

HIghland pipes in the key of A, that is, chanter and drones sounding at 440 cycles, probably never existed in the old days. Old chanters are around halfway between A and Bb, in the neighborhood of 455 cycles.

[piperdbh]

I should mention that pipers often get into terminology issues when playing with "normal" musicians, in the matter of pitch vs key.

(Highland pipers would call these four clarinets 466, 469, 440, and 442 respectively, which "normal" musicians would find strange.)

So in "normal" musical terms, the chanter that pipers call a "466 chanter" is in the key of B flat, in the pitch of A=440.

The difference arises because "normal" musicians use A as the reference note, while pipers use whatever the so-called "low a" happens to be as the reference note (usually somewhere around B flat).

I'm a trombone player. Do I count as a "normal" musician?

In concert band settings, we tune to Bb, which drives the oboe players crazy.

[ScotFree]

I'm a trombone player. Do I count as a "normal" musician?

In concert band settings, we tune to Bb, which drives the oboe players crazy.

Being a musician myself, and a former oboe player to boot, I can confidently state that the words normal and musician do not belong in the same sentence. Oboe players are crazy to start with, so it's a very short drive. I think its all the years of high back pressure. I understand that French Horn players suffer from the same syndrome.

[Eyler]

To OC Richard, that was a very good explanation. To the original poster (Ohiopiper), it would seem a lot less trouble to obtain a concert pitch chanter (plenty of sources) than to alter a chanter that is not intended to be played that low. Then you would have the best of both worlds, i.e., you can play with other instruments with your concert pitch chanter and play with pipe and drum bands or just other pipers with your "normal" chanter. That's what I do. Eyler

[OC Richard]

it would seem a lot less trouble to obtain a concert pitch chanter (plenty of sources) than to alter a chanter that is not intended to be played that low. Then you would have the best of both worlds, i.e., you can play with other instruments with your concert pitch chanter and play with pipe and drum bands or just other pipers with your "normal" chanter.

I should point out that Highland pipe chanters are available in the sharp modern pitch (with "Low A" around 480 cycles), in the key of Concert Bb ("Low A" at 466 cycles), and in the key of Concert A ("Low A" at 440 cycles).

The chanters pitched at 466 and 440 are both "concert pitch chanters", that is, they both play at Concert Pitch (A=440), but they are in different keys, the key of Bb and the key of A respectively.

So, with a Concert Pitch chanter built with Low A at 466 cycles you could play Amazing Grace perfectly in tune with a Pipe Organ in the key of Eb.

With a Concert Pitch chanter built with Low A at 440 cycles you could play Amazing Grace perfectly in tune with that same Pipe Organ, but now in the key of D.

See? The Pipe Organ hasn't changed pitch; it's still in Concert Pitch, with its A tuned to 440 cycles. So both chanters are equally in Concert Pitch. But they are in different keys and produce all their music in different keys from each other.

Here's another little chart of various keys on the two chanters

440 chanter = 466 chanter

A Major = Bb Major (Colin's Cattle, The King of Love My Shepherd Is)
B minor = C minor (The Mist-covered Mountains)
D Major = Eb Major (Highland Cathedral, Amazing Grace)

[TheBlackTaylor]

I play with one of my 1890s drones set and chanter and my A is 440; of course the reed is not like a modern one but this is another story.
IMO this is the best to play piobaireachd, and I've got a second set (a vintage from the same maker) with which I play at 460 with a Naill chanter to play modern tunes.