Practice Chanter Newbee

[Calgacus]

Fred is playing Border pipes there, not Smallpipes. I believe Fred plays pipes made by Hamish Moore, widely recognised as the master maker of Small pipes and Border pipes. E.J. Jones apparently copied the internal dimensions of a Moore set, so they are arguably almost as good.

Sadly, Hamish and Finn have closed their order books for now, apparently to catch up on demand. Hamish is making a very few custom sets currently, but as he's making about two sets a year and is not keeping a waiting list, you'd be exceptionally luck to buy them. Finn, his son, makes the regular sets.

Border pipes have a conical chanter bore and play in the same key as GHBPs, though they are a bit quieter and are apparently quite hard to play, as it takes some skill to keep good tone.

Smallpipes have a straight chanter bore and play an octave lower, the same as a practise chanter. They are relatively quiet, and make good session instruments.