Why does my chanter sound like crap?

[Ron Abbott]

Wow....not much more I can say to that photo!!

McCallums have done it again! I haven't seen one of these before. Thanks for posting.

McCallums certainly have a reputation for customer service that is second to none and seem to push the design thing out a fair bit.

I bought a set of their pipe chanters some years back and although there was nothing wrong with the quality or sound, the holes were big, oval shaped things and I didn't like them. Later you could also buy their chanters with good ol' rounder type holes but I was too late! Lesson learnt.

[chasem]

BTW here is what two ordinary Gibson long PCs, with Gibson plastic reeds, sound like

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m4lw8-3Jf9w

I'm so glad you posted that! I've been trying to remember who it was that did this. I love tat sound/idea and had been thinking about whether I could duplicate it. I seem to recall you posted somewhere the process through which you went to make this happen, but couldn't recall where. Mind if I ask what was required?

[OC Richard]

It's just two ordinary Gibson long PCs with certain holes plugged.

The hole configuration is

o ooo xxxo
x xxx oooo

o= open hole
x= plugged hole

In other words each hand has its own chanter, and when using ordinary Highland fingering one chanter or the other is always playing Low A giving a 'virtual drone'.

The special double stock was made by New Zealand piper/pipemaker Yuri Terenyi. Yuri also made the blowpipe and bag, but any bag and blowpipe would do. It's the double chanter stock that's the main thing.

[OC Richard]

the holes were big, oval shaped things and I didn't like them. Later you could also buy their chanters with good ol' rounder type holes

Several of the bands around here were playing those McCallum chanters with the huge oval holes, including the Los Angeles Scottish Grade One. The bands I played in used them. I never had any problem fingering them, personally. These chanters played very well with Ross reeds.

The LA Scots and a few other local bands (including the one I play in) have switched to the newer McCallum band chanters with the round holes. These new chanters are extremely loud and sharp (just what you need for competition!) and are easier to finger. Pitching to 485 is no problem! The best thing about these chanters is the far more stable D. As soon as we switched our tone was better while playing tunes in the key of D such as Castle Dangerous, Amazing Grace, and so forth. We're using Megarity reeds, and had Wee Stevie come down to one of our practices to fit each chanter with a great reed.

[chasem]

It's just two ordinary Gibson long PCs with certain holes plugged.

The hole configuration is

o ooo xxxo
x xxx oooo

o= open hole
x= plugged hole

In other words each hand has its own chanter, and when using ordinary Highland fingering one chanter or the other is always playing Low A giving a 'virtual drone'.

The special double stock was made by New Zealand piper/pipemaker Yuri Terenyi. Yuri also made the blowpipe and bag, but any bag and blowpipe would do. It's the double chanter stock that's the main thing.

So if I were interested in duplicating the setup, is it safe to say the simplest route would be to contact Mr. Terenyi for the bag and blowpipe?

[OC Richard]

Yes, here he is

http://www.wood-n-bone.co.nz/bagpipes.html

The most important thing to have Yuri make is the special double stock. I had him make the bag too, because a stock that big won't fit into the neck of an ordinary bag. And since he was making the bag and chanter stock I had him do the blowpipe too, though any ordinary Scottish (or non-Scottish) blowpipe would probably work fine.

I sent Yuri the size of the tenons on the Gibson PCs and he make the stock accordingly.

[chasem]

Gotcha, appreciate the info!



Sorry for shifting off-topic, Bren

[TheOfficialBren]

No offence taken whatsoever!

My question was answered. I have no qualms with this thread becoming a general discussion about chanters of all sorts now.

How do different chanters vary? Uillean chanters are mind boggling! As a I understand it they are very, very difficult to learn and only a virtuoso can master the Uillean Pipes.

Double pipes are interesting and sound gorgeous.

Which pipes in the Celt in vain are tuned lower the Highland pipes? I love the full, rich depth of lower pitches.

[OC Richard]

Which pipes in the Celtic vein are tuned lower the Highland pipes? I love the full, rich depth of lower pitches.

Well if we include in our "Celtic" designation bagpipes which have continuously survived from Scotland, Ireland, Brittany, and Northern Spain (Galicia and Asturias), that is, leaving out 'revived' species of bagpipes, the standard pitches High to Low go something like this:

Biniou (Brittany). This is, more or less, a half-size Highland pipe and plays in B flat, the same key as the Highland pipes, but one octave higher.

Gaita (Spain). The traditional pitch is C, one step higher than a Highland pipe, though pipes are nowadays often made in B flat (the same pitch as a Highland pipe) and one sometimes sees large Gaitas in Low G for playing a low harmony part.

Highland Pipes (Scotland). Traditionally around the pitch of B flat, nowadays a quartertone higher.

Uilleann Pipes (Britain and Ireland). Though one thinks of uilleann pipes today as being "Irish", in the 18th century the main centres of uilleann pipemaking were Edinburgh, Aberdeen, and London. The old traditional pitch is around C or B, nearly an octave lower than the Highland pipes.

Miniature Highland pipes (Scotland). Highland pipemakers have long made these, since the late 18th century at least. They traditionally are around one octave lower than the Highland pipes, in B flat, though sometimes in C and other pitches. A miniature Highland pipe chanter in B flat is one-half-step lower than an uilleann chanter in B, making it the lowest-pitched standard traditional "Celtic" bagpipe.

A Biniou, Highland pipe, and Miniature Highland pipe could play together in the same key in three different octaves!

Revival bagpipes:

Scottish Smallpipes. These were more or less invented in the 1960s by the Northumbrian pipemaker Colin Ross and usually are in the key of A, a bit over one octave lower than the Highland pipes.

Cornish Doublepipes. The Cornish Doublepipes created by Julian Goodacre are in low D, one octave lower than an uilleann D chanter, and perhaps the lowest-pitched "Celtic" bagpipe of all.

Here are the low D Cornish Doublepipes, played by their creator Julian Goodacre of Peebles, Scotland

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZdASMopIRL8