Chanter questions

[ChromeScholar]

A number of years ago (mid-80's, I think), my father bought a practice chanter at a Scottish gathering. It was a boxed set, came with a book, and a cassette. The only clue as to who made the chanter was the box, which said "manufactured by Harp & Lion Press 197 Main St. Annapolis, MD." He never really played it, and had no real interest in learning to play the pipes.

Yesterday, he gave the chanter to me.

Now, I don't know that I will ever take up the pipes (I'm not discounting the possibility, though, and my step-son is interested). I do have some questions, though.

How do you tell the quality of a chanter?

Where do I get additional reeds for it?

How do I tell if a reed needs replaced?

How much effort should it take to put air through it?

I'll probably come up with more questions, and I'm sure that a pipe instructor could answer these, should we decide to actually learn to play.

[JS Sanders]

Sounds like a sub-standard instrument, probably Pakistani made.

Best advice may be to deep-six it and spend the money on a quality instrument that won't frustrate you from the get-go.

Slainte,
steve

[JerseyLawyer]

If it's a reddish or light color with a white plastic mouthpiece, and it came in a red box, then it's the sort of substandard junk sold in music stores and Irish "shoppes" everywhere.

As far as telling the quality... that might be difficult if you don't already know what to look for, and can't play it. Is it wood or delran (plastic)? Look through the bore and make sure it's smooth and straight inside. Are the holes cleanly finished? Do the pieces fit together smoothly? How is the finish on the wood? Any cracks? Good grain? Is the "throat" clear (the reed seat and the part directly beneath it)?

You can get plastic practice chanter reeds at any pipe store. They last a very, very long time. Again, though, the best way to pick one is to put a few different ones in the chanter and pick the one that sounds in tune, or tune the thing with a dental elastic or small rubber band.

It should take very little effort to blow a practice chanter. Pipers might say you can blow it with your nose. Though reeds vary, and you can get stronger ones if, like me, you are a blowhard.

I agree with Steve. Find an instructor. He might have a specific chanter he wants you to use, otherwise, buy a long plastic one from a reputable store. It will come with a reed to get you started. Proceed from there.

[Macman]

My father recently gave me his PC, which he bought in the mid-80's as well, but in Scotland. It came in a black box inscribed with "Grainger & Campbell Ltd" and came with a book and cassette too. Mine does say "Made in Scotland" on it, so I'm assuming that it was. I didn't know Pakistan was making them back then.
My dad never played it, but it sounds pretty good, and the reed it came with is fine. My only complaint is that it's not a long chanter. It could be that you've got a decent one.

[SteveB]

I have two long chanters, one blackwood and one polypenco (plastic)
The blackwood is from Kilberry Bagpipes of Edinburgh, the tube is rough in places on the inside, the finger holes are straight drilled and I find that the spacing gives my D and E fingers an opportunity to clash, the blowtube is clean through, and seats well with a medium amount of hemp (remember this is wood!). The reed seat is well milled and little hemp is needed to firmly seat the reed.
The plastic chanter is from McCallum Bagpipes of Kilmarnock, and has a nice smooth bore, the finger holes are tapered and appear (feel) the same as on a bagpipe chanter, it also has a well finished blowtube, and seats with only a little bit of hemp. The reed seat is well milled, and reeds seat easily with very little hemp.
I have found that my playing experience on both to be the same as far as the noise emitted. With a lot of wind from me, I can get sound to come out, that is not in tone with any known musical instrument. I have experienced very brief encounters with low G and low A. Many times the reed simply shuts tight as I try to move up the scale, or a really horrid screech comes out the end that sends my neighbours running. I now have a rodent and cat free area around my house.
For the record, I am not a piper, and do wish to learn, but the best suggestion is to find a tutor. I need to find one before I proceed any further as I do not want to learn bad playing methods. If anyone knows of a tutor in Boston, or nearby, I need to contact them. I do not have a set of pipes and will hold off purchasing them until I find a tutor that gets me through the chanter stage, and can recommend pipes that are suited to my playing. If the tutor recommends other than the chanters I currently own, the additional chanter will be invested in. The important thing to me is to learn how to play the pipes properly, and so that I can do so with enjoyment.
To play the pipes poorly will not only hurt me, but the reputation of the bagpipes to others, that would not be right.
Off soap box, end rant, breath deep.
Slainte

[ChromeScholar]

It's wood. The mouth piece, etc., are hard white plastic. They are threaded on, and the threads are wound with hemp, sort of like using plumbers tape on pipe threads. The finish is very nice. Everything fits nicely, and it appears to be smooth inside and out. It does seem to be hard to blow through, though, which doesn't seem right to me.

[JerseyLawyer]

My father recently gave me his PC, which he bought in the mid-80's as well, but in Scotland. It came in a black box inscribed with "Grainger & Campbell Ltd" and came with a book and cassette too. Mine does say "Made in Scotland" on it, so I'm assuming that it was. I didn't know Pakistan was making them back then.
My dad never played it, but it sounds pretty good, and the reed it came with is fine. My only complaint is that it's not a long chanter. It could be that you've got a decent one.

Grainger and Campbell is now out of business, but they were, in their day, one of the well known pipe makers. In fact, the set of full-mounted pipes I got from my father are Graingers.

[JerseyLawyer]

It's wood. The mouth piece, etc., are hard white plastic. They are threaded on, and the threads are wound with hemp, sort of like using plumbers tape on pipe threads. The finish is very nice. Everything fits nicely, and it appears to be smooth inside and out. It does seem to be hard to blow through, though, which doesn't seem right to me.

Not to be pedantic, but the teflon tape, if you use it, goes over the hemp. It's a replacement for using waxed yellow hemp for the outer layer.

For the record, I am not a piper, and do wish to learn, but the best suggestion is to find a tutor. I need to find one before I proceed any further as I do not want to learn bad playing methods. If anyone knows of a tutor in Boston, or nearby, I need to contact them. I do not have a set of pipes and will hold off purchasing them until I find a tutor that gets me through the chanter stage, and can recommend pipes that are suited to my playing. If the tutor recommends other than the chanters I cuurently own, the additional chanter will be invested in. The important thing to me is to learn how to play the pipes properly, and so that I can do so with enjoyment.

The Tuloch Ard pipe band in Boston was very good, and had a lot of quality players, but I don't know if they're still in existence. I'll ask around. I'm not too familiar with the other bands in the area so I can't recommend anyone, but again, I'll ask and let you know if I hear anything.

[Mr. Woolery]

I'm going to defend the Pakistani practice chanters, here. Conditionally. My first was a reddish wood import. Sound was decent, but not really fantastic. Still, the scale was good, the playability was decent, the reed was fine. I played that for almost two years before I stepped up to a poly chanter. Now I play an old blackwood chanter, which is a huge improvement in tone over the plastic.

If your ears pop when you blow the reed, it is too hard. Some reeds are poorly made and just don't work well. My teacher just got a new student whose chanter is good, but it had a really bad reed. Your best bet is to have a piper blow it. If you are used to a tin whistle, the chanter feels hard to blow. If you are used to blowing a bagpipe, a practice chanter is pretty easy. However, I would not think of it as easy, even with a fairly easy reed. It is possible to overblow the reeds and have them shut off while you are playing.

The best thing to do when getting a new reed is to sit down with a piper and have him dig out any old reeds he has for his practice chanters and try a few. Not all chanters are created equal. Some do well with one chanter, some with another.

If you don't want to play it, either give it to a pipe teacher as a way to get a deserving kid started or you can offer it to a local pipe band as a freebie they can give to a new piper.

-Patrick

[Derek Conley]

I have a question about practice chanters; I've heard that Dunbar polypenco practice chanters can be considered a little difficult to play properly.

This is the type of PC I'm starting with and I've never tried another as of yet. Can anyone here tell me if this is true (that being the Dunbar's are a tad difficult) or just a myth?