I am a whistle player and am considering learning Scottish small pipes. At present I play in a duo with my husband on guitar and occasionally a fiddle player too. Much of what we play in Scottish/Irish orientated plus original material. I am unsure whether I should go for pipes tuned in 'A' or 'D'. Personally I prefer the sould of 'A', but my husband thinks that 'D' would cut through better as they would be the main lead instrument. Also my hands are very small-I cannot play a low 'D' Overton whistle and I have read that 'A' chanter hole spacing may be difficult because of this! Can anyone offer any advice?!
I bought some Scottish smallpipes about 6 months ago. I have a set in A. The stretch on the chanter takes some getting used to. Its not like on a low whistle cos the spacing is uneven between the first 2 and second 2 fingers of the lower hand. Its like you have to seperate them. I had to sit in front of a mirror until I got it right. The bellows co-ordination isn't too bad but I'm finding it hard to keep my arm against the bag straight without moving my shoulder too much on that side.
The fingering is like highland pipes and that means there's a hole on the back - it does take a while not to slip into whistle fingering
I think with either set A or D you are limited cos its only 1 octave but I've found loads of tunes to play that fit with other instruments in the band. Get the book "More Power to your elbow" that has a tutorial CD Rom with it.
I like the lower tone of the A set and as I said altho it takes a while to get the fingering its getting better each day. The music reading is a bit wierd cos you automatically want to do a different fingering ie when you see A you want to do whistle A fingering etc but then realise its a D fingering! Better to play by ear.
You can practice quietly by bunging up the drones to start with with some blu tack - the bag takes less puff that way with the bellows
While I am a piper (Highland and scottish small), and then picked up the low whistle for fun , I'll speak from my experience...
I play a combination A/D set of smallpipes. I rarely play in the key of D, even when I'm playing with other musicians. The spacing on most D chanters is closer than tight and it 's high tone often pierces through the sound of other instruments. The A chanter, on the other hand, falls a little better in the range of most ceilidh or session tunes and has the added benefit of sitting a little easier on my fingers.
Once and a while when I'm playing a set of tunes with a C natural with a filddler I'll tape of the third hole (from the bottom) a bit so as to bring the C# down to a C. The same goes with the G# to an G on the A chanter if don't want to bother switching to the D chanter.
I play regularly with a guy who plays an A set & to me, they sound just right. He has tried a D chanter & finds the holes too close for comfort & the sound too shrill. - fraid that's all I've got....................
One further thing to consider is that the D chanter makes the pipes a transposing instrument. This doesn't pose any problems for the guitar, but if the fiddler knows common pipe tunes, the chances are that they will play them in A or related keys. Thus to play along with the D chanter the fiddler needs to be able to transpose - this is probably just shifting the tunes up or down a string, but it introduces an extra complication. If you then start playing with other musicians, you need to ask them to transpose as well, which may or may not be simple...
If it's just you, your husband and the fiddler, and the latter is happy to transpose, the D chanter will definitely cut through and sound great - have a listen to Iain Macinnes' playing if you can, particularly on the Smalltalk album - that's the combination they had. Otherwise, if you want to be flexible, you may better off with an A chanter. If you can afford the extra, an A/D combination set (2 interchangeable chanters and a set of 4 drones) might be worth thinking about.
Hole spacing might be a consideration for you, but the chanter is easier than low whistle, and you are using a different grip and fingering anyway, so it's not as bad as it may appear.
I think A would be the best to go for as much of the GHB repertoire heard at sessions will fit on your chanter.
Check out http://thesession.org/tunes/display.php/33 this tune goes really nicely on pipes; just shift the first 6 bars of the A part up an octave, tidy up and Robert is very much your Mothers Brother.
Scottish Small Pipes - Which Key?!
Scottish Small Pipes - Which Key?!
I am a whistle player and am considering learning Scottish small pipes. At present I play in a duo with my husband on guitar and occasionally a fiddle player too. Much of what we play in Scottish/Irish orientated plus original material. I am unsure whether I should go for pipes tuned in 'A' or 'D'. Personally I prefer the sould of 'A', but my husband thinks that 'D' would cut through better as they would be the main lead instrument. Also my hands are very small-I cannot play a low 'D' Overton whistle and I have read that 'A' chanter hole spacing may be difficult because of this! Can anyone offer any advice?!
# Posted on September 21st 2005 by madmusicians
Re: Scottish Small Pipes - Which Key?!
I bought some Scottish smallpipes about 6 months ago. I have a set in A. The stretch on the chanter takes some getting used to. Its not like on a low whistle cos the spacing is uneven between the first 2 and second 2 fingers of the lower hand. Its like you have to seperate them. I had to sit in front of a mirror until I got it right. The bellows co-ordination isn't too bad but I'm finding it hard to keep my arm against the bag straight without moving my shoulder too much on that side.
The fingering is like highland pipes and that means there's a hole on the back - it does take a while not to slip into whistle fingering
I think with either set A or D you are limited cos its only 1 octave but I've found loads of tunes to play that fit with other instruments in the band. Get the book "More Power to your elbow" that has a tutorial CD Rom with it.
I like the lower tone of the A set and as I said altho it takes a while to get the fingering its getting better each day. The music reading is a bit wierd cos you automatically want to do a different fingering ie when you see A you want to do whistle A fingering etc but then realise its a D fingering! Better to play by ear.
You can practice quietly by bunging up the drones to start with with some blu tack - the bag takes less puff that way with the bellows
Good Luck!
Sarah (oh god my secret is out now!!!!)
# Posted on September 21st 2005 by Sarah the Flute
Re: Scottish Small Pipes - Which Key?!
I way prefer the sound of Pipes in D. The fingering isn't too bad.
# Posted on September 22nd 2005 by Unseen122
Re: Scottish Small Pipes - Which Key?!
While I am a piper (Highland and scottish small), and then picked up the low whistle for fun , I'll speak from my experience...
I play a combination A/D set of smallpipes. I rarely play in the key of D, even when I'm playing with other musicians. The spacing on most D chanters is closer than tight and it 's high tone often pierces through the sound of other instruments. The A chanter, on the other hand, falls a little better in the range of most ceilidh or session tunes and has the added benefit of sitting a little easier on my fingers.
Once and a while when I'm playing a set of tunes with a C natural with a filddler I'll tape of the third hole (from the bottom) a bit so as to bring the C# down to a C. The same goes with the G# to an G on the A chanter if don't want to bother switching to the D chanter.
# Posted on September 22nd 2005 by hiharin83
Re: Scottish Small Pipes - Which Key?!
Is your A chanter in Ionian then and not Mix? Interesting.
# Posted on September 22nd 2005 by wormdiet
Re: Scottish Small Pipes - Which Key?!
I play regularly with a guy who plays an A set & to me, they sound just right. He has tried a D chanter & finds the holes too close for comfort & the sound too shrill. - fraid that's all I've got....................
# Posted on September 22nd 2005 by Ptarmigan
Re: Scottish Small Pipes - Which Key?!
One further thing to consider is that the D chanter makes the pipes a transposing instrument. This doesn't pose any problems for the guitar, but if the fiddler knows common pipe tunes, the chances are that they will play them in A or related keys. Thus to play along with the D chanter the fiddler needs to be able to transpose - this is probably just shifting the tunes up or down a string, but it introduces an extra complication. If you then start playing with other musicians, you need to ask them to transpose as well, which may or may not be simple...
If it's just you, your husband and the fiddler, and the latter is happy to transpose, the D chanter will definitely cut through and sound great - have a listen to Iain Macinnes' playing if you can, particularly on the Smalltalk album - that's the combination they had. Otherwise, if you want to be flexible, you may better off with an A chanter. If you can afford the extra, an A/D combination set (2 interchangeable chanters and a set of 4 drones) might be worth thinking about.
Hole spacing might be a consideration for you, but the chanter is easier than low whistle, and you are using a different grip and fingering anyway, so it's not as bad as it may appear.
Good luck!
# Posted on September 22nd 2005 by niallanderson
Re: Scottish Small Pipes - Which Key?!
That Smalltalk album's very nice - Iain's album "Tryst" is also very good.
# Posted on September 22nd 2005 by Ron P
Re: Scottish Small Pipes - Which Key?!
I think A would be the best to go for as much of the GHB repertoire heard at sessions will fit on your chanter.
Check out http://thesession.org/tunes/display.php/33 this tune goes really nicely on pipes; just shift the first 6 bars of the A part up an octave, tidy up and Robert is very much your Mothers Brother.
PP
# Posted on September 22nd 2005 by Pied Piper