What Bagpipes CAN sound like!

[@pemacal57]

1st and 2nd are good clips, and I say that because our Chanter reeds must be tamed, and this is not a quick thing, Chanter sounds good in both videos, even drones…to my humble opinion.

[@KyleBantaMusic]

I absolutely agree that 'taming' reeds is not a quick thing; in fact, it's quite opposite. Pipers who attempt to reduce the break-in period often experience issues down the road compared to letting the reed break-in naturally through moisture-absorption alone.

[@markjackson6502]

Thanks for video. Any tips are useful at my stage. I transitioned to pipes five months ago. Still keep up with PC. You’d think the blowing and squeezing the bag would be automatic by now. It is not. I see another reason why this great instrument takes such a long time to play.

[@KyleBantaMusic]

Cheers! I wouldn't get discouraged after 5 months, just be patient. Everyone's adjustment time will vary. No, blowing and squeezing the bag is a skill that takes time to learn. Just ensure that you are not playing a chanter reed that is too hard. Keep at it and you will succeed!

[@markjackson6502]

@@KyleBantaMusic Thank you.

[@adamwiggins9865]

Bands are gonna start going back to the lower pitch tho. The trend has gone too far.. the high hand has lost a lot of the volume I’m betting in 10 years it’ll come back down. Did you put a decent reed into the older chanter? I think you should have done four clips.. untuned and tuned for both setups. We’re you using ridge cut reeds or finished reeds in these tests??

[@KyleBantaMusic]

It's a theory I've heard on and off in the past few years. Hard to say what will happen with pitch, whether it will keep rising or eventually begin to drop. To be honest, I dont remember what kind or quality of reed I had in the older chanter. It wasn't squealing and didnt sound that bad, so I dont think it was that bad of a reed. That's a fair point on the setups. That's definitely a comparison I can do in the future. I typically use ridge cut rather than finished reeds, so I'm assuming that's what I had in the chanter then (again, I dont remember specifics from this video).

[@michaelgillespie1206]

I bought my Peter Hendersons new thirteen years ago and since then I bought a set of R.G Hardie's that's about fifty years old. I still haven't learned to play, I kept my gear boxed up for a number of years and wasn't even playing on the practice chanter, now I'm getting my gear out and trying to pick up where I left off, I hope I don't have so much trouble with my reeds now. I have noticed how the pitch has been climbing in the competition circuit, that's one of the reasons I got my older pipes with it's original blackwood chanter, that and it has pumpkin mounts, another feature I wanted, in closing, I'd just say that I try to stay away from a screeching high A, I look at the bagpipe as a musical instrument, not a noise maker.

[@KyleBantaMusic]

@@michaelgillespie1206 everyone seems to have a different perception of what high A should sound like. I personally prefer a high A that has a slight crow on high A.

[@michaelgillespie1206]

@@KyleBantaMusic yes, it should have a slight crow, but sometimes we hear a hideous screech.