They feel lighter to me then my GHB. It looks very big and heavy, but the wood used isn't very heavy. They weigh just over 2 kilo's (about 75 ounces). I don't know how much GHB's weigh, but I think around 3 kilo's (110 ounces). When I play them it doesn't feel as heavy on my shoulder as my GHB.
The drones are the same lenght as GHB's (just one tenor 'missing') and the chanter is a bit longer.

If you think these look heavy you should have a look at other medieval pipes Jens makes at www.dudelsackwerkstatt.de - there's some really heavy stuff there! (iron nails, dragon heads and 9" drone bells etc)

Scoutcow, what fingering does that mediaeval pipe use? Is it similar fingering to the gaita gallega?
Here's more of mine, my gaita gallega in buxo:

and here's my gaida with four gaidanitsi in four keys (do, re, fa, sol, keynotes G, A, C, and D) with extra drone sections so that the drone can play various notes:

and here's the double NSP by Denny Hall out of blackwood with real ivory. It's brilliant: due to the closed nature of the NSP, you can finger this thing exactly like an ordinary NSP and it will sound exactly like an ordinary NSP. But whenever you choose you can play both chanters for harmony. It's in the key of D and has a high E key.

It uses completely open fingering and for the high G and high A you have to put your top middle finger on.

That's one fascinating little NSP Panceltic:
Shades of Musette de Court!
Can ya manage any Boismortier on that?

Htt

I have forgotten one of my favourite bagpipes:

German Schäeferpfeife by Thorsten Stoye in G/c: Plumwood, Imitiation Horn Rings (an important error: I don´t like plastics on bagpipes, but I made the order in my beginner stage, when I did´t know a lot of things of the bagpipe world), Leather Bag. Believe me, this bagpipe sounds really really GOOOOOD!!!

<a href="http://s254.photobucket.com/albums/hh84/LuifeSpain/?action=view¤t=Dudelsack1.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i254.photobucket.com/albums/hh84/LuifeSpain/Dudelsack1.jpg" border="0" alt="Schäeferpfeife 1"></a>

<a href="http://s254.photobucket.com/albums/hh84/LuifeSpain/?action=view¤t=Dudelsack3.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i254.photobucket.com/albums/hh84/LuifeSpain/Dudelsack3.jpg" border="0" alt="Schäeferpfeife 2"></a>

Great gaitas!!!

When you say "open fingering" and "closed fingering", do you mean:
open fingering = Galician
x xxx xooo
x xxx ooxo
x xxo ooxo etc
closed fingering = Asturian
x xxx xoxo
x xxx oxxo
x xxo xxxo etc

At least that's my (limited) understanding of them.

Well, the information that you say is correct, but I´m not talking about the "asturian closed fingering". I´m talking about the "Galician Closed fingering":

Open fingering in Galicia is a modern thing, and it´s adopted for play with clarinets (they use open fingering). In the process for get a chromatic scale, the closed fingering was not the best thing for get half-tones, so galician people adopted another fingering (the open fingering) more versatile for the chromatic labor.

Anyway, the closed fingering is the most ancient fingering in the world of bagpipes. Try to find an open fingering in the old world of bagpipes: it´s very difficult. In Galicia, the closed fingering was the antique form for play the bagpipes, like in Asturias, the difference is that Asturian bagpipes continue this tradition, and the Galician Bagpipes adopted the open fingering (most of them, but you can find a lot of old bagpipers that still use the closed fingering). Now you can find a closed-fingering revival in Galicia, because the good job of modern luthiers can get a closed fingering chanter with a chromatic guaranty.

The questions are: is the asturian closed fingering the same as galician closed fingering? Can we find only one galician closed fingering?

To the firts question, we can say that it´s not the same thing, but quite similar. The differences are in the FA# note fingering (talking in D major scale):

Asturian:


xxx xox o FA#
x

Galician:

xxx xoo o FA#
x

xxx xox x FA#
x

Also there are differences in the DO # note fingering:

Asturian:

xoo xxx o DO#
o

Galician:

ooo xxx o DO#
x


Also there are diferences in the DO note fingering:

Asturian:

ooo xxx o DO
x


Galician:

oxo xxx o DO
x

And of course, there are differences in the method for get half-tones, but this is not a traditional problem because ancient bagpipers usually plays only in major scales. Minor scale tunes are a very modern invent.


To the second question, we can use the same answer like the "traditional model of Galician bagpipe topic". You can find in Galicia three closed fingerings at least.

1.- Closed fingering of first type. Pontevedra zone (this fingering is collected in the book "Casto Sampedro")

xxx xxx x DO
x


xxx xxx o RE
x


xxx xxo o MI
x


xxx xox x FA#
x


xxx oxx x SOL
x


xxo xxx x LA
x


xoo xxx x SI
x


ooo xxx x DO#
x


xxx xxx o RE`
o



2.- Closed fingering: Melide zone (this fingering is very popular in the four-voiced bagpipes, or bagpipes with bass drone, tenor drone and double reed drone, where the tenor drone and the double-reed drone are fitted in a "V" form common stock.

xxx xxx x DO
x


xxx xxx o RE
x


xxx xxo o MI
x


xxx xoo o FA#
x


xxx oxx o SOL
x


xxo xxx o LA
x


xoo xxx o SI
x


ooo xxx o DO#
x


xxx xxx o RE`
o


3.- Closed fingering: Mixture (you can use the FA# note in closed or open version, acording to some ergonomic musical rules)

xxx xxx x DO
x


xxx xxx o RE
x


xxx xxo o MI
x


xxx xoo o FA# (Open Version)
x

xxx xox x FA # (Closed Version)
o

xxx oxx o SOL
x


xxo xxx o LA
x



xoo xxx o SI
x

ooo xxx o DO#
x

oxx xxx o RE`
x

ooo xxx o RE`
o

oox xxx o RE`
o

xxx xxx o RE`
o


In this post I have attached the last bagpipe picture of my collection. You can see my Gaita Tumbal in B with closed fingering chanter, made by my friend Diego Piñeiro from Santiago de Compostela (He also makes Xeremias from Mallorca, Galician Clarinets and other stuff): Boxwood, Brass and Cocobolo rings. Boxwood incrustations.Goat bag. Loud drone and loud double-reed drone. This bagpipe is like the old ones which are used in Pontevedra.

<a href="http://s254.photobucket.com/albums/hh84/LuifeSpain/?action=view¤t=DSC01224.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i254.photobucket.com/albums/hh84/LuifeSpain/DSC01224.jpg" border="0" alt="Gaita de Diego 1"></a>

You can see here that chanter and little-drone (Ronquillo, Pieiro or Chillón) are using double-reeds. Ronquillo is a chanter who always plays the same note (the fifth):

<a href="http://s254.photobucket.com/albums/hh84/LuifeSpain/?action=view¤t=DSC01225.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i254.photobucket.com/albums/hh84/LuifeSpain/DSC01225.jpg" border="0" alt="Gaita de Diego 2"></a>

_________________
"Uno a uno, todos somos mortales; juntos, somos eternos." Francisco de Quevedo y Villegas (1580-1645)

Boxwood incrustations in Cocobolo rings:

<a href="http://s254.photobucket.com/albums/hh84/LuifeSpain/?action=view¤t=DSC01226.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i254.photobucket.com/albums/hh84/LuifeSpain/DSC01226.jpg" border="0" alt="Gaita de Diego 3"></a>

A poor change of the "scottish process" of Galician Bagpipes for Bands is that the Ronquillo don´t use anymore double-reed. Modern ronquillos uses single reed, and don´t play the fifth, only play the tonic

Luife

_________________
"Uno a uno, todos somos mortales; juntos, somos eternos." Francisco de Quevedo y Villegas (1580-1645)

Great sets LuifeSpain! You should make a recording of the German Schäeferpfeife.

Thanks friend! You are the only person who have post a comment to my bagpipe collection

Send me your e-mail and I will send a Schäeferpfeife recording

Luife

_________________
"Uno a uno, todos somos mortales; juntos, somos eternos." Francisco de Quevedo y Villegas (1580-1645)

Wow, such wonderful photographs. Thanks to all who sent them; I enjoyed looking at them and learning about the various types. I was going to post a photo of my Dunbar P3s, but that would be like taking a Toyota to a classic car show.

Here are some detailed pictures of my medieval bagpipe.
The complete bagpipe with all its parts:


Chanter with reed and stock:



Blowpipe with valve and stock:



Drones with reeds and stocks:


Drones:


Drone parts with cork:


Tenor drone top:


Bass drone top:


Chanter bottom:


Chanter holes:




Plastic chanter reed:


Stock inside:



How the stocks are 'tied in'



Plug for the tenor drone:


Complete bagpipe:


It can stand on its bass drone after playing:

I thought I might put up a picture of my 'bush' SSP's. We go camping often and take a few instruments with us, so I made up these SSP's to be a little more durable and 'less precious' than stay at home pipes. The chanter is beefwood, but bag, reeds, stocks and drones are all plastic, mainly delrin. I really enjoy going away with them!

_________________
So good it has to be a SYN!