Playing your pipes in tune

Uilleann Pipes
1

Here is a little paper I wrote a few years back. It might help some of you newbies.

Playing in Tune
By Patrick Sky

Let’s assume that you have a new chanter and it comes with a reed that, according to the maker, is a good reed. You strap the chanter on and some of the notes are sharp or flat. You then take the chanter to a good piper that you know and he plays the chanter, and it is in perfect pitch. He says that it is a very good chanter and reed. What is wrong? Most likely the problem is your inability to “control” the chanter. A new reed, in most cases, is not going to help you.
I have been playing the pipes for over 30 years and I have never found the perfect chanter/reed combination; that is, a chanter that plays in perfect tune in both octaves with only the slightest change in pressure. When I play my chanter it is in great tune and pitch. When Todd Denman plays my chanter at first it is not in good tune, but after a few minutes it “comes in”. Why is that? It is because some of the notes have to be forced to play in tune either by using a different fingering or by increasing or decreasing the pressure. Getting these “wild” notes in tune is what I mean by control. All master pipers know this.
For example, on most chanters the 2nd octave G is flat. I almost always force the note by lifting the chanter and applying more pressure.
Then there is the problem of the first octave E being sharp, and then flat in the 2nd octave. On most chanters one has to place a small piece of tape across the E hole to flatten the first octave and then lift the chanter off of the knee when ever the 2nd octave E is played. This produces an E note with a “whooping” sound; which adds color to the music; listen to Liam O’Flynn—almost all of his 2nd octave E’s have a “whoop” sound as he lifts the chanter. That is because Liam’s Rowsome chanter is flat in the 2nd octave E.
Next we have the 2nd octave A. If the hole for the A is large enough to produce an on pitch note by lifting the G and F# fingers, then the B will be sharp. Most pipemakers make the 2nd A note slightly flat so that the B will be in pitch. To bring in, and sharpen the A, simply play the A with the G finger down or sometimes with the F# finger down. You just have to practice this fingering until it feels natural.
The problem of the C natural being sharp has to be mastered by keeping your finger in contact with the chanter and “pointing” so that you half hole the C# note. This will produce a nice sliding effect and bring the C note into tune.
Finally, remember that the thumb hole D must be adjusted so that it will play with the same amount of pressure as the 2nd octave E.
As I said in the first paragraph, you must learn to “control” your playing or you will never play in tune. Every chanter is different so try moving your fingering around to locate the proper fingering and pressure of each individual note. By using different fingerings on my Kenna B chanter I can get 3 distinct A notes in the 1st octave (one being on pitch and 2 not on pitch) and the same for the F# in the 1st octave. This will seem like piping hell at first, but after a while you will get used to it and not even think about it.

2

I must be very lucky ,from the first day I got my chanter it played in tune without applying different pressures for different notes and a few friends have tried it without tuning probelms

RORY

3

This would drive most highland pipers absolutely batty!

:smiley:

4

my chanter plays nicely in tune without all this gubbins going on, and did so ‘out of the box’. Aren’t pipes hard enough to play without having to take these considerations into account?

5

It’s these very considerations that add to the difficulty and the frustrative (like, is that even a word? :laughing: ) factor of uilleann piping. :smiley: :wink:

Those who have no tuning issues with their concert pitched chanter are truly blessed individuals. :slight_smile:

6

I think in-tune is a realtive term. There are a multiple of tunings for a number of notes that will blend OK with the drones and sound melodically convincing. When you start to work on the regulators that really ups the ante. You really can tell that your G is a couple of cents off, or how about playing a 2nd 8ve B over the regs, or a f#m chord with your C# on top or Em with your 2nd 8ve E on top.

Seeing and hearing people like David Power, ,Jerry O’Sullivan and Ronan Browne tuniing their pipes before and during a concert, they are clearly aiming for a very high standard of tuning accuracy that delivers that fantastic sweet just intonation. Poster putty and tape seem to be essential aids.

7

Yes… or truly delusional :slight_smile:

No chanter+reed (and there’s no sense in talking of either in isolation) is ever perfectly in tune of course. I agree that the best players are finessing notes into tune all the time, especially when the regulators get thrown into the mix.

This shouldn’t be taken, IMO, as justification for having to manhandle every note into shape - the tuning ought to be nearly right to start with, so that it can be a matter of finesse rather than brute force.

8

I agree with billh, and the rest of you, no chanter is perfect, but major tuning issues, rather than minor ones should not be tolerated by pipe purchasers.

My pipes certainly did not like the English heatwave last summer, but I don’t have to half hole notes or strangle the bag to play in tune. This shouldn’t be mistaken for the normal change in preassure between each note on the chanter, which is fairly sutble on a good chanter.

9

I’ve noticed that particular chanter designs seem to have common tuning flaws. My concert D (based on a Bourke) doesn’t have any problems with flat 2nd 8ve G on any reeds I 've used but the 2nd 8ve E is tricky. My Coyne based narrow chanters have a great E but the 2nd 8ve G will play flat if the reed is a bit heavy.

There always seems to be a juggling act to balance the various tendencies of the chanter with the reed and the weather. I’ve found my D chanter handles low humidity better with shorter reed blades more closed then I bring the tuning in with a thin rush.