Scalloped vs non-scalloped?

[CJ DIXON]

I have been considering changing my chanter design to a slightly scalloped tone hole and I would appreciate a vote on what your particular preference is. Scalloping as a means for correcting specific note tuning issues should not be addressed here.

A vote "YES" would mean that you prefer a chanter with uniform scalloping because of the look/feel/style/ergonomics/ease of play.
A vote "NO" would mean you don't like the look/feel/style/ergonomics/ease of play of a scalloped chanter.

Thanks all,

Cheers,
CJ

[daveboling]

I had thought that scalloping was used as a tuning/voicing device rather than as a style. I have hole sealing/finger feel difficulty with both scollped chanters, and those where the front of the chanter has been flattened.

dave boling

[NicoMoreno]

Are you going to the Chris Langan weekend this year, CJ?

My new chanter is smoothed, but I would not call it scalloped. It is quite subtle. I tried another chanter on Sunday that felt like the holes had just been drilled. Very sharp edges, almost as if the holes were drilled and left at that..

[Joseph E. Smith]

Scalloped finger holes are a standard feature of Tim Britton's pipes, or so I believe. It is really a matter of taste or preference.

[texasbagpiper]

Scalloped finger holes are a standard feature of Tim Britton's pipes, or so I believe. It is really a matter of taste or preference.

http://www.facstaff.bucknell.edu/vanfleet/chanter2.jpg

[djm]

I have tried both designs, thinking that the scallops would help me find the tone holes easier (beginner's woes). Scallops do not help me, and got in the way with things like sliding on and off a note. I now prefer a non-scalloped design. I have also found that a fatter/wider chanter is easier to use than a narrow/skinny chanter. Time and experience have shown me that only practise can improve fingering the tone holes properly.

Your poll question is a bit ambiguous. I voted No for scalloped design for the sake of scalloped design. I agree that scalloping for tuning purposes may be necessary to correct design flaws.

djm

[Patrick D'Arcy]

I didn't bother to read the other replies... sorry

But anyway..... scalloping is a form of tuning and voicing, not an aesthetic feature.

Patrick.

[texasbagpiper]

I didn't bother to read the other replies... sorry

But anyway..... scalloping is a form of tuning and voicing, not an aesthetic feature.

Patrick.

I think this probably depends on the pipmaker, and could be argued endlessly... I've talked to pipemaker's who do use this as a aesthetic feature... For me I like both......

[CJ DIXON]

I agree that scalloping is one method used to tune specific notes out of balance but it can also be incorporated within the design of the chanter for ergonomic/cosmetic/style/ease of playability reasons as long as there are other dimensional compenations for the resulting chimney height reduction. You cannot take any chanter, and scallop the tone holes without drastic tuning consequences. As Joseph mentioned, Tim Britton, Marcus Coulter etc have such a design.

Thank you for your votes... keep them coming please.

Cheers,
CJ

[boyd]

ooopsss....double post




This one is plain, the other is scalloped

[tompipes]

It may be aestethic by default, only because it changes how the chanter looks. But, when you scallop a tone hole you are sharpening it too. And, it's not just a case of scalloping each hole an equal distance, 2mm eg. You have to have to take in bore dimensions and hole placement to have uniform scalloping.
Also, say you have a chanter thats bang on in tune with a great reed before you set out to scallop. Scallop away and low and behold, the chanter is now 10 cents sharp. do you redesign the lenght of the chanter or just lenghten the throat, or redesign the reed.
Complicated stuff this scalloping.
Tommy

[boyd]

Personally I like a bit of scalloping.
My first Rogge D chanter wasn't .....so I ordered a scalloped one but got used to the plain one while I waited.
When the scalloped chanter arrived it suited me well, and sounded great.

Cillian O'Briain chanters are seriously scalloped. Have a good friend who plays one....and I have had a shot of playing a couple of others. All sounded fantastic.

Ultimately, it shouldnt matter...plain or scalloped.....nice to have a choice, but as long as the thing is in tune, just get used to it, I would say!

Boyd


*****************************************************
".......don't listen to him...he wouldn't know the difference between a C roll and a ham roll......."

[boyd]

....oh, and the tuning of Herr Rogge's chanters, plain and scalloped, was bang on....

I guess, CJ, that when you perfect a design you just stick with it.

And it must be possible to have more than one design that will work, although I doubt whether all makers would want to offer that service.
If I could make a chanter well in one way, I wouldn't really want to be bothered spending years learning how to get it right in another design.

Boyd

*****************************************************
".......don't listen to him...he wouldn't know the difference between a C roll and a ham roll......."

[vanfleet]

CJ Dixon wrote:

I agree that scalloping is one method used to tune specific notes out of balance but it can also be incorporated within the design of the chanter for ergonomic/cosmetic/style/ease of playability reasons

This seems closest to the right idea to me. I find a Britton chanter "ergonomic" as well as esthetically pleasing. No problems covering tone holes, sliding notes, or any other technique just because the holes are scalloped; it all depends on what the player is used to and practices on.

However, with the exception of some chanters that seem to have a "flattened" back D area and rounded chanter face in front, I have never seen a chanter with only *some* of the holes scalloped. This would argue against the idea that pipe makers use scalloping to "tune specific notes." Instead, pipe makers would undercut the tone hole, working on the inside of the chimney. There have been several threads on that particular tuning technique.

I admit I may lack experience, does anyone have another perspective?

[texasbagpiper]

CJ Dixon wrote:

I agree that scalloping is one method used to tune specific notes out of balance but it can also be incorporated within the design of the chanter for ergonomic/cosmetic/style/ease of playability reasons

This seems closest to the right idea to me. I find a Britton chanter "ergonomic" as well as esthetically pleasing. No problems covering tone holes, sliding notes, or any other technique just because the holes are scalloped; it all depends on what the player is used to and practices on.

However, with the exception of some chanters that seem to have a "flattened" back D area and rounded chanter face in front, I have never seen a chanter with only *some* of the holes scalloped. This would argue against the idea that pipe makers use scalloping to "tune specific notes." Instead, pipe makers would undercut the tone hole, working on the inside of the chimney. There have been several threads on that particular tuning technique.



I admit I may lack experience, does anyone have another perspective?

I think your right on the money ...