trumpet or box?

revjeep · Post by **revjeep** » Thu Oct 11, 2007 8:13 am

So I am wondering, what do you prefer and why? Trumpet or Box for your bass drone?

Patrick D'Arcy · Post by **Patrick D'Arcy** » Thu Oct 11, 2007 9:17 am

Box / puck... because the trumpet looks totally gay..... not that there's anythi......

PD.

No E · Post by **No E** » Thu Oct 11, 2007 9:22 am

What a relief, I thought this was going to be a thread about accordions and bugles.

I have to go with the puck, unless the trumpet is on a "straight" drone

No E

magroibin · Post by **magroibin** » Thu Oct 11, 2007 9:23 am

Trumpet or box doesn't really matter to me much. My Bass drones swing both ways.

(Oh great...this is how rumours get started!

)

waymer · Post by **waymer** » Thu Oct 11, 2007 9:29 am

Puck yeah, Certainly one thing that distinguishes the pipes from any other musical instrument is the end of a bass drone. Let the other musical instruments have the flare.

lordofthestrings · Post by **lordofthestrings** » Thu Oct 11, 2007 10:22 am

Pucks for me until they make something sexier...

mayo_piper · Post by **mayo_piper** » Thu Oct 11, 2007 12:18 pm

Even when I played Warpipes I always enjoyed a deep powerful bass so when I heard that the puck gives a stronger , louder tone over then trumpet - there was no question for me.

billh · Post by **billh** » Thu Oct 11, 2007 4:46 pm

mayo_piper wrote:Even when I played Warpipes I always enjoyed a deep powerful bass so when I heard that the puck gives a stronger , louder tone over then trumpet - there was no question for me.

I wouldn't say that the puck has any (positive) effect on loudness or strength of the tone. It does effect the tonal quality somewhat. Seems to act mostly as a filter, producing what to my ear is a bit of a "machinelike" quality to the sound.

Recently I have come to the conclusion that I prefer the "un-pucked" sound.

(Of course the 'puck' need not be hollow, therefore it need not sound any different from a trumpet. Many of the old pucks were solid.)

Best regards,

Bill

Ceann Cromtha · Post by **Ceann Cromtha** » Thu Oct 11, 2007 5:05 pm

For what it's worth, as PJ pointed out a few months ago, Nick Whitmer's trumpet-style end for the bass drone is hollow, like most pucks. I have a set of his compact drones for my Hillmann chanter and they sound great. (Although I do very much prefer the look of the puck, like on my Childress drones, which also sound great, but different -- more machine-like, as BillH notes.)

Joseph E. Smith · Post by **Joseph E. Smith** » Thu Oct 11, 2007 5:31 pm

I like the box, for pucks sake.

Patrick D'Arcy · Post by **Patrick D'Arcy** » Fri Oct 12, 2007 8:52 am

Thanks for the clarification Bill. I should do the same now... I like a solid puck

PD.

pudinka · Post by **pudinka** » Fri Oct 12, 2007 9:23 am

I personally like a well-hollowed puck, but i'd think a larger tulip-shape would also work well. The hollow seems to cut out the amplified "raspiness" of the reed to me, making the tone more pure, and less "buzzy"... a refined flatulence vs. a crude flatulence sound and it seems to drop the pitch a bit too. I've read that the final vent hole is supposed to be a little smaller than the adjacent bore and perhaps that is part of the effect but I imagine there is more to it.

Imaine that, you can'e even type f-a-r-t without it being censored automatically. I am a very pleasant pheasant mother plucker. I've plucked many fine mother pheasants.

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trumpet or box?

trumpet or box?

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