My new Scottish Doublepipes

[pancelticpiper]

I just love playing these things!

I had a set of Julian Goodacre Cornish Doublepipes but I really wanted something that used normal Scottish fingering.

Here's a prototype of what I'm after, two Gibson chanters (some of the holes plugged) in a custom stock, blowpipe, and bag by our very own Yuri.

I went with Gibson chanters both because of the way they play, full and free-blowing, and because there's a plentiful local supply of Gibson reeds.

This last is extemely important in a doublepipe. I was able to try around 40 reeds and I found a pair which were perfectly matched in strength, volume, pitch, and timbre. The result is a smooth sound as the melody switches from one chanter to the other, and a very forgiving beast.

Here's a quick YouTube video I did yesterday:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m4lw8-3Jf9w

In that bit of a jig I first play it with a fixed A drone, then on the repeat leave open the lower fingers for a cool harmony effect. I'm just now exploring a load of tunes I already play and sometimes they lend themselves to the doulbepipes treatment and sometimes they don't.

[Ciarameddaru]

Very nice. They have a relaxing mellow sound. The fact you have access to a large reed stash is a big plus. I have been struggling to make a pair of reeds for my double chanter droneless Amatrice zampogna that react the same under pressure and have the same volume etc.

Have you considered tying in a drone to the bag? Also you could try different fingerings so that you have some overlapping notes between the chanters like many of the double chantered Italian pipes do. This would obviously limit your overall range however, but when you have the overlapping notes you can do lots of little tricks to the listener's ear.

Cool experiment.

[pancelticpiper]

The note layout of Italian pipes is a mystery to me.

I just wanted something that would use normal Scottish fingering (that I've been using for 35 years) so I don't have to think about it.

The problem is that you only get two nice thirds: C#-E and D-F#.

The lower-hand melody notes Low G, Low A, B, C#, and D are simply heard over a fixed A drone. If you harmonise them with upper-hand notes, the listener perceives the higher notes to be the melody.

The upper-hand melody notes E and F# can have thirds under them.

The upper-hand notes High G and High A must have more distant notes, fourths or fifths or sixths. Both can have octaves too.

With such limitations it's sort of surprising how good the harmonies can sound.

[Yuri]

If you have another PC, you could try an alternative to the LH chanter, with one more hole, controlled by the little finger, left open. I know, it's unusual to use the LH little finger, but you get used to it really quickly. You wouldn not need to relearn anything, as all the rest of the fingering stays the same.
(What I mean is, another hole left open under the little finger.)

[Ciarameddaru]

Basic Chanter Set up for equal length Italian pipes:

Left (bass) chanter:
C-D-E-F-G

Right Chanter:
E-F-G-A-Bb-C <---- The C is a thumb note.

Drone: C

Note that the E, F, and G are overlapping notes. The C on the bass chanter is an octave lower than that on the right. So between the two chanters you have an 8 note scale from the 5th to the 5th. F being the tonic note. This is how my Sicilian pipe is set up.

An alternate tuning found in parts of Sicily and Amatrice is that the Bb is a normal B, which creates the effect of a sharp 4th. The C being the 5th note of the scale. This is how my Sicilian pipe was originally tuned, but I wax down the 4th to play the Bb which is a bit more of a conventional modern sound.

The Amatrice pipe has no drone and the pinkie note of the right chanter is not used so it would just be F-G-A-B-C. (though realistically it would be tuned a couple steps lower in Amatrice.)
http://www.youtube.com/user/dmarker21?f ... 4BdUHHHcfI

[pancelticpiper]

If you have another PC, you could try an alternative to the LH chanter, with one more hole, controlled by the little finger, left open. I know, it's unusual to use the LH little finger, but you get used to it really quickly. You wouldn not need to relearn anything, as all the rest of the fingering stays the same.
(What I mean is, another hole left open under the little finger.)

I'm not sure I understand. The current hole arrangement I'm using is

o ooo xxxo
x xxx oooo

And maybe what you're saying is

o ooo oxxo
x xxx oooo

So if using normal GHB fingering (that upperhand pinkie staying up) the lowerhand notes would all be accompanied by a D drone, not an A drone. But putting the upperhand pinkie down would switch the drone to A. Sounds like, with practice, the piper could play the alternating tonic/dominant drone heard in some eastern European piping, though that's usally done by the lowerhand pinkie on it's own dedicated bore, playing the tonic in unison with the chanter's lowest note, and the 4th below, the "counterdrone".

[Piper984]

Holy cow, that is one of the coolest things I've seen in a while! Thanks for postinig the video!

I'm off to stick two PC's together, and rig up a stock for my smallpipes.

Regards,

Chris McLennan

[Yuri]

I was just inattentive. I thought the drone is the one between the chanters, the D, with one more fingerhole permanently open under the left hand pinkie. Well, in this case if you do open the hole under the pinkie, that will give you another third. The B-D. But you will need to retrain your left pinkie to close down to get the A drone. Which basically mean you'd need to play with the left pinkie permanently clamped dow, only being open when playing thirds with the rigt hand.

[pancelticpiper]

I just posted another video, the Christmas Carol Adeste Fideles (O Come All Ye Faithful).

It's cool when a descant line can be discovered which works as harmony, in this case a descending then ascending run D C# B A B C# D played on the low hand while the upper hand is playing the melody of the second phrase.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l8MDtCMlPRQ

[Impempe]

Wonderful clip - thanks for sharing. You say that you have got Gibson chanters attached to a customized stock. Are they gibson fireside chanters and if so what key are they in. The reeds that you have are they synthetic? Do you think that this arrangement would work with GHB chanters and GHB reeds. I feel a bit of experimenting coming on...

[pancelticpiper]

Are they gibson fireside chanters and if so what key are they in.

The reeds that you have are they synthetic?

Do you think that this arrangement would work with GHB chanters and GHB reeds.

The chanters are Gibson long practice chanters. I don't know if the bore and reed he uses for them is any different than his "fireside" or "ceilidh" chanters.

The reeds Gibson makes for his long practice chanters aren't the traditional practice chanter style, long and narrow, but rather Northumbrian Smallpipe style, short and wide. A Gibson long practice chanter with a Gibson reeds produces a thing that plays more like a smallpipe chanter than a practice chanter.

It would be, I imagine, extremely difficult to do this with GHBs. For one thing, you would have to blow enough wind to blow two GHB chanters. Then there's the tuning issue, as even two reeds which are well matched probably won't warm up and cool off exactly together. I imagine you'd have to spend more time tuning than playing.

That's what's great about this thing I made: with its well-matched plastic reeds it stays in tune all the time and I never have to mess with reeds or tape. I can just pick it up and play.

[Impempe]

Thanks - as I have 2 (a few) ghb chanters, I was going to give it a go but as you say, it is probably too ambitious. perhaps I will put two practice chanters together and give it a go just to see how it sounds and plays. I have a set of shepherd small pipes and I guess the chanter would work with a second one - thanks for the info, I am looking forward to giving it a go!

[bhodaich]

Fantastic sound !!!!!! Thanks for sharing

[pancelticpiper]

Two more clips of this Beast.

First is a couple Scottish 4/4 marches The City Of Hastings Pipe Band and Wings followed by Thorton's Jig.

These tunes all share a melodic feature which works great on these things, when the melody goes C# to E or D to F#, or has the phrase C# E C# or D F# D and you can leave the bottom hand open for a cool building harmony.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n0md2m57tOw

And here's the old standard Skye Boat Song going into an Irish reel. On Skye Boat, in the first part where the melody lies on the low hand, there's nothing much I can do harmony-wise. In the second part though where the melody lies on the high hand I can do a cool descant part with the low hand.

On the reel it's effective simply changing the drone note from D to C# under the tune especially in the second part where the tune lies entirely on the high hand.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t6pyos8VFBs