Hello all,
I’m having a chanter made, and I was wanting to see other people’s opinions on the back D hole being scalloped, or not at all. Ultimately it’s down to personal preferance… As I said though, I’d like to hear other people’s opinions on this, so chime in please! 
I’m by no mean’s experienced, but I’ve found it much easier to do back D triplets with a scalloped hole. It’s also more comfortable to hold the chanter for me.
Bruce Childress told me that he does this as a matter of course on his chanters for that reason.
Well, if its a new chanter ie you’re going to have it made for you:
First,
Then
2) you find a maker who’ll make you one exactly like that
Then
3) you order it and specify exactly what you would like.
If the scalloping question has been an unexpected one, you would want to try chanters by that maker, some with and some without a scalloped back D then choose your preference.
Scalloping, or lack thereof, on the back d is an integral part of a chanter design. Most concert pitch designs require scalloping on the back d as a matter of course.
You can’t just choose to scallop or not, without a redesign of the chanter. So most makers will tell you what degree of scalloping there is on the back d, not vice-versa.
Well, I’ve found a chanter I like playing, and I’ve already ordered from the maker, who, told me that he’s found no difference either way reguarding back D… and told me it’s up to me how I’d like the back D made. I’m not willing just yet to put names out in public, but if one were to converse via PM with me about this I’d be glad to do so.
Chimney height is critical, especially for back d. If the maker has worked out a way of keeping chimney heights the same for scalloped/non-scalloped (basically this requires different chanter diameters at the top), then it could be made to work. But different chimney-heights mean very different acting chanters… Perhaps the word “scalloped” is being used in a different way here or by this maker?
Bill
I’ve done them both ways- it’s really just a matter of preference.
i’ve never noticed that it made any difference in the way the chanter
played. Normally when I do scallop the back D I make it so that it’s
scalloped a bit off center so that there’s more material removed from
the side your thumb comes in from. For a lefty I do it the opposite
way.
There it is straight from horse’s mouth. As far as I can tell, we’re both on the same page with the word “scalloped”. 
I agree with you Bill…I was taking it that the pipemaker in question had 2 chanter designs…
one to accomodate scalloping and one to do it without scalloping.
Different matter if its the same chanter regardless of the scalloping.
In any case, I still think its personal preference, and always a good idea to ask for whatever you’ve already tried out, liked and found to be “right” for you…assuming tone and tuning arent compromised.
B
As I said in a couple of PMs, there’s some latitude for adding “scalloping” to a design if the chanter is made larger at the top - same chimney height in the end. Also I should acknowledge that there are cases where a maker has scalloped an existing design of theirs without harm - or where a maker has scalloped one of their previous works with good effect, in order to bring it closer to a new, “improved” design. The point is that there’s bound to be some effect, not necessarily a good one, and the maker is surely the one person who ought to be doing this sort of modification if it’s done at all. Most aftermarket scalloping isn’t done by the maker, and it can produce disastrous results.
Bill