Ok folks I just havent yet developed the good ear for tuning ny chanter and was hoping you folks could lead me in the direction of the best tuning device outside my ear.
Thanks
Outside your own, the best would be someone else who’s ear you trust.
Marc
Although developing your own ear is very important, sometimes a small electronic tuner can be useful (Korg makes a fairly inexpensive one that works well). Keep in mind, though, that most tuners are calibrated for equal temperament, which is a useful system for a classical violinist but not so useful for an uilleann piper. It’s a good point of reference, but keep in mind that if your chanter is going to sound good with your drones (i.e., all the harmonics resonating together), you ideally want it tuned to “just intonation,” which is a little different from tempered tuning…To put it a simpler way: when you’re tuning your chanter, make sure that the bottom D and back D are in tune with each other, and that the lower-octave A is in tune with both Ds. If you know that these are in tune, it becomes easier to hear other notes that are “out” as you play up and down the scale.
Cheers,
Dan
Hi , if you want to use a chromatic tuner you’ll need to tune some of the notes flat to get “just intonation” tuning. At least thats what I’ve read. If you download the file on the MSN group, Irish Uillean Pipes, “A Handbook for Uillean Pipers” and check page 15, Tuning Devices, you’ll find a conversion table. You can also download a reed making guide. Both the files are also
available from http://www.swaup.org
Cheers, Mac
hi folks-i’ve almost finished tuning the square chanter i’m making, just need to bring bottom d up 20 cents. i used a digital tuner, and in addition to a conversion table for just and equal temper found the following useful http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/hbase/music/cents.html#c1
-taking sharp tools to your first chanter really is scary though isn’t it? i assume it gets more comfortable when one knows a bit more about it 
Great responses…My wife has a Korg and I get no reading when i place it on the chanter..It will only fit on the very bottom…any sugestions here? sometimes I can get a reading by placing on the table within a foot of the chanter but It is not real responsive.
I have a Korg bells and whistles that cost loads, but it was part of my ex gf’s belongings that found their way into my possession 
It will play notes over 3 scales, has 2 sensitivity settings and can be calibrate heavily either side of 440. etc., etc.,
But… I only use 1 note, and that is A. (or the equivalent if doing Flat sets). I’ve seen people sitting with tuners worrying over a few cents here n there over the scale and missed the opportunity to actually play a tune. (I believe there is an old saying “You would be as long tuning your pipes as another would be playing a tune”).
Unavoidably you must atune your ear, then you can use that skill to get the tunes themselves properly later.
Cheers
Alan
I’ve been using a Korg CA-30 chromatic tuner, which cost me about $30 CDN.
I think I’ve been a bit too stressed about the little LCD needle staying right in the middle and whether the green or red lights are coming on. Overall, my chanter is pretty well in tune, if just a little sharp overall. Back D is a bit sharper than the rest. I’ve just started playing, and I’ve been using the tuner to practice bellows / bag pressure control. I just play long notes ang work my way, very slowly up and down the scale. The tuner gives a general idea of if the note is wavering or not, but, in truth, so are my ears. I’m trying to use the tuner less and my ears more.
Okay Jamie,
Now you must be sick of your pipes, so, how much??? Any chance you might show up in Montreal with them?
Nope. No deal. I’m loving my half set. I’ll probably play them in seclusion for a looong time before venturing out to show them off.
You really should order a set.