OK, maybe a basic question, but I’m not a professional piper or a pipe maker so I’ll ask it.
What’s the significance of the chanter bore? Volume? Tone? Timbre? Is there a standard size bore?
I’m currently playing a Kevin Thompson chanter. It’s always been loud. Initially, it even put me off playing. However, with the years, I’ve gotten used to it and have even managed to lower the volume (mainly by changing reeds). I’m shortly going to be buying a second half set and I’ve played some sets by different maker (Gallagher, Childress & O’Grady). Those chanters were much quieter and easier to play. Could it have been a difference in the bore?
As much as I love to go on and on about the mechanics of tone and pitch production in the uilleann pipe chanter, I’ll just say that it is definitely the reed and not the bore, although the bore influences what you do with the reed.
There is not a standard bore, particularly for concert pitch chanter. Although the bell sizes tend to all be about 1/2", the lengths and throat sizes can vary substantially, and these have a huge impact on what you have to do to a reed to get it to play in pitch.
You can likely reed it to play in pitch and more quietly, but if it didn’t arrive that way, you may be in for a bit of work.
Generally, narrow bores (with associated smaller tone holes) play quieter. The narrow bored chanters have a different tone to wide bore chanters, and this difference becomes more prominent as you go down the pitches of pipes (i.e D down to B). I used the word ‘Generally’ as the reed determines to the greatest extent how loud the chanter is.
The wood used to make the chanter affects the general tone of the instrument, with Boxwood being the most popular for yielding the most mellow tone, followed by Ebony (ebony and blackwood are the most common woods used). My chanter is made of a completely different wood and has a bore on the wider side of the scale (5.3mm throat & 13.5mm bell), which makes it a louder chanter, but I have been able to make it mellow sounding with a very soft cane reed. There is lots of info on these topics in this forum - just use the search option on the top right of the screen.
Check out FAQs on my website www.uilleanpipes.com for more info on your question. Godd reponses so far although reed tone can be affecteda s much by adjustment/sanding as cane type. Incidently, small bores give a brighter, more nasal tone. Although potentially louder, large bores actually open up and smooth the tone. It’s tricky to describe the effects in words.