Chanter review - Narrow bore D by David Boisvert (www.greenwoodpipes.com)
To set the stage and allow you to judge my “ability to judge”: I am a semiprofessional Northumbrian smallpipes builder with I think a good reputation and knowledge and a passion for making very high quality instruments with lots of precise detail. I have been playing uilleann pipes for about 6 years now and have owned sets by Kirk Lynch and Eugene Lambe and have played for quite a while narrow bore chanters by Davy Stephenson and Brad Angus, with brief exposure to various other well-known flat set makers at tionols and friends living rooms. For a few years now I have played a Kohler and Quinn wide bore D of the Paddy Keenan persuasion and will likely always consider that to be the best chanter in the world.
I specifically wanted a narrow bore D chanter that would be quiet. My wife is a pedal harpist but will also play folk harp, and I wanted a quiet, modern pitch chanter that would be appropriate for playing duets with her harp, and also for practicing when my wide bore D was just too loud. After playing narrow bore D chanters by Stephenson and Angus, and discussing this topic with countless makers and players, I ended up ordering a chanter from Boisvert. As I understand it, his narrow D design began as being based on others work but has now, with this chanter, become his own unique bore design (of course, based on what he has learned from his own work and from studying work of others).
The chanter arrived fairly close to the original promised delivery date (just over 3 months) and came with 3 reeds (recognizing the differences between Minnesota and Houston weather).
The chanter has exactly the tone and volume that I was hoping for. It is the perfect volume for playing with a harp or with one or two other instruments. It would of course then not be suitable for playing in a large session. The tone is very nice and reminds me of various flatter pitch chanters that I have been around. I have not had it next to a B chanter, for example, but from memory, it has the same sort of tone in general. Again by memory only, it has a nicer tone than other narrow D chanters than I have played. Boisvert usually uses other woods, as I understand it, when going for a sweet tone, but I believe this ebony chanter delivers that sweetness while still having some nice higher harmonics that give it a breathiness or crispness.
The tuning of the chanter is spot on (modern D pitch in just intonation). As would be expected, when the chanter and reeds first arrived here in Texas from Minnesota, the reeds were not “plug and play”. The needed some adjustment as to how far in or out of the chanter, just where the bridal sits, and the openness of the lips, but a couple of hours of fiddling around and they were all working fine. At least for the basic scale played on the knee, this chanter has the same fingering as my wide bore. (Some other narrow bores that I have played have required an alternative C natural fingering in the first octave, which takes a little getting used to.) I have only had the chanter for a week, but so far there has been no need for rushes or anything up the bottom, and I think given that it has gone from Minnesota to a middle 70’s humid day in Houston, that is a good statement on the stability that I can expect from this chanter.
The pressure changes across the range of the chanter are very nice, with smooth increases of pressure to jump the octave and to go all the way up the scale to high D. In fact, the pressure to play this chanter in tune across the range is very similar to my wide bore D chanter, and the finger spacing is very similar, so that it is quite easy to change between the two. At least the way I currently have the reeds working, this chanter does not play at such a low pressure as some of the B chanters I have played, but it is on the light end of the range compared to wide bore D chanters.
As I understand it, narrow bore chanters are usually more pitch-variable due to changes in pressure, and this chanter definitely has some notes that are pressure sensitive (in other words, you need to mind your pressure if you are going to be in tune). I do not mean that it has a sinking D problem or any of that, just that some notes like A or ghost D will be out of tune if you do not maintain enough pressure. This is true of my wide bore and just a bit truer of this chanter. Another way to look at it is that these notes keep you honest on your pressure and help to tell you when the reed is in need of adjustment.
The turning on the chanter is of very high quality, maybe not quite as nice as the nicest chanters I have seen, but clearly better than most chanters I have seen. I say “maybe not quite as nice” , let me explain. I think there are two camps of turning - those who want to produce ferrules for example, where the lines are uniformly incised with machinist accuracy and those who want them to look just a bit more humanly spaced. The two camps are also those who want a highly buffed finish on the wood and those who want to leave the finish a bit dull with some evidence that a human actually made the thing. I think Boisvert is in the second camp and does a very good job in that camp. The mounts are imitation ivory and are very well turned - much nicer than some other builders provide, with beautiful fine detail. The chanter top is a long wooden affair with blocks left for the later addition of a stop key. The air intake tube is of standard size and comes into the top of the chanter top with a graceful swan neck shape. Having bent some brass tubing myself, I can tell that he really has that art down quite well. One design aspect that I thought was very nice is that one of the key blocks (left for later addition of keys) is carved away so that it provides a very comfortable thumb rest which happens to be right where my thumb wants to rest. I have not seen this on other pipes and it is a nice touch.
I had a good experience dealing with Boisvert. He was responsive to my requests, obviously very interested in delivering to me exactly what I wanted and was clearly devoted to not sending something out before it was really ready. I mentioned above that the chanter was just a bit late in delivery (something like 2 weeks maybe?). This was only because he had remade the chanter, so that what he sent me was indeed his best effort. I am very happy to have waited the extra tiny bit of time so that I could receive a very nice chanter. (I must say, I must be leading a charmed life, as every pipemaker that I have directly dealt with has been this same way. I appear to have good luck at dodging the poor-service, no-communication makers that are so often complained about.)
I know I will get requests to provide a recording of this chanter, and I may be able to at some time but not for a while. Shortly before the chanter was delivered, my wife delivered us a pair of new pipers-to-be, one boy and one girl, so making you a recording is a bit down on my priority list at the moment. I would however be happy to answer private e mail questions.
