Are there any pipemakers offering Eb chanters?
Anyone got any experience with an Eb chanter? How easy are they to reed?
Hi PJ,
I always admired the old recordings of Joe McKenna in Eb. About 10 years ago Andreas Rogge made an Eb-Chanter for me.
He also offered me to make a narrow-bore-Eb-chanter. I have chosen the wide bore at that time.
My Eb-chanter has the usual reliable quality of Andreas work. But if I had a choice nowadays I would definitely go for a narrow-bore-Eb-version.
I think the general idea of playing instruments in the key Eb is to make them louder and more dominant. Usually the same happens with a chanter in Eb - a question of taste and personality.
A narrow bore Eb-chanter version might be a perfect solution and sound more smooth and relaxed. (If you want to be in the centre of attention in a session chose the wide bore Eb…)
I would like to play my Eb-chanter more often and would like to annoy many more innocent Eb-fiddlers with it. 
BTW: My Rogge Eb-reeds have a standard staple but are somewhat shorter than D-reeds.
All the best!
Ulrich
Pat Sky has a very cool old Eb chanter. I wanna say its a Crowley, but that might not be true. It sounds great, not head splitting the way you might expect an Eb chanter to sound. Maybe Pat will see this and supply some more details.
Isn’t Eb the new black? Is it true that accordion player Alan Kelly plays/and records on an Eb box? How does that work anyway? Are all the reeds tuned a half sent sharp of concert pitch?
T
A bit north of that. A cent is a 1/100th of a semi-tone. Eb is a full semi-tone.
Hi PJ,
I think your best address would be Sam Lawrence from http://www.hunterpipes.co.uk/. I am sure he can answer all your questions and make you Great Eb chanter!
Best, AA
@MrKleen:
Box players usually play either B/C or C#/D. If you’re a B/C player, you can get a C/C# box, and if a C#/D, get a D/D#, then use your usually fingering, and voila, Eb! Both systems exist, although perhaps not super common. I believe Joe Cooley often used a D/D# box. My brother in law is a B/C player and had a C#/D on loan for a while. Although he can play along the row, he’d often just play with B/C fingering and pull a Finbar Dwyer.
Nico…I’m talking about a piano accordion here 
t
Eww.
I think Alan Kelly might play in Eb; many of their tracks on “Fourmilehouse” seem to be up a half-step.
As for Eb chanters … I’ve been wondering if my first “no name” practice chanter is an Eb chanter or 
an Eb conversion. It’s a good 1/2 inch shorter than my D chanter, the holes are a little higher, and it’s always tended toward the bright side of life no matter how hard I tried to flatten it.
Anyone heard of people sawing the ends off of chanters? If that’s the case with mine it’s not too badly out of tune with itself, but I’d be curious to learn about any reeding variances. It’d be a fun experiment to see if an Eb reed would help resolve any identity issues that may be lurking there …
Anyone heard of people sawing the ends off of chanters?
Yes. Unfortunately it doesn’t do much for the scale.
Thanks! I thought (feared) as much. 
Anyway, any Eb reeding insights/measurements would be welcomed. It’d be interesting to see if this chanter is happier singing soprano.