Hi
I’m considering purchasing a border pipe chanter with extra keys to extend the range. Does anyone have any advice or experience with these ?
I’ve owned three such chanters:
Hamish Moore “Reel” chanter, keyless
Nigel Richard (Garvie Bagpipes) “session” chanter, high B key.
Jon Swayne “Lowland” chanter, high B key.
All of these chanters were very nice, and played in a very similar way.
I ended up prefering the Swayne because 1) it is a bit lower in volume and 2) it uses a plastic reed and stays in tune.
The touch for the high B key on the Garvie was on the back for the thumb, on the Swayne on the front for the index finger.
The Swayne is fully chromatic in the octave:
A x xxx xxxo
B flat x xxx xxox
B x xxx xxoo
C natural x xxx xoxo
C sharp x xxx xoox
D x xxx ooox
D sharp x xxo xoxo
E x xxo xxxo
F natural x xox xxxo
F sharp x xoo xxxo
G natural x ooo xxxo
G sharp o xxo xxxo
A o oox xxxo
And all of these notes are perfectly in tune!!!
Here’s the Garvie and the Swayne (with the “sole”)
I had Swayne make a matching stock, big enough to fit into a normal Highland bagpipe synthetic bag, because I know that a chanter plays best with the correct stock.
Thankyou Pancelticpiper,
Good to read your comments, and I appreciate the photos, good to see the two chanters side by side.
