Hey everybody,
I’m wondering if there are any examples of narrow bore D chanters. There are loads of wide bore chanters/sets out there, but am not sure how a narrow bore D chanter sounds.
does it really have a much sweeter/mellower tone than a wide bore D chanter? and how does it play with a regular set of drones? perhaps my question is a bit confusing but i’m looking for
some information about narrow bore D chanters and how they sound. 
Kind regards!
I’ve made a narrow bore chanter from David Daye’s Medium-quiet penny chanter design. If I were to compare volumes between that and my wide-bore Ray Sloan chanter, I really can’t tell the difference, even with the same reed. The Ray Sloan chanter sounds a little more full, perhaps? By that, I’m meaning the tonal quality has more “oomf”, if that makes sense.
My brad angus concert d chanter has a throat that is about 4mm. Does that mean its narrow bore? If it is you can hear some badly played examples on my site.
http://uilleannpipesbeginner.wordpress.com/
I also have a vignoles concert d which I think is a wide bore? It’s throat is about 5.2 mm.
The vignoles is louder and a little brighter or harsher than the angus. But was was never sure if that was because of the bore or different reeds. I would like to take one reed and try it in both but… I have found that a reed that works well in one will not work well in another.
Bill Haneman’s website has some narrow bore D sound samples http://billhaneman.ie/
I used to own a wide bore Ray Sloan chanter myself and I was often asked in sessions was it narrow bore. It certainly had a much darker and mellower tone than my current chanter (a wide bore Rowsome copy), which is much louder and brighter sounding. From my understanding it’s not all about the bore though: tone hole sizes, chimney heights and the type of wood used have something to do with how freely the sound may escape the tunnels…
thanks for the replies so far guys , appreciated
So what’s the biggest difference between a wide bore and narrow bore in terms of sound and volume? I’ve read in the first reaction, not much of a difference, but also
that it (is supposed)/has a mellower/darker tonal sound. i’ll take a look at the sound examples from narrow bore chanters that you placed, thanks a lot for that!
still figuring out what the difference is between a narrow bore set and wide bore set, drones for example are also tuned to narrow bore? or do they stay the same? how are
drones involved in a choice between narrow bore and wide bore?
I think that, like a lot of things in piping, there’s a world of difference between one maker and the next where it comes to what a maker wants to achieve with a particular design and resulting instruments.
One maker may make NBDs with the intention of making a civilised sounding instrument with the tonal flexibility of a well made flat chanter where another maker may have something completely different in mind.
There’s really not one simple and straightforward answer to your question.
definitely a lot going on in the realm of what you perceive in the sound. Good find on the sound samples; really, hearing and drawing your own conclusions based upon your own perceptions is what must be done.
really, hearing and drawing your own conclusions based upon your own perceptions is what must be done.
I’d go as far as saying that you need to have a set of pipes in your own hands. Whatever it sounds like in somebody elses, it’s not going to sound like that in your own.
That said, I’ll try put up a clip later.
Yes please; I’d love to hear your new(ish) Geoff Woof 3/4 set.
yes please! that would be great. and you’re absolutely right Mr.Gumby. There is not one straight and forward answer to uilleann piping, that I already understood.
but in the regard of what a maker wants to achieve with his instrument and it’s sound, what would be the best advise from a customer? ask for a chanter to be built with
a mellow sound?
I suppose the first thing you would want to do is to get yourself an aural image of how you would like a chanter to sound, what you want it to do tonally etc. Once you have that more or less clear you put an ear out for pipes (preferably not recordings) that come close to your ideal sound. Then you talk to the maker(s) to discuss what you’re looking for and get a feel for the philosophy or background to their pipemaking. If that all lines up with your own ideas, you should be close.
Of course availability, price and all those practical things come into it as well. And you will want to try out instruments by your preferred maker before you buy it (and then again try your set before you hand over the cash, just to make sure you’re happy).
Nothing too unusual I would think but YMMV.
Thanks for your helpful information Mr.Gumby!
Out of pure curiousity, but what kind of set(s) do you play and from which makers?
http://www.hunterpipes.co.uk/Sounds/FlatDChant.mp3
Based on a flat chanter in C. Throat of 3.69mm
Sam
That’s a very nice sound! sounds marvelous!
Wondering another thing: Does a narrow bore D chanter fit with ‘standard’ drones? or are there also narrow bore drones?
The quality of the recording is not great ,but I have heard sweeter mellow toned wide bore chanters . I,m not sure if the whole NBD thing is worth the disadvantages.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RE7hYU74uII
RORY
Thank you, that was lovely!
Do you know the title of the first part? I liked it a lot!
That chanter sounds like it needs to be rebored and a one-style type of reed made for it. (just kidding 
). WOW! That sounds really good. It makes me think my search for a boxwood D chanter has just narrowed. Is yours box? If so, please send. (well it is kinda ironic you posted the clip on a site called BOX!)
That chanter sounds like it needs to be rebored and a one-style type of reed made for it.
Yes the fecking thing, some notes give you five or so different sounds, that’s not what I call versatile!
Anyhow. As I said in my initial response to this thread, the way this chanter sounds doesn’t mean the next narrow bore chanter will sound anything like it. Or even that any (older) NBDs by the same maker will be exactly like it. If you go looking for a chanter, best to look at the merits of each (available) one as you meet it.