Could anyone tell me why the Peter Hunter chanter currently up for sale on Ebay has recieved no bids four days into a five day auction? Is he not a good maker or is there something else going on here I don’t understand? I can’t afford it on my salary or I’d scoop it up but it’s becoming a nail-biting bit of tension in my life.
Thanks,
Mark
The person pictured playing the chanter is left-handed, but there’s no mention if this chanter was made for playing left-handed.
The auction ended without a single bid…
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=886725778
Hmmm… I wonder if I should get in touch with the seller… anybody heard of this maker before? I’ve tried to get info online but other than a mention on a couple of sites I have no way to judge whether or not it’d be a waste of money to possibly purchase the chanter.
Thanks for any info and thanks for the replies and the sharp eyes, Tony. (Ah, poetry, how I love it.)
Mark
Peter Hunter has a very good reputation in the community, but I’m not sure if he is still making pipes or not
Peter Hunter is a very good pipe maker. As far a s I know he isn’t making pipes anymore.
Seán Potts Jnr. and Ronan Browne both have sets by him. I saw in An Píobaire recently that Seán was selling his set, very solid set by the sounds of it, it’s the set he played all the time (that I know of) until he got his B Rogge set.
Ronan Browne apprenticed under Peter Hunter as a pipemaker. He may have made his D set or atleast parts of it.
Byee,
Patrick.
Pete Hunter, last thing I heard, is still making pipes. I certainly know of some of his work within the last 1 1/2 years. I used to know him fairly well and can say he’s a fella of very deep and wide knowledge on many subjects. My step from practice set to his 1/2 set was also a step from pipes to a musical instrument..If the guy is selling at a reasonable price, then its worth the plunge, usually (very rare occasions otherwise) his chanters are easy to reed up with very good range of tone colour and intonation.
Alan
Hey, thanks for the replies, folks!
Based on your comments, I’ll try to contact the seller and see if I can wrangle/plead/cajole my way into a better chanter than the wooden tube I currently use.
I like the ‘step from pipes to musical instrument’ metaphor, Alan, it’s precicely what I’m hoping to achieve.
Yours,
Mark
Don’t forget to verify if that chanter is right handed and not lefty as shown in the picture.
In my opinion, left or right handed doesn’t really matter in the case of a chanter, unless there are more keys than just the Cnat already on it.
I am not too fond of the idea of modifying an older instrument with keys, you are probably better off just getting a completely new chanter, unless the person that made the chanter is going to do it themselves… in that case I’d still be a bit wary, especially if the chanter is working particularly well.
PD.
[ This Message was edited by: Patrick D’Arcy on 2002-06-27 13:47 ]
The seller said in the description of the chanter that there were key stocks, but no mention of keys themselves, so I’m guessing they’re not there yet.
I’ve written to him (or her) but so far no reply. If they let me purchase it, I’ll probably shout for joy all over the forum.
Mark
[ This Message was edited by: jqpublick on 2002-06-28 02:13 ]
Patrick, did Hunter offset the chanter holes slightly (for ease of playing) or were they (traditional) inline?
That might be a good question to ask the person selling it. As far as I know they are straight.
PD.
Offset holes? I know it was posted as “for ease of playing”. But, surely, if you want the holes slightly to the left or right on your hands, then just turn the chanter in its windcap will produce the same effect. I can’t say I’ve ever seen offset holes except on shoddy jobs. Most nearly all good chanters are pretty straight & cylindrical on the outside, save for a little more wood towards the bell (which I understand is essential for stability with E’s and D). Also, if the chanter were made flatter at the front. offsetting the holes would mean that the wall thickness on one side would probably be thicker? Therefore strange turbulence? then? well tuning problems I guess?
Alan (straight holes, turned slightly to the left) 
[ This Message was edited by: AlanBurton on 2002-06-28 15:13 ]
Alan…I think you misunderstand what he meant by offset holes. You seem to have taken it to mean that all the holes were “offset” in the same direction. This is not what it means. There are diff. ways of doing it…but the most common one is this…hard to describe.
As you are looking down at the chanter…lengthwise from the top..the first three holes (for the left hand) would be offset to the left (or counterclockwise)..while the bottom 4 holes (for the right hand) would be offset to the right…(or clockwise)
Some makers only offset one or 2 holes…
Does that help?
As for chanters being mostly cylindrical, and variations from this theme being out of tune, I have to disagree. My Tim Britton chanter is more of an ergonomic design with depressions in the body where fingers sit. It holds a very reliable tuning and is a joy to play and hold.
Dionys
Thanks. Out of all the chanters I’ve worked on, I’ve never seen it. Which makers do this?
Most unusual.
Dionys,I didn’t say variations on cylinders are out of tune, I wrote “less stable around E’s and Low D”. What I was getting at was the whole shape, i.e. tapered. When too tapered, particularly around B C# BackD, then the D is unstable, the C# has a tendency towards being flat etc.,amongst other things. This is not to include hole scalloping (depressions as you refer to them), which is a fine tuning process and anyone who scallops holes for any other reason should be careful that they check the tuning constantly. My O’Briain is scalloped and having sat with Cillian through the process, noted the subtle but very musical difference it makes. Oh, and I am talking about Concert pitch pipes here…
Alan. Scalloping into the sunset:)
[ This Message was edited by: AlanBurton on 2002-06-29 04:50 ]
Ahh.. My mistake in misreading your post. I would have to agree with your assessment regarding stability in regards to too much tapering. Thanks for the reminder as to the term ‘scalloping.’ My brain was worn out when I wrote my message.
Dionys