All other things being equal what’s your preference of flat pitched pipes ?
I myself have never played flat pitched pipes so I was wondering do you have to play them differently from concert pitch pipes
RORY
Yes. You have to use restraint to keep from smiling.
I play mine upside down…but then again, I live in Tasmania 
Seriously, flat pitch pipes are played much the same as concert pitch ones (smiling aside)…its just that the flat pitch narrow bore chanters are capable of much more subtelty in terms of timbre, so one’s fingering can be more complicated, as one takes advantage of the chanter’s larger range of sounds.
I play a C# set at the moment, but I also really like B. It’s all a matter of personal likes and maybe the size of your hands (Bflat is a bit of a stretch for some people, for example).
Cheers, Phil.
C#
Bflat is a bit of a stretch for some people
True, but you’d wonder why a skilled pipemaker couldn’t move the holes closer by redesigning the bore to make it more ergonomical.
Personally I prefer B. Any flat set is so soft to play its seems as though it needs no air at all compared to a concert D wide bore. With the lower pressure, the chanter also becomes much more responsive. All those flakey little ornaments that are so hard to get at speed on the concert D suddenly seem to jump out on their own on a flat set - truly a pleasurable experience.
C is so close to B why bother? The B is popular enough to be more commonly made. C# is nice, but why not go to a narrow-bore D and actually be able to share the music with others? Bb is enticing, but again, an obscure key that not everyone can play along with easily.
djm
There’s no way to quantify this, of course, but I feel that pitch profoundly affects the character of both vocal and instrumental music. When Bill Monroe took all those old American songs and moved them into B from G or A, you had a whole new kind of music, not the same music in a new pitch. B certainly seems like flavor-of-the-year for pipes, enough so that I’ll bet some pipers are choosing sets in B for the same reason some others choose concert D, to play with others. At any rate, I think each pitch has its own personality.
H.
The fingerspan on a good Bb chanter isin’t too terribly wide, but it’s just too much for some people.
Uhh… because it changes the entire personality of a instrument??
Of C#, C, B, Bb, i would think of C as being the most “social” key, ie. just about any instrument should be able to play in C. String players could tune down a half step to play along with C# pipes, but playing in B (5 sharps) is just being anti-social. 
Anyway, i’m happiest playing C pipes. 
Be seeing you,
eric.
No-one writes ITM in B or C, so the number of sharps is immaterial. Its the sound that matters. C is nice too, but B is incredible. As was mentioned above, B seems to be attracting the most pipers. I don’t mean to detract from C#, C or Bb. Its really a matter of personal taste. I don’t know of anyone who has problems finding fiddlers, boxplayers, or guitarists who object to playing along with B. The only problem I have is that it seems impossible to get a flute in B, and Susato is the only brand of whistle I have found who make a B.
djm
Whistle then… Overton?
http://www.overton.de/texte/pricelist.html
You CAN get you B flute rolls from Fast-Pack
http://www.fast-pack.com/bflute.html
Yeah, yeah, playing in B is antisocial at times; but that can be advantageous when you really don’t want to play with someone 
.
And to be honest, flat pipes were never meant to be played in any context other than solo or maybe with a cooperative fiddler :roll: .
To play with a B set, all a fiddler has to do is tune down a step and a half - instead of GDAE, their tuning would be EBF#C#. Many old European factory fiddles from the early 1900s seem well-suited for such tunings. The fiddlers may whine about it at first, but they end up liking it more often than not. Lower tunings often bring out a woody, earthy sound in the instrument that many fiddlers really enjoy. If you don’t believe me, ask an accomplished fiddler like Liz Carroll, John Daly, Peadar O’Loughlin, Maeve Donnelly, Caoimhin O’Raghaillaigh (spelling? sorry if you’re reading this, man 
), Paddy Glackin, or Paul O’Shaughnessy, to name a few I’ve heard who’ve taken the plunge, tuned a fiddle to the flat pipes or a Bb flute, and proceeded to lay down some really great music.
Bb pipes are great. Some people do find the stretch between toneholes difficult initially, but in most cases you can overcome it if you just play the instrument every day and get used to it. Playing slowly and in a relaxed manner helps tremendously. Keep your hands relaxed - it’s not the span that’s the problem usually, it’s tension.
You CAN get you B flute rolls from Fast-Pack
Tony, are these Overton guys nuts? Look at these prices! I’ll stick with Generation. Do you have any experience with these Fast-Pac flutes? They don’t mention what type of ferrules they use. 
PatC, well put.
djm
[quote=“Pat Cannady”]To play with a B set, all a fiddler has to do is tune down a step and a half - instead of GDAE, their tuning would be EBF#C#.[/quote
I was wondering how you played with a flat set with another instrument. And the fiddle player fingers normally (i.e music written in D) with out any contortions to get to the chanters notes.
100% correct, fel.
I like all flat sets C# C B Bb
I tune my Rogge chanters C snakewood and B Plumwood to A = 440 on the tuner.
As my dad’s B/C accordeon is sharp (he have to get it tuned up some day) I can tune my C chanter by tuning the pitch up but the B chanter can’t be sharped as the reed is in the throat chanter as far as I can get in tune to A = 440.
Charles Roberts reeds I have for B chanter plays in Bb and in C chanter it would play B and other reed in B chanter plays in A with flat Back hole.
All the best