From what I have read on various websites, it is advantageous for a beginner to invest in a good quality practice chanter. Currently, I have one of cheap (probably Pakistani) PC’s from Harp And Dragon, which actually may be very adequate for me.
This being the case, I have a couple of questions:
Are standard and long PC’s significantly different in spacing of the toneholes?
Given that I am not a large person (5’7") would a “long” PC be difficult to use propped on a table.
I expect that my first set of pipes may be something like Gibson Fireside pipes. So, are the chanters on these similar to tonehole spacings on long or regular PC’s?
I have read that the polypenco chanters really hold-up well and that given that a piper uses the PC no matter how experienced he/she may be. SO… what PC’s would people suggest I look at for purchase?
IMHO I think the long chanter’s are the way to go. I have used a standard chanter, but I just did not like them. I have a dunbar, and anything by them is going to be very good. Naill is also another good way to go. The Dunbar long Poly is what I have, and I will not get rid of it.
If you are new to this/have any pets/have children/have a wife that moves things i.e. cleaning… then my recommendation would be to get a poly chanter.
5’7" is not small. I know many pipers smaller than that who aren’t limited at all by their size.
There is a little bit more spacing on some of the holes on a long chanter but it is very small difference. If it’s even noticeable you’ll adjust easily. Again, your stature won’t limit you.
If your looking at starting on a Gibson Fireside or Ceilidh pipe, they do offer interchangeable chanters. So you could take the top off of your chanter, pop it into the bag and play the same chanter on the pipes.
If you do get those pipes it might be a good idea to stop the drones and just play the chanter in the bag at first. It was common practice for learners to transition to the big pipes on what’s called a “practice goose” which is just a practice chanter with a bag and blowpipe.
The tone is superior to most PCs. It’s more of a smallpipe chanter that you blow directly, as it has a NSP style reed rather than the PC style reed.
One advantage of PCs that have the extended bottom with ventholes is that you can rest the bottom of the PC on your leg without affecting the tone. With a traditional PC without ventholes if you rest the PC on your leg it shuts of Low G.
One caveat about the Gibson long: on several of the ones I’ve played the E is flat and the D is sharp, so on mine I carved out the E hole a bit and put a bit of tuning wax in the D hole. Other than that, the Gibson is much more in tune than traditional PCs which always have a very sharp High G and a flat C.
Thanks for the advice. My teacher to be is going to have a look at my current PC. She said that a Gibson chanter would be a good one to buy.
Then that would leave me to decide between long and regular sizing. I suppose that the idea is to position the hands in a position that is similar to where they would be (relative to the body) when playing the pipes. If I sit down and rest the sole of my current PC on my leg, then it does seem a little short (it is around 18.5 inches - the PC not my leg!). From photos, it looks like the long chanters tend to have more length below the tone holes than the regular ones. Aaron said that the tone hole spacings between regular and long are not greatly different.
Maybe I need to take a trip to Thompson Pipes in Flagstaff and look at the different lengths of PC and compare them with the Gibson Firesides. That is, if my teacher recommends a new PC.
Once again, I really appreciate your feedback. I am very excited about getting serious about learning the pipes. Taking whistle lessons greatly improved my skill on that instrument (although I am still a rank newbie on that).