Chanters and sets seem to be all over the map when it comes to measurements. Most measure the chanter but we probably should be measuring the reed and staple height too. If the staple is ‘finishing off’ the conical bore, we should be measuring the chanter from top to bottom with the reed.
Same goes for hole placements. That Coyne set that Willie owned has a chanter with some unusual hole spacings.
Well, what you see when peering into the tea leaves reflects, IMO, what you are prepared to see. Personally I don’t see enough to convince me. John’s other Coyne is just under 15 1/2" - but it IS certainly under it, not within a 64th" of 15.5 or anything.
It is true that around about the 400 mm mark, which is where lots of interesting sets hover, the ratio of one half step (1.06, approximately) yields a delta of about 24mm, quite close to an inch, which could account for the “clumping” of lengths in the neighborhood of one inch apart. This explains, to my mind, why John’s Coyne chanters differ from one another by “two inches” - it’s just a coincidental consequence of their being around the 400mm mark to begin with, so two semitones == two inches.
Some French pipes are definitely referred to by length in inches, but I don’t think we can conclude the same here.
Bill
[edited to change typo “being” to “begin”]
Wow. I can barely manage my two kids: an eight year-old daughter and a very headstrong and rebellious inner-child.
t
WOW! What an incredible gift your family has given these children… your home! May God continue to bless your family!
ybiC,
Reepicheep