Peebles
EH45 8LQ
Scotland
High Quality Scottish Smallpipes, English and other bagpipes from one of Britain's most innovative makers
| CORNISH BAGPIPE | |
| The inspiration for these pipes is a very fine carving in Altarnun
Church, Bodmin Moor, Cornwall. It was carved by one Robart Daye sometime
between 1510 and 1530.
It shows a piper playing a bagpipe with two very long chanters of slightly different lengths with small bell ends. At the piper's feet is his dog and behind his shoulder is surely the carrying tube that he would keep his pipes in. From this carving I have developed a bagpipe with a very deep and wondrous tone that is enormous fun to play and is proving extremely popular. |
 Click to hear "Constant Billy" |
| The Cornish bagpipe has two chanters that are fingered independently.
One plays the upper half of the octave, the other the lower half. Both
chanters can play the tonic note and thus, using covered fingering, one
can create a constant drone whilst playing the melody. This drone effect
is a striking feature of the pipes. Initially, you can play tunes exactly
as if you were playing on one chanter. After this you can begin to explore
the possibilities of playing the chanters independently. The Cornish Pipes
are also great for low, rich bagpipe accompaniments.
The chanters have wide cylindrical bores and use large plastic double reeds. They are pitched in low D (two octaves lower than the penny whistle). They are very stable to play and have good finger spacing. |
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CORNISH PIPES HAVE A SURPRISINGLY LOUD PUNCHY SOUND WITH ENORMOUS POSSIBILITIES FOR HARMONIES, COUNTER MELODIES AND RHYTHMIC AND MOVABLE DRONE EFFECTS. |
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| HANDBOOK FOR
CORNISH DOUBLE PIPES!!!
Each set of Cornish Double-pipes is supplied with a copy of this book! |
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| Teaching yourself to play these double pipes is an exciting challenge, but there is always lots we can learn from others. With this in mind Cornish piper Steve Bliven has contacted most players and compiled a very impressive looseleaf HANDBOOK based on their collective suggestions, arrangements, discoveries. It is over 90 pages long, packed with helpful suggestions, articles on the history of double pipes and twenty four tunes and arrangements for these double pipes. PRICE | |