Peebles
EH45 8LQ
Scotland
High Quality Scottish Smallpipes, English and other bagpipes from one of Britain's most innovative makers
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| DURER PIPES | |
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Although now nearly 500 years old, the engraving of a piper by Albrecht Durer (dated 1514), is a uniquely detailed representation of many of the features of an early 16th century bagpipe. Taking this as my inspiration, I have developed a bagpipe which is an exciting addition to my range. |
| The chanter is versatile and enormous fun to play. It is pitched in the D two octaves lower than a D penny whistle, one octave lower than a D Leicestershire or Scottish Smallpipe. It is theoretically a 'smallpipe', since it has a cylindrical bore. By combining a wide bore, a large reed and smaller fingerholes, I have been able to design a chanter which has both a low pitch and very comfortable finger spacings. Further refinements in the design enable the player to produce intermediate notes in the scale using cross-fingerings. The basic scale is D. It also plays the notes C, B flat and F. This gives enormously increased opportunities for playing in minor modes. | |
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The two drones are in D an octave apart, and feature the distinctive
goblet-hyphen drone ends shown in Durer's engraving. Each drone is made
in two pieces and they are mounted in a common stock. As with all early
illustrations, other interpretations are possible. I also make these pipes
with a shorter base drone in G and the tenor in D. Recorder players and
the more adventurous can tune the drones from D down to C and play the
chanter in the key of C, using the seventh finger hole as the key note,
which affords the surprise and delight of an extra note above the octave.
The bass drone is rich and powerful and the tenor enhances this richness. Like the Cornish Pipes, the chanter's sound is deep and punchy, and the overall effect is impressively sonorous. |
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