Recording Bagpipes?

[Paul]

Hi guys. I'm preparing my final project proposal for my degree and I'm looking into developing recording techniques for bagpipes. As it is 14,000 words it will be fairly technical and in-depth. I've just purchased 3 books so far to help me give a bit of background information:
Bagpipes: A National Collection of a National Instrument - Hugh Cheape
The Book of the Bagpipe - Hugh Cheape
The Highland Bagpipe and Its Music - Roderick D. Cannon

I'm going to introduce the instrument with a bit of history and acoustic principals, which these books should help with. I was also looking for other methods of recording bagpipes (whether individually close-miced, or recorded as part of a band with overheads).

Has anyone come accross some sources of such techniques or pass on the details of some people who could offer opinions from experience?
This would be greatly appreciated.

I'm also going to consult the college of piping in Glasgow for some resources.

[beloitpiper]

I've recorded pipes two ways: in a large hall (church works well) or in a studio with the drones recorded separately.

[londonpiper]

hi, Paul. May I sugest you go to http://www.bobdunsire.com and post your question on the forums there. As the world's principal piping site you'll get more useful help there than anywhere else, except for, perhaps, the college of piping.

[Paul]

I've recorded pipes two ways: in a large hall (church works well) or in a studio with the drones recorded separately.

Thanks for the input.
I'm wondering what specific microphone placements have been used too, any ideas?

[highlander_Daz]

Paul , email Ian Green at Greentrax http://www.greentrax.com/ Gordon Duncan was signed to Ians label and the recording on the albums was superb, Im not sure where they ahere recorded Im sure Ian can help his phone numbers 01875 814 155 and ians personall email is iangtrax@aol.com

Daz

[EagleJCS]

You might also try to find out who does the recording of the World Pipeband Championships there in Glasgow. Maybe someone connected with the BBC? Dunno. I'm sure they'll have some insights.

[wvpiper]

Thanks for the input.
I'm wondering what specific microphone placements have been used too, any ideas?

If you go to bobdunsire.com as a previous poster suggested, you'll find suggestions for mic placement, mics, software and so on.Good luck

[CMcG]

If it were me, I'd close mic each drone and put one on the chanter.... which could get crazy if you have a whole band! This gives you the most control. I'd also have a stereo pair set up in the sweet spot of the room to get some perspective, assuming the room has good acoustics.

More importantly though, I think some processing is in order. When heard live, the pipes are an awesome and fearsome thing to behold. On recordings that I've heard they tend to sound thin and week, which I attribute to an audio engineering aesthetic stemming from folk and classical music. If you try to capture a "natural" sound with nothing but good mics and nice room, it ends up sounding unnatural as a recording.

I would record with high levels and a bit of tube compressing or tape tape saturation on the input. Alternatively or in conjunction with inline processing, compress, EQ, and maximize it after the fact to give it a big, bold sound. You might even use a tiny touch of tube distortion as an auxiliary/send effect to mimic the natural distortion of the ear when exposed to high volume piping. Keep the room mics or digital reverb to a minimum.

The aesthetic I'm outlining has more in common with pop music production but I think it could work. I'd love to hear recorded pipes that still sound fierce

For a peek at my production aesthetic you can check out some stuff at the following links. More electronic oriented but perhaps someday I'll get some pipes in there too:
http://www.ronineville.com/
http://www.myspace.com/ronineville