Quote Originally Posted by OC Richard View Post
<snip>pipers playing their Pipe Band competition setup pipes, with the chanter screaming a quartertone sharp and as loud and brassy as human ingenuity is capable of making it.

If all pipers used warm woody mellow concert-pitch (466) chanters for church gigs we would have far fewer people objecting to pipes in church.
Slightly off-topic, but I'm curious about the quartertone sharp tuning of a chanter. Is that a sharper than the drones, thereby giving a richer sound from the tones rubbing, or is everything tuned up a bit? Also, what other organological modifications do competition pipers make to increase the volume and brassiness?

I can understand why some clergy might not appreciate that sort of sound inside a place of worship; it really is an outdoor instrument. However, banning any type of pipes whatsoever from the vicinity is draconian. As OC Richard wrote, not all pipes are that bold and brash.