Why does my chanter sound like crap?

[KD Burke]

Years ago, as a sort of joke, I was gifted with a chanter just like that one. It sounded awful. Squeaky, squawky, and out of tune.

I put it in my closet and forgot about it.

Several years later, I took up learning in earnest. I fought a Gibson practice chanter and began studying with my local band.

A couple years after that I found that old, Pakistani chanter in my closet. On a whim I pulled it out and gave it a whirl. It sounded.....not great, but okay. Playable. Tunes were recognizable.

I suspect that these are much more sensitive to steady pressure and proper technique than a properly bored chanter.

So...I'll repeat the previous recommendations. Get a good PC, Gibson or Dunbar or McCallum. Polypenco is fine. No need to spring for blackwood.

[TheOfficialBren]

Okay. Thank you for the valuable information, gents.

This particular chanter really has tried my patience and affected my enjoyment of taking up piping.

Most of my musical instruments are pro-quality. I guess a PC should be approached like any other instrument and accorded the same respect.

Tunes on this chanter are nearly unrecognisable and, even as a healthy guy with good lungs I feel winded easily and my lips fatigue after about 15 minutes of playing.

For some perspective I can run a mile and be only moderately fatigued or play my drumkit for hours upon hours only stopping because my fingers are blistered too much to play any longer.

Might my breathing technique be to blame, too? I'm breathing like a singer (professionally trained at a music college) when I play, if that makes any difference.

Not many pipe teachers around here. The guy I used to take lessons from is a wingnut and didn't correct mistakes. I tested this by intentionally making mistakes on several occasions. He consistanly failed to correct them.

[EagleJCS]

It takes time for the muscles surrounding the mouth to get accustomed to sealing the blowstick, either on the practice chanter or the bagpipe chanter. There's also an optimum pressure for playing the practice chanter - more than a recorder or pennywhistle, but not quite as much as the bagpipe. If you try blowing at the lower pressure, it will sound more like a (dying) duck call. Blowing at the highest pressure will 'shut off' the reed, and you won't get any sound out of it.

Regarding your particular chanter, Bren, you could have the holes cleaned up/rebored and have the internal bore smoothed/polished in order to make it into a decent-sounding chanter.

In regards to the flat/sharp pitch, there's a diagram online that shows what the pitch of each note is supposed to be when using a Korg-30 chromatic tuner. (As I'm sure you're aware, the bagpipe scale in not a chromatic scale). I can send it to you. There is also a tuner specifically designed to be used for the bagpipe (the HBT, or Highland Bagpipe Tuner), which will show the note to be in tune for the bagpipe scale (but it would be out of tune compared to a piano or guitar).

[chasem]

This particular chanter really has tried my patience and affected my enjoyment of taking up piping.

Yeah, that shouldn't be the case. A good friend tried to start on a similar chanter and it was nothing but struggles. She bought a Gibson an a good bit of that struggling was gone her first night with it.

Tunes on this chanter are nearly unrecognisable and, even as a healthy guy with good lungs I feel winded easily and my lips fatigue after about 15 minutes of playing.

If you've played other wind instruments, you shouldn't be winded so easily. Depending on what you've played, your embouchure may need some work and that could play into tired lips, but fighting with the instrument will play a big part of that fatigue as well.

[craigclan]

Try 'bob dunsire bagpipe forums ' lots of good used chapters come up there all the time .

[PiperOfThePlains]

Like many others have put here, I, too, own one of these chanters. The are most certainly of Pakistani origin; and, although usable (I use this term loosely), are hardly any good for firewood.

If you're serious about piping, I would strongly recommend a Shepherd, McCallum, or Dunbar chanter, with a Shepherd or Dunbar reed. (I started on the Dunbar Millennium 2000 chanter.) As far as what to look for in a quality PC, always go with the long one. "Regular" or "Child's" size practice chanters are only hurting you in the long run. A long PC (About 20/22" long) will better prepare your fingers for a full size pipe chanter.

You should be blowing enough to keep the chanter going; but not too hard as if to kill (stop) the reed, nor too soft to make it, as said above, like a duck call. Keeping the mouthpiece comfortable in your lips is incredibly difficult on a chanter. They make them to be too small, casing the piper to use more muscle power to keep it sealed.

If you are interested in lessons, PM me and I can get you set up my instructor for Skype lessons.

I hope this helps!

EDIT: I notice you're using an Abbot reed. These take a lot of air to operate, which may be the cause of your frustration.

[Ron Abbott]

Like many others have put here, I, too, own one of these chanters. The are most certainly of Pakistani origin; and, although usable (I use this term loosely), are hardly any good for firewood.

If you're serious about piping, I would strongly recommend a Shepherd, McCallum, or Dunbar chanter, with a Shepherd or Dunbar reed. (I started on the Dunbar Millennium 2000 chanter.) As far as what to look for in a quality PC, always go with the long one. "Regular" or "Child's" size practice chanters are only hurting you in the long run. A long PC (About 20/22" long) will better prepare your fingers for a full size pipe chanter.

You should be blowing enough to keep the chanter going; but not too hard as if to kill (stop) the reed, nor too soft to make it, as said above, like a duck call. Keeping the mouthpiece comfortable in your lips is incredibly difficult on a chanter. They make them to be too small, casing the piper to use more muscle power to keep it sealed.

If you are interested in lessons, PM me and I can get you set up my instructor for Skype lessons.

I hope this helps!

EDIT: I notice you're using an Abbot reed. These take a lot of air to operate, which may be the cause of your frustration.

I disagree. The whole hype about long practice chanters being better is nothing more than hype. I had one for some time and absolutely hated it. Difficult to put it on the table when practicing and it did nothing to help my fingering. I know many others who got into the same 'fad' and later gave up on it. Did not prepare my fingers in any way or form for a pipe chanter, it merely caused frustration.

Get a good standard size blackwood or even poly practice chanter from a reputable maker. Several good makers have been mentioned on the forum already.....although I'm surprised that Sinclair hasn't been mentioned. Not sure if Brian is back in business (on either side of the pond) but Inveran also produces a high end product.

[Jack Daw]

In learning piobaireachd, I purchased a few of CDs of Pipe Major Donald MacLeod's Classic Collection of Piobaireachd Tutorials, which features piobaireachd in canntaireachd, on practice chanter, and with oral instruction. Frankly, I prefer recordings of real pipes, cmpared to the practice chanter, as a means of entertainment.