Bagpipes

[HighlandPark]

I have three 'long' practice chanters in rotation, a poly Dunbar, a blackwood Naill, and a cocobolo Gibson. I use Walsh reeds in the first two and the apparently proprietary Gibson reed in the Gibson. All three are excellent practice chanters but are used for different purposes.

The Naill has a very true scale, very warm tone, and sounds superior to many other makes, in my opinion. The workmanship and design is just about the nicest I've seen. It is my go-to chanter for band now. However, the winner for musical tone and volume is the cocobolo Gibson. I don't know if is the design, which appears to be a little different than the other two, or the resonant cocobola, but it is just a pleasure to hear the tone. It is the most musical of the three and one can feel the wood vibrating with every note; it is very enjoyable to play from a tactile sense. Unfortunately, the pitch is a little off from the other two and what most others play, it is comparatively loud, and it is the hardest of the three to blow. I use it, with immense pleasure, at home to practice with or to play a little ditty for someone. The Dunbar is a solid chanter with nice tone but is, more or less, relegated for travel and back-up.

With respect to practice chanters, and pipes for that matter, IMHO, material does make a difference, not better or worse, just different. I would love to hear cocobolo Dunbars sometime. I am a big fan of the maker and have a set of blinged out poly Dunbars for travel. Even with poly the tone is fantastic. Underrated pipes.