Piob Mohr or Great Highland Bagpipe - mouth-blown with a conical-bore chanter with cane double-reed in the key of Bb, and with one
cylindrical-bore, single-reed bass and two cylindrical-bored, single-reed tenor drones tuned to the chanter's key note. Made of African
blackwood with ivory mounts by R. G. Hardie of Glasgow, Scotland, ca. 1963. Silk cords are "salt and pepper" colored. L & M elk hide bag is
covered in black velvet with silver fringe.
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Highland small pipe, or Parlour pipes - mouth-blown in the key of Bb with a cylindrical-bore double-reed chanter, and one
single-reed bass and two single-reed tenor drones tuned to the chanter's key note. Made of rosewood with imitation ivory mounts, with a cowhide
bag, and with a wool Royal Stewart tartan bagcover and cords by unknown.
Note: This instrument is currently for sale - see Alan's Bargain Basement - Used Instruments For
Sale for details.
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Scottish border pipe, or Lowland pipe - bellows-blown in the key of A with a double-reed, conical-bore chanter and
cylindrical-bored, single-reeds bass, tenor (both tuned to A) and treble (tuned to E) drones; drones are mounted in a common stock. Made
of African blackwood with brass and imitation ivory mounts by Alan. Chanter by Colin Ross of Monkseaton, Northumberland, bellows by Hamish
Moore of Scotland. The cowhide bag, by Alan, is covered with a "Shepherd Check" woolen bagcover trimmed with black wool fringe by Sandra
Woodard of Campbell, CA. Special to this bagpipe are the "in the lap" arraingement of the drones and also the drone cut-off lever - common
features found on Irish uilleann pipes, but less typical to that of Scottish Lowland and Northumbrian border pipes.
Oxford, or "Home Counties" bagpipe - in the key of A with a double-reed conical-bore chanter, and single-reed, octave and
fifth-tuned, cylindrical-bore "trumpet bell" drones. Made of mountain mahogany with water buffalo and cowhorn mounts by Alan, after a design by
Bob Thomas. Bag is of cowhide and drone cords are black silk.
Lancashire, or "North Counties" bagpipe - in the key of G with a double-reed, conical-bore chanter and single-reed, octave and
fifth-tuned, cylindrical-bore drones. An interesting feature of this pipe is the "backward-tuning" of the drones. The smaller "chair leg"
shaped drone is tuned an octave below the keynote, while the "trumpet bell" larger drone is tuned a fifth below the smaller drone. Made of
mountain mahogany with imitation ivory, water buffalo and cow horn mounts by Alan after a design by Bob Thomas. The bag
is of cowhide, covered with a wool 'Shepherd Check' bagcover trimmed with white cotten fringe made by Sandra Woodard of Campbell, CA. Drone
cords are black silk.
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Cornish double-pipe - This bagpipe, made by my old friend and mentor Bob Thomas (RIP), was called "a Welsh
double-pipe" by a couple of it's previous owners. After receiving several emails with comments as to it's origin (some called it a Magdeburger
schäeferpfeife), Neb Lecic, a Canadian piper from Toronto, finally set me on the right track. After visiting
Chris Bailey's site, and having viewed his reconstruction of a
Cornish double-pipe based upon the curious bench-end carvings in the church of St. Nonna, Altarnun, Cornwall, I am fairly convinced that Bob's
intension was to reconstruct his own version based on the carvings. A unique element of this bagpipe, are the separate short octagonal sections
connecting each of the chanters to the headstock. This allows, as Chris Bailey points out with his model, the ability to convert each chanter
to a mouth-blown wind-cap "cornemuse." Each double-reed, conical-bore chanter has the full compliment of finger holes, allowing it to be played
with both hands as a single melody pipe. By removing, or blocking-off one or the other of the chanters, the instrument can be played as a
single-chanter bagpipe. The chanters can be played together (one hand on each) in the bag as shown, with the lower chanter being used to extend
the range of the shorter one by means of blocking-off it's top holes. Made of ? wood with a single-reed bass drone in G and with sewn cowhide
bag by Paul Dessau of Colfax, CA.
Swedish säckpipa of the Dalarna region. This set, modeled after the original Leif Eriksson recreation, comes with two
interchangeable, single cane-reed, cylindrical-bore chanters. The shorter chanter (shown) has a one octave range from (e - e') with the keynote
of (a) in the middle. Its scale is basically A-minor with raised 6th and 7th steps. The lowest hole produces a leading (d) note when covered.
This chanter also has a lower (right hand) thumb hole which plays a g-natural when uncovered. The longer, alternate chanter (not shown) has a
one-octave range of (d - d') and can play in D and G major scales (g-note in the middle). The lowest hole gives a leading tone of c-natural when
covered. The two-piece tunable, cylindrical-bore, cane-reed drone with two lateral tuning holes can be tuned to the 'A' chanter's dominate (e) or
leading note (d) with the 1st lateral hole plugged. Or, it can tuned to that of the 'G' chanter's (d), or leading (c) tone (with the 1st hole
plugged).
Dutch lage landen doedelzak - in the key of D/G with conical-bore, double-reed chanter and cylindrical-bore, single-reed bass and
baritone/tenor drones mounted in a common stock. The three-section baritone drone (as shown) can be converted to a tenor (octave D) drone by
removing the middle section. The 1-1/2 octave range chanter plays a chromatic scale and has a lower thumb hole for playing a flatted third (F)
in both octaves. Made of Rosepallisander with carved Armenian designs, and mounted in imitation tortois shell and water buffalo horn, with a
cowhide bag by Frans Hattink of Friesland (Holland). To see a detail of the drone stock with carved peacock, click
here.
Musette Bechonnet (Bas Auvergne/Sud Bourbonnnais) - 16 pouces (chanter length) in the keys of G/C with conical-bore double-reed
chanter and cylindrical-bore single-reed treble, tenor and bass drones tuned to G. Made of ebony with imt. ivory mounts by Casey Burns of
Kingston, WA. Chanter by Bernard Blanc of Lapalisse, France. Bag and blowpipe (coverted to mouthblown) by Alan. Tapistry bagcover with black
fringe by Sandra Woodard of Campbell, CA. Boîtier(headstock) ivory scrimshaw of "Chanticler" by Karen Cormac of Seattle, WA. You
can see a detail of the Boîtier
here.
Musette du Centre (Berry/Bourbonnais/Nevers/Morvan) - 14 pouces (chanter length) in the keys of A/D with double-reed conical-bore
chanter and cylindrical-bored, single-reed, octave-tuned 'A' tenor and bass drones. Made of mountain mahogany with imt. ivory and water buffalo
horn mounts and cowhide bag by Alan. Boxwood chanter with horn mounts by Bernard Blanc of Lapalisse, France. Tapistry bagcover with burgandy
fringe by Sandra Woodard of Campbell, CA.
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Musette du Centre (Berry/Bourbonnais/Nevers/Morvan) - 20 pouces (chanter length) in the keys of D/G with conical-bore, double-reed
chanter and cylindrical-bored, octave-tuned, singele-reed 'D' tenor and bass drones. Made of cormier (service tree) and boxwood, with
tin-inlay decorations by Bernard Blanc of Lapalisse, France. Tapistry bagcover with gold fringe by Sandra Woodard of Campbell, CA.
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Musette du Centre (Berry/Bourbonnais/Nevers/Morvan) - 23 pouces (chanter length) in the keys of C/F with conical-bore, double-reed
chanter and cylindrical-bored, single-reed, octave-tuned 'C' tenor and bass drones. Made of cormier with tin-inlay decorations by
Bernard Jacquemin of Semur-en-Auxois, France.
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Musette du Centre (Berry/Bourbonnais/Nevers/Morvan) - 26 pouces (chanter length) in the keys of A/D with conical-bore, double-reed
chanter and cylindrical-bored, singel-reed, octave-tuned 'A' tenor and bass drones. Note: This bagpipe sounds a full octave lower in pitch
than the 14 pouces musette descibed above. Made of cormier with cowhorn and resin mounts, and decorated with
"Sautivet"-style engraving by Bernard Blanc of Lapalisse, France.
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Cabrette d'Auvergne - with four interchangable pieds (chanter/drone combinations). The 35 centemeter pied (shown) in keys
of A/D has a conical-bore, double-reed chanter and a conical-bore, double-reed drone made of blackwood and mounted in imitation ivory, bone, and
silver wire by Bernard Blanc of Lapalisse, France. The 39 cm pied (shown) in the keys of G/C has a conical-bore, double-reed chanter and
cylindrical-bore drone made of blackwood and mounted in imt. ivory and nickel-silver by Lucien Destannes of Aurillac, France. The 44 cm
pied (not shown) in the keys of F/Bb has a conical-bore, double-reed chanter and "dummy" (un-bored) drone made of blackwood and mounted
in imt. ivory and nickel-silver by Joseph Ruols of Clermont-Ferrand, France. The 47 cm pied (not shown) in the keys of E/A with
conical-bore, double-reed chanter and "dummy" drone is made of "amourette" and mounted in imt. ivory and nickel-silver, also by Joseph Ruols.
La tête (headstock), "Miss Liberty", is sculpted in ivory by Michael Hubbert of Boonville, CA. Le soufflet (bellows), is by
Bernard Desblancs of the Conservatoire Occitan, Toulouse, France. The bag and blowpipe stock is by Alan. Cut-velvet bagcover with silver fringe
by Sandra Woodard of Campbell, CA.
Boha or cornemuse landaise (Gascogne) - with cylindrical-bored, singel-reeds pied (chanter/drone) in the key of A. Made of
boxwood with tin-inlay decorations by Bernard Desblancs of the Conservatoire Occitan, Toulouse, France. The bag is a tanned goatskin.
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Gaita de foles - in the key of C with conical-bore, double-reed chanter and cylindrical-bored, single-reed, octave-tuned roncon
(bass) and ronquillo (tenor), and conical-bore, fifth-tuned ronqueta, or chion (treble) drones. This set also contains
alternate Bb and D chanters, and a Bb bass drone section (not shown). Made of apricot with cowhorn and ivory mounts by Brian Steeger, of San
Juan Bautista, CA. Red wool bagcover with gold fringe by Sandra Woodard of Campbell, CA.
Tulum - with a cane double chanter (single -reeds) and carved wooden yoke and bell - maker unknown. Untanned goatskin bag. Blowpipe
stock, cane blowpipe and "lucky charms" pendents by Alan.
For a short sound sample, you can go here: The Universe of Bagpipes.
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