The Bagpipe Gallery

BILL'S PIPING PAGES-3

THE BAGPIPE GALLERY:

(Like "The Night Gallery", but scarier. This section will be added to as my collection of pipes grows, and as I feel like it.)

Currently on Display in this Section of the Museum:

Northumbrian Smallpipes	Scottish Smallpipes	Biniou Kozh	Great Highland Bagpipes
Cornish Double Pipes	Leicestershire Smallpipes	English Great Pipes	Medieval Pipes

Coming Soon-Flemish Pipes by Michael MacHarg and Uilleann pipes by B.C. Childress

Great Highland Bagpipes

The Newest Addition to the Pipes Gallery are the set that most of you are familiar with, the Great Highland Bagpipes.
Okay..........so sue me........This set of Great Highland Pipes is actually a Breton styled instrument made for me by Michael MacHarg (like so many other truly incredible instruments)in 1998.

This style of Highland Pipes is a comparatively new development, coming from the 20th Century. After hearing the Highland Pipes in the hands of assorted Highland Regiments, the Breton people took the Highland Pipes that they saw and adapted it for playing in their Bagadou to accompany Bombarde and Biniou Kozh. In eschewing the traditional aesthetic of the Highland Pipes, the Bretons produced an instrument of extraordinary beauty-please note the lack of combing, which allows the beauty of the wood grain to be seen, as well as the chalice style drone tops........all in all, a truly beautiful instrument. It is made of cocobolo, which has a deep reddish-brown color now, but will deepen to a lustrous black with time. The mounts are of Boxwood and brass. This is truly among the finest looking and sounding sets of Highland Pipes I've ever experienced.

Thank you Michael.

P.S.---Don't forget to visit Michael's website at The Wee Piper to get some idea of the various musical treasures he makes.

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The Northumbrian Smallpipes:

This set of pipes was made sometime in the 1970s by D.G. and E.M. Burleigh of Longframlington, Northumberland, England. They are of African Blackwood with Brass keywork and mounts and Imitation Ivory fittings, and are in the key of "F". I know that the key is unusual to you non-NSPers, but it is by far the most common key for the instrument. This set of Northumbrian Smallpipes was my first set of serious bagpipes, and have brought enormous pleasure through the years.

The Northumbrian Smallpipes are distinguished in the bagpipe family by their use of a "closed system", allowing the playing of separate, staccato notation. They have a lovely mellow sound that has been compared to the buzzing of bumblebees.

Click Here to hear a sound sample of the Northumbrian Smallpipes playing the traditional tune "Chevy Chase". This file is in RealAudio format. If you need the RealPlayer, proceed to Real.com

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The Northumbrian Small Pipes Society of North America is planning another Spring Meeting for 1999. For more information, click here .

The Scottish Smallpipes:

This is not a photo of my set of Scottish Smallpipes. (I don't seem to have any laying about--oops). This set is made by the same maker-Hamish Moore, and is very similar in form to mine. My set is also in African Blackwood with Imitation Ivory and Brass fittings and mounts, and are in the key of "D". My set came with a standard chanter, a 4 keyed chanter (allowing one note below the natural scale, 2 accidentals within the scale, and one note above the usual pipe scale), and a double chanter. This final chanter has become the one most often used because of its' haunting tone

Hamish has proven, over the years, to be a tremendous inspiration through his playing. His approach to music has done much to separate Scottish piping from the tight bindings of a too strict tradition, and allow it to become free and more swinging. This can be seen most clearly on his recording "Stepping on the Bridge". Hamish has a Maker's Page at the Bagpipe Web which can be reached by clicking here.

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The Biniou Kozh:

Here is my Biniou Kozh. This small bagpipe is a Breton form of the instrument. Normally, they are played in combination with the Bombarde (a shrill, very loud folk oboe). They both tend to play a single melody line in unison, with the bombarde player dropping in and out, allowing him to breathe.

This set was made by Michael MacHarg in 1993 of Cocobolo and has mounts of American Boxwood, and is in the key of A/B flat (closer to one than the other depending on how it is reeded). Michael is about the most versatile maker I have seen, with pipes of all types and varieties of instruments pouring from his shop. His creative use of materials and subtle use of decorative turning enhance any instrument that he makes. He also has a website. You can find it at The Wee Piper.. Look for more of his instruments in these pages in years to come.

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The Leicestershire Smallpipes:

These are one of my favourite sets of pipes for picking up and playing just for the pure fun of it. They were designed by Julian Goodacre based on a brief specification given him by his brother John-a musician and historian researching the music and pipes of the English Midlands. They have a slightly nasal, rich, sweet tone that blends beautifully with other instruments. In addition to the traditional pipe music of Scotland and England, a great deal of early music sets nicely on the chanter. (Remember the following maxim always--"Play anything that fits, and if it doesn't fit, make it".)

This set has chanters made of Yew-wood, with the rest of the woodwork being done in cherry. The Chanter that is shown in place is in the key of "D" and plays in the same range as the lower octave of a "D" pennywhistle. The other chanter shown is in the key of "C". This set is bellows-blown, but Julian makes this pipe in a mouth-blown version as well.

Julian is another pipes maker whose work will be turning up with more regularity in these pages. If you want to know more about Julian, his pipes, prices, etc., he is also has a Web Site.

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Medieval Pipes

Yet another joy from the hands and workshop of Michael MacHarg. This set of pipes is based on the design work of Joel Robinson, who has provided instruments for Piffaro and Pan's Fancy, but made and modified by Michael. This lovely is made of French Almond with Moose Antler mounts, and is a superlative instrument, fitting perfectly into a mixed or broken consort of musicians playing Medieval or Rennaisance music.

As you can see in the pic, it has interchangable chanters in "G" and "D", and the drone has tuning beads to allow it to play "G", "C", and "D" opening a wide variety of possibilities in repertoire. The "G" chanter has a beautiful, deep, mellow sound, while the "D" chanter is chipper and bright. Michael turned a windcap for the second chanter for when it's not in use in the bag--rendering it a sweetly toned instrument in its own right, which can be played in duet with the bagpipe. So far, I've been playing solo or with one or two recorder playing friends.......but if you know any ensembles using this kind of instrumentation, please let me know.....I'd enjoy playing in a larger ensemble setting.

Oh yeah........don't forget to check out Michael's web site.........the URL is in the Biniou Kozh section of this gallery, as well as on my Return to Contents List

Cornish DoublePipes:

I'm honoured to say that I have the privilege of being possessed by not one...but two sets of Julian Goodacre's Cornish Doublepipes. The first set is in the key of "D"--an octave below the lower hand on a "D" Pennywhistle. The second is in the key of "G", with the fundamental being a fifth above the fundamental on the other set............just imagine..........two sets of pipes with four chanters between them........ Both sets are made of Hornbeam (I think from the self-same tree) which came to me a whitish yellow in colour, but the older of the sets is mellowing into an interestingly mottled gold.

Julian sort of invented (or re-invented at the very least) these pipes based on a carving found on the end of a pew in a church in Altarnun, Cornwall. The process of his re-invention was written up a few years ago in "Chanter", the Journal of The Bagpipe Society. In addition to telling of how he created these wonderously ponderous beasts, Julian asks some interesting historical questions that have yet to be resolved.

Below is a drawing of the pew carving for those of a historical bent.

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The English Great Pipes:

Here is another set of Pipes made by Julian Goodacre. This set has a Chanter made of Yew -wood, and a drone and stocks of Horn-wood. The set is based on a marginal illumination found in Chaucer's "The Canterbury Tales" found in the Huntingdon Manuscript. To give you some idea of the scale of the instrument, the drone is 37 inches long when tuned to the Low "D" (6 finger note) on the Chanter. (Don't forget to check out the link to Julian's Web Site listed under the Leicestershire Smallpipes entry.)

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This Page last modified on 12 February 1999