Piper's Choice Border Pipes

Keltia-Art · Post by **Keltia-Art** » Sat Mar 22, 2008 4:52 am

Surfing the web I just found that Piper's Choice is making delrin border pipes. Have someone played or seen those pipes?
Cheers
Vítor

LuifeSpain · Post by **LuifeSpain** » Sat Mar 22, 2008 6:55 am

Muy buenas amigo

I can´t see the border pipes in the Piper Choice´s web. Where I can find them?

The web I have visited is: http://www.piperschoice.com/

¡Un abrazo, gaitero!

Luife

Keltia-Art · Post by **Keltia-Art** » Sun Mar 23, 2008 2:38 pm

Hola Luife

I found their border pipes at Scott's Highland Services, just surf to http://www.scottshighland.com/scotts/pipe/pipe.htm
A set of border pipes for less than $800 sounds very interesting

Saludos desde Asturies
Vítor

LuifeSpain · Post by **LuifeSpain** » Sun Mar 23, 2008 3:32 pm

Hummm....my friend...it sounds very interesting....My opinion: is a good idea to buy this set in bellows blow mode because the price is very inexpensive... Drones are drones, you can´t get problems with them...About the chanter, if you don´t like it, you can order in the future a Garvie session chanter or a border chanter from another maker.

Finally you will buy the set?

Do you play asturian bagpipes? What are the makers of your bagpipes?

Cheers!

Luife

elbowmusic · Post by **elbowmusic** » Mon Mar 24, 2008 8:53 am

Let us know if you buy the set. We're all curious about them. I'm curious for professional reasons. Wow, they're inexpensive. And only $90 extra for the bellows blown version!

Nate

Keltia-Art · Post by **Keltia-Art** » Mon Mar 24, 2008 11:01 am

If I buy a new set of bagpipes my wife'll kill me

Yes, I play Asturian bagpipes, my gaita is in Bb and was made by Clemente Neira, a few months ago I bought a Uilleann practise set made by Bob Colley but my skills as Uilleann piper are very poor.
In the future I'd like to buy a new gaita in C made by Carlos Moreno of Xixón, I think he's the best maker of gaitas in Asturies, also I'd like to buy a set of Scottish smallpipes. Searching the web for inexpensive smallpipes I found those border pipes of delrin. As a flat dweler I (and my neighbours prefer

) prefer a set of smallpipes to play at home but those border pipes are soooo cheap...
Nate, your bagpipes look awesome. If I could order a set of smallpipes just now you and Alec Smith are my favourite makers.
Cheers
Vítor

LuifeSpain · Post by **LuifeSpain** » Mon Mar 24, 2008 11:13 am

I have never seen an asturian set made my Clemente, I know he makes them. Can you post a picture, my spanish-cornish friend?

Luife

Keltia-Art · Post by **Keltia-Art** » Mon Mar 24, 2008 2:10 pm

Hi Luife,
Here's the gaita made by Clemente

Cheers
Vítor
PD: Sólo asturiano, lo de córnico nunca me lo habían dicho

elbowmusic · Post by **elbowmusic** » Mon Mar 24, 2008 4:41 pm

Vítor, thanks.

Tell your wife smallpipes are nice and quiet.

Nate

LuifeSpain · Post by **LuifeSpain** » Mon Mar 24, 2008 6:44 pm

Beautifull bagpipe!!! Thanks my friend!

sean an piobaire · Post by **sean an piobaire** » Tue Apr 01, 2008 1:19 pm

O-LA Amigos !
I just want to mention that I have had some experience with the
new Lowland Set and I like it !
Oliver Seeler has been interested in selling them on
his web-site and we had been working with the maker to
get the BARITONE "E" (a Fifth, between Bass and Tenor "A")
included in the Drone configuration.
For Tunes in D Major, the "E" Baritone is silenced, as "E" is a
dis-sonnant note against the D on the Chanter.
This Drone configuration,is in opposition to the HIGH "E"
Squeeker Drone, that some modern makers insist is the only
"Historical" Drone for these Lowland Pipes.
Well, there's lots of Art depictions that would suggest otherwise.
David Wilkie's Portrait of a Lowland, or Northumbrian Half-long
Piper, is the most famous one that I can think of, at this moment.
I myself, really love the rich harmony of the Bass/Baritone/Tenor
sound.
I also second the opinion of the work of Carlos Moreno Garcia,
of Xixon, Asturies. I ordered, and received a very nice Boxwood
Chanter (in "C", o Do normal)from him in 1999, which I "plug-in-to"
my Old Galician Gaita with 2 Drones (Bass and Tenor) made from
Boxwood. This old Pipe was for sale, in a "Flea Market"
(Mercado del Pulgas ?)
in Barcelona....for $70 (1982) USD.
I also ordered a Boxwood Chanter,
from Senor Gonzalez-Alvarez, that was also very good,
and I gave this Chanter, to my friend Juarez Roberts,
for his Gaita and so we could play duets.
More Later, Hombres !!!!
Sean Folsom

AaronMalcomb · Post by **AaronMalcomb** » Wed Apr 02, 2008 7:33 pm

What should be considered in historical depictions is that material evidence, i.e. vintage instruments, sometimes had a bass-tenor-tenor configuration in which the tenors were not identical in size. So what looks like a baritone could as likely be an odd-sized tenor.

See these photos.

Mistaken depiction by the artist could be a factor too.

That's not to say if a customer wants a bass-baritone-tenor set they can't have one because of historical evidence. Some modern makers have made them.

sean an piobaire · Post by **sean an piobaire** » Fri Apr 04, 2008 2:43 pm

Dear AAron,
I second the motion, that most of the Scottish Lowland Pipes
had/have two Tenor Drones.
Awhile back, I had a 2nd Tenor Drone made
to "plug in" to my 1925 Robertson "Boy Scout" set,
so I could hear the difference.
Well I found the sound a bit "redundant" to my taste.
It did make the whole set louder, and at the same time,
the 1996 A=440 hertz Chanter was overwhelmed by the
volume of the two Tenor Drones.

In contrast, the original Bb Chanter does "Keep-Up"
with the volume of the two Tenors, and if I NEED the
extra Tenor Drone, I keep it, AND the Bb Chanter,
in the case with the rest of the Set....in case of
"Emergent "C"s (or Bb's) !
It may be that.......
One of the reasons that for a different size Tenor
Drone is the need to have one softer Drone,
in order to have a quieter sound than 2 full bore Tenors,
BLASTING away. There's also the "Slide-By"
factor... of 2 evenly matched Drone Tops,
impinging on each other when moving the Sliders to tune them.
This is in conjunction with a Narrow Diameter Main-stock.
Unequal size comes in handy in this situation.
Perhaps the Lowlanders only used one Tenor Drone
at a time ??? (a practice found with Pipers on the GHB)
A quiet Drone indoors and a Loud Tenor for the
"Outside-in-the-Town-Square" kind of event ?
I find One Tenor "A"and One Bass "A" sufficient for my
performance, with a nice Baritone "E" to have for
that rich, Drone Harmony, for tunes in A mixolydian,
or the minor mode on "B".
The "E" Drone can be silenced as needed....perhaps
the "best" of all possible...."Drones"/ "Worlds" ?
I also have a 1999 Mallorcan Xeremie (by Joan Morey)
in "Do Brillante" (C#) that has the Tenor/Baritone/Bass
configuration. It sounds like..."una Gaita Galega, con
"Bordones de Sonidos Ricos" !
Sean "Drones" Folsom

pete stewart · Post by **pete stewart** » Tue May 06, 2008 4:43 am

First of all Hi all; I finally get round to joining this forum!
In reply to the discussion here about two tenor drones I thought this might be of interest: there were a number of encyclopedia entries for Bagpipe around this time (1780-1800) which often quote each other (I'll send another post with a very 9interesting one about the 'Lowland Pipe'): this remark about the drone being stopped is unique:

Dobson’s Encyclopaedia published in Philadelphia in 1798: the ‘Irish pipe’, which has ‘two short drones and a long one’, ‘the lowest note on the chanter is D on the German flute being the open note on the counter string of a violin; the small drone (one of them commonly being stopped up) is tuned in unison with the note above this …”

I suspect, however, that the writer has been deceived by the sneaky trick of disguising the 'doubled-up' bass drone with 'dummy' drone ends; or is this a reference to a common practice?

sean an piobaire · Post by **sean an piobaire** » Tue May 13, 2008 12:19 am

Hi Pete
I think that we will never know for sure about many
of the details of all the Lowland Drone configurations.
(have you ever seen Alan Jones' extensive collection?)
But this bit you pointed out here, sure is tantalizing !
Thanks !!!
Sean Folsom