Chromatic bagpipe chanter

[MichaelR.S.]

Having been out of the loop a bit I have no idea how well-known this thing is, but I just thougit it was pretty interesting and maybe somebody else who has not seen this or heard of it might find it interesting as well
👇

https://youtu.be/QeLwIXfdQXY

[BaggyMcPipes]

I want one...

I wonder, though... I live in high-desert, and I've gone that it's very difficult to get cross-fingering to work here as it does closer to sea level... I wonder if the forked fingering described would work for me at home as it does in the video...

I'd love it if it would, this would be so much fun!

[Scot Kortegaard]

Originally Posted by BaggyMcPipes

I want one...

I wonder, though... I live in high-desert, and I've gone that it's very difficult to get cross-fingering to work here as it does closer to sea level... I wonder if the forked fingering described would work for me at home as it does in the video...

I'd love it if it would, this would be so much fun!

Maybe I'm off base here, but ... the GHB scale has two sharps, C and F. Could a person not just tape those two notes down to their natural values, and have a chromatic chanter?

Cheers,
Scot.

[CalumII]

Yes, if you want different notes, tape is always an option, as is drilling new holes. Tape has its inconveniences though, especially if you want to play a G minor tune and follow it with a G major tune.

[Pip01]

Michael !!... Many Thanks!! :)

It is always a good thing... to enlarge... our
musical horizons... and outlooks... :)

It's brand new to me!!... and has an interesting
sound to it... but it is also quite obvious to me...
that I have... more than sufficient trouble with...
my present... and now... "Old School" chanter...
and so... should remain with it... as... The Devil
I Know...Is Better... Than The Devil I Don't... :)

Regards... and... All the Best!!

Pip01

[BaggyMcPipes]

Originally Posted by Scot Kortegaard

Maybe I'm off base here, but ... the GHB scale has two sharps, C and F. Could a person not just tape those two notes down to their natural values, and have a chromatic chanter?



Cheers,

Scot.

Indeed, this is a method I use when I want to play a tune that contains C and/or F naturals exclusively with no C#/F#, but the appeal here is the ability to cleanly play both C# and C natural, as well as F# and F natural, and all the other notes on the scale, at will, throughout a piece of music.

Or in other words, instead of taking the 9 notes and swapping one or two of them out, via tape, for a few different notes --but still only 9 notes-- ------the appeal of the chromatic chanter would be the availability of 15 notes, (every white and black key, as it were, from low G to high A,) to be used at will, throughout a piece of music. Making a shift from minor, to major, back to minor possible, for example. Or making Fred Morrison-esq chromatic runs possible, as another example.

[Scot Kortegaard]

Originally Posted by BaggyMcPipes

Indeed, this is a method I use when I want to play a tune that contains C and/or F naturals exclusively with no C#/F#, but the appeal here is the ability to cleanly play both C# and C natural, as well as F# and F natural, and all the other notes on the scale, at will, throughout a piece of music.

Or in other words, instead of taking the 9 notes and swapping one or two of them out, via tape, for a few different notes --but still only 9 notes-- ------the appeal of the chromatic chanter would be the availability of 15 notes, (every white and black key, as it were, from low G to high A,) to be used at will, throughout a piece of music. Making a shift from minor, to major, back to minor possible, for example. Or making Fred Morrison-esq chromatic runs possible, as another example.

My apologies gentlemen. I had understood the question to be about a simple chromatic scale - not the full scale, all the sharps and flats included. Wow ... I just watched the video included with the OP (I didn't have the opportunity earlier). The man is talented to say the least. I think if I tried to incorporate all those extra notes into what I currently do with the GHB, my head would explode. I'm okay with playing the two naturals (F and C), but not the rest of the linking notes of the scale.
I sit here listening to some fantastic playing, by one of the preeminent players of our time. What he can do with just the 9 traditional notes is both beautiful, and amazing. Traditionalists would say, "that's all we need, and all there should be". I personally don't agree. I think we should always push the boundaries, and explore where we can go musically. The GHB is steeped in tradition, probably more so than a lot of instruments. While tradition is great, in that it gives us a solid compass to follow, it also limits us. For my $.02, I believe we should explore all those ideas and genres that inspire us. The compass will always be there, and we can depend on it, while we explore all that this and any art has to offer. We'll never know what lies beyond that door, until we kick it open.

Cheers,
Scot.

[Klondike Waldo]

Originally Posted by Scot Kortegaard

Maybe I'm off base here, but ... the GHB scale has two sharps, C and F. Could a person not just tape those two notes down to their natural values, and have a chromatic chanter?

Cheers,
Scot.

Taping down the C# and F# would not result in a chromatic chanter, but rather a chanter in A minor. A chromatic chanter would be able to play all the semitones G,G#,A,Bb,B, C,C#, D, Eb,E, F, F#, G, G# A.

[Dave]

If I'm not mistaken, the whole thing about Brien Boru pipes is that it's essentially a chromatic GHB.

[Armorican]

Tudual Hervieux in Brittany has just unveiled his new fully chromatic bombarde. A similar amount of metalwork would be required for a pipe chanter.

https://www.tudual-hervieux.com/nouv...e-chromatique/