Category Archives: Bagpipe Sound Research

Naill’s, drone reeds in the Gellaitry’s, and Husk vs. Ezee = Whew!

Bagpipe Sound Research, Drone Sounds of the GHB, Great Highland Bagpipe Solo

I’ve sort of convinced my friend that he doesn’t really need a set of Naill’s he has so it looks like he’ll be selling them to a local police officer as he learns the pipes. Don’t worry, he still has 2 sets of Robertson’s, a set of Marr’s, and a poly Dunbar. I was given charge of the transaction, so I decided to bid them a fond farewell. They were made in the late 1980’s and I’ve fitted them with my Naill Rocket’s for the recording. Original Naill chanter is reeded with an old Gilmour of mine. Passed onto the student, the chanter was fitted with a SuperSoft Apps reed which worked really well.

Amazing Grace

I recently picked up a set of Rocket drone reeds and a set of Crozier Carbon. The Rocket’s (Naill variety) are going in my Henderson’s unless displaced by the Crozier Carbon’s (not likely). The Rocket’s are excellent reeds but can be a bit bass heavy, so they are unsuited for the Gellaitry’s which already a rather strong bass presence (not a Henderson overall bass tone though). However, it quite easily picks up the bass that’s a bit lacking in my 19050’s Henderson’s. Below you’ll find recordings of 4 sets of drone reeds in the Gellaitry pipes: Kinnaird, Rocket, Crozier Carbon, and Crozier Cane. I’m going to stick with the Kinnaird, put the Rockets in the Henderson’s, save the CCarbon’s for the MacPherson’s on order, and lend the CCane’s to my 1950’s Robertson friend, in which I think they’ll be FANTASTIC! Recordings are unnormalized and were taken in a walk in closet, which makes for terrible recording conditions. I face the mic several different ways, hence the wawawa in between bits of pseudo-in-tuneness (I gave blood earlier today, so keeping steady pressure was hard enough).

kinnaird, rocket, croziercarbon, croziercane

Here’s a contribution from a reader (I presume). A quick blow through Ezee and Shawn Husk tenor drone reeds in a Dunbar P1. I’ve often thought that Ezee’s had a very nasal sound to them, and compared to cane, they do! Hence you’ll notice there are no plastic tongued drone reeds that I’m considering up above for my pipes. Ezeedrone is first, then Husk cane.

ezeedrone_vs_cane

Piobaireachd high G tunings

Bagpipe Sound Research

Hugh MacCallum – World’s Greatest Pipers Vol. 2 1987 – Lament for Mary MacLeod – A=472 Hz G=439 Hz -> Spot on 16/9(A)

Jack Lee – Dr. Dan Reid Memorial Challenge 2001 – Lament for Mary MacLeod – A=480.5 Hz G=844.5 Hz -> ~3 Hz sharp of 7/4(A)

Alasdair Gillies – World’s Greatest Pipers Vol.12 1994 – King’s Taxes – A=476 Hz G=834,832,833 Hz -> Spot on 7/4(A) – funny he actually starts a tad sharp at 834, he underblows it a bit on the next one at 832 and you can hear the slight discord with the drones, and then on the third pass you hear him blow harder as he’s still underblowing it a bit at first to come in right at 833 Hz by the end of the note.

John Wilson – World’s Greatest Pipers Vol. 5 1996 – Glengarry’s March – A=481 Hz G=845 Hz -> 3 Hz sharp of 7/4(A)

Michael Cusack – Glenfiddich Piping Championship – Park Piobaireachd (No. 2) – A=472 Hz G=824 Hz -> 2 Hz flat of 7/4(A)

Stuart Liddell – 1997 Recital Series Vol. 2 – Battle of Auldearn – A=474 Hz G=838,835,836 Hz -> 4,7,6 Hz flat of 16/9(A) or 8,5,6 Hz sharp of 7/4(A)

John MacLellan – Classical Music of the Highland Bagpipe – Lament for MacSwan of Roaig – A=476 Hz G=839 Hz -> 7 Hz flat of 16/9(A) or 6 Hz sharp of 7/4(A)

Murray Henderson – Glenfiddich Piping Championship – MacDougall’s Gathering – A=476 Hz G=839,836 Hz -> 7,10 Hz flat of 16/9(A) or 6,3 Hz sharp of 7/4(A)

Robert U Brown – Vol. 1 Masters of Piobaireachd – Lament for Patrick Og MacCrimmon – A=476 Hz G=389 Hz -> 7 Hz flat of 16/9(A) or 6 Hz sharp of 7/4(A)