November marks one year of publishing a tune of the month. I hope it is enjoyable. It started out with a few competition worthy tunes but quickly devolved (haha) into shorter, session tunes as my interest changed. We continue along that thread with a fine two-part reel, Paddy Cronin’s, aka The Mill Stream.
The tune exceeds the standard scale of the highland pipes in either one of two ways depending on which key it is transposed to. In the key of G major, it requires one to play C naturals. However, this key does not sound “right” on the highland pipes because of our drones in A (drones in G would be best, see below). In the key of D major (or for the highland pipes the A mixolydian mode), it requires a high B. The high B however, is a transient note that, while valuable, is not essential. Another compromise made is the tune is actually transposed up a step from G major to A major, of which A major has three sharps, C#, F#, and G#. The latter is not in the standard highland pipe scale, but again most the the high G notes are transient and as is often the case, substitution with G naturals is passable. This is what turns an A Major tune into a D Major tune: G# to G natural leaving only C# and F#.
In the sheet music provided here, the tune is presented first in D Major but also in G Major. I have not recorded it yet in D Major because I have a special set of highland pipes set up to play G Major tunes as it has a G Major chanter and G drones. Below is a bit of info on how to set up a G major highland pipe followed by a recording of a tune of my own composition followed by Paddy Cronin’s. Where the one high A is in the second part when played in G Major is where the high B is when played in D Major. You’ll note the D Major sheet music requires playing something else and has the high B already substituted; I encourage you to come up with your own substitution. I changed the timing to a series of high A eighth notes separated by two thumb grace notes in the spirit of the E and D eighth note patterns that follow shortly afterwards.
Sheet Music – Paddy Cronin’s (the top is best for normal highland pipes).
A few notes about highland pipes in G Major: After tinkering for hours over the course of a couple years as I revisit the concept of a highland pipe that plays in G major, I am getting closer and closer to a more stable instrument and felt I would share what it takes to make it happen along with a few tunes. Highland pipes in G major requires the drones to tune to the G on the chanter instead of the low A, so the drones are playing G. Additionally, the normally C# needs to be flattened so that it plays C (natural). I’ve previously shown that it takes brass tubing to extend the drone reeds so that they can get low enough to play G, a whole (musical) step below A. It’s best to use a very sharp chanter reducing how far down the drones really have to go to get to G. The chanter I’m using currently is a Colin Kyo laminate, though this chanter only tops out around low A = 482 Hz, usually. Referencing the tuning chart in this document, you can figure out how you tune the chanter notes when the drones are tuned to G. The biggest complication has to do with when the drones are tuned to A, the G notes on the chanter are tuned 31 cents flat of equal temperament tuning (piano tuning) in order to have consonance with the drones. However, for the G pipes the G notes are the standard which means that their relative flatness requires all the other notes to be taped down just to get started since the G notes start furthest from an equal temperament tuning reference. The biggest hurdles in tuning the chanter then become covering most of the E and C# holes with tape; in the case of E just to get it flat enough because it has to be 16 cents flat to have consonance with G drones, plus having to flatten it just to get it in line with the G note which started out flat because we’re adapting a normal pipe chanter. In the case of C#, we’re trying to get it all the way down to C natural which will take a lot of tape. B gets flattened to 14 cents flat as well but this usually isn’t an issue because of the size of the hole having plenty of room to tape. The rest of the instrument is a late 90s Kron standard pipe (which, like Naill pipes) are a bit on the flatter side drone pitch wise. Drone reeds are Crozier Omega on brass tubing extensions.