Spirit of Scotland chanter, Husk reed, Crozier Glass, and Competition Tunes

Great Highland Bagpipe Solo

I acquired a Spirit of Scotland style blackwood McCallum chanter from a donation to the “On the Day” box set fundraising campaign. It is a very nice chanter. I wonder what model it is? I’m inclined to think it is, or very similar to, the regular McCallum chanter, MK2 with slightly oval holes (what is apparently shipped with most of their pipes, only in delrin). I’ve got high G down to D taped, and C could have used just a teeny bit too, so it’s certainly amenable to taping in a band situation. It has a Husk reed in it and I’ve got the Crozier glass tongued reeds in my Gellaitry’s. I’ve got the only competition I go to coming up in mid-November so I’m practicing for that. Instead of ‘mastering’ in Audacity (which as of late has me wondering if it’s exporting at the same quality that was recorded), this post I’m trying AudioSlicer which just cuts your mp3 into pieces based on silence and hopefully preserves the original quality). Peace!

HJ: Ina MacKenzie and Herring Wife

6/8’s: Farewell to the Creeks and Sweet Maid of Mull

MSR: Cowal Gathering, Susan MacLeod, and Miss Proud

Pipe Dream Medley: Mason’s Apron, Inspector Donald Campbell (Ness), Unst Bridal March, Iron Man, Mrs. MacLeod of Raasay, and Scots Air Hornpipe

Actual Medley: Green Hills of Tyrol, When the Battle’s Over, Scotland the Brave, and Wings

Friend’s MSR: Arthur Bignold of Lochrosque, Highland Harry, and Bessie McIntyre

New Crozier Glass versus optimal, established Setups

Drone Sounds of the GHB

So, I got a set of Crozier Glass drone reeds in from Gord over at Island Bagpipe on his recommendation. He’s had a set of Gellaitry’s identical to mine in stock for a long time. That he has had them so long is something that has really bothered me. I really, really, really like the sound of Gellaitry bagpipes. Get yourself one! Continuing on, Gord did some trials I believe and very much liked the sound of the Crozier Glass drone reeds in the Gellaitry pipes, hence why I ordered a set. I’ve got a set of Crozier’s Carbon and Cane but I find the bass reeds to be a bit weak relative to their very powerful and harmonic tenors, respectively (granted I haven’t fiddled with them all that much). BUT, the recordings below are plug and play, at least until you get to the Henderson recordings where I had to pull the plug out to reach a different pitch.

Below you’ll first find a recording of my favorite drone reeds thus far in the Gellaitry’s: Kinnaird’s! Great reeds. Then for comparison, I plugged in the Crozier Glass, tuned to the same pitch, and recorded again (all sans chanter). These pipes are tied into a grommetless Gannaway zip bag.

Gellaitry with Kinnaird

Gellaitry with Crozier Glass

Note that in all the recordings I stand at 4 different relative orientations to the microphones so the sound will change (and at times sound out of tune as I move). The 2nd and 4th orientations feature the tenors and bass respectively. One thing I’ve rarely heard with any other pipe is an overtone coming right off the bass. Tenors are one thing and fairly common, but off the bass and so strong, it’s incredible. You can hear it really well toward the end of the Crozier glass recording. While playing them, it sounds like it’s being emitted right out of the bass drone’s lower tuning chamber, cool eh? You can hear these pipes under the same recording conditions with (Naill) Rocket, Crozier Carbon, and Crozier Cane in this post.

Then, to get an idea of what is Crozier Glass sound and what is drone sound I repeated the process with my 1950’s Henderson’s, first with the (Naill) Rocket tenors and Canning bass, then recorded with all Crozier Glass. These pipes have a pure synthetic Monarch zip bag with grommets.

1950’s Henderson with (Naill) Rocket tenors and Canning bass

1950’s Henderson with Crozier Glass

So, this is a tough decision. I very much like the sound of the Crozier Glass in both pipes, but I’m not sure I like it more than what I already had. Definitely strong contenders if not and easily take 2nd place. What do you think?

If I don’t switch them in to either of these pipes, I bet they’ll feel right at home in the set of MacPherson’s I ordered. Peace and Enjoy your Piping!