Really great video! I’ve always found your blogs/videos very helpful. They’ve helped train my ear through out the years as well as setting up drone reeds. Thanks!
I just recently started exploring bagpipes. I’m familiar with many other woodwinds and thought that it wouldn’t be too much different. Boy was I wrong! Lol controlling intonation with embouchure, as when playing oboe, doesn’t apply here, and I’ve been struggling with tuning. Thanks for sharing this video! It has helped a lot!
It is different, not being able to control note separation with breath ... Tin whistle to practice chanter isnt too bad ... and as I learned from color dots to cover holes I cant read sheet music.... I convert my sheet to #s (leaving out grace notes to start) amazing grace is easy,the brave is good and the gael has a slow pace with a fast riff to start doublings and faster note separation... matt willis explained A LOT in my first month Tuning reeds (to me) is for bands... single play, braw tuner app and calabrate your tuner to your low a... you can tune bass and tenors to what it is Mhz 440 chanter,220 tenors ,110 base is the perfect world.. but calabrate a tuner to your reed and say you get 480.... half 240 ,half 120 you still sound in tune ... similar to random guitar top string E and 5th fret tune ... e might not be perfect but your still tuned to human ears Also theres no perfect reed, which leads to tapping holes for fine tuning .. but a practice chanter runs good
Good stuff Patrick ... as always seems to be the case! I hardly EVER see anyone going over this process ... especially in using the drones to aid in setting the chanter.
If you have an iPhone, get the Braw Tuner app. Tune High A first, then find where your low A is sitting and fine tune from there. Seriously easy and better than a Korg CA20 tuner.
Highland pipes don’t tune to the orchestral reference of A = 440 Hz. Change the reference frequency until A is a green light. If your A is sharper than 480 Hz, you’ll have to use a Bb reference to get a green light because Korgs top out at 480. The whole scale will read shifted up one note if you use a Bb reference: G A B C# D E F# G A (A = 478) becomes G# Bb C D Eb F G G# Bb (A = 452)
Hi friend, thanks for the video but I want to know, if I want to try to tune on an A 440 by my smartphone, what references should I take, I also want to write for a band with other instruments.@@patrickmclaurin
Really great video! I’ve always found your blogs/videos very helpful. They’ve helped train my ear through out the years as well as setting up drone reeds. Thanks!
Thanks Matt, glad all I do is helpful to you!
Thanks! it helped me a lot, greetings from México
I just recently started exploring bagpipes. I’m familiar with many other woodwinds and thought that it wouldn’t be too much different. Boy was I wrong! Lol controlling intonation with embouchure, as when playing oboe, doesn’t apply here, and I’ve been struggling with tuning. Thanks for sharing this video! It has helped a lot!
You're welcome
It is different, not being able to control note separation with breath ...
Tin whistle to practice chanter isnt too bad ... and as I learned from color dots to cover holes I cant read sheet music.... I convert my sheet to #s (leaving out grace notes to start) amazing grace is easy,the brave is good and the gael has a slow pace with a fast riff to start doublings and faster note separation... matt willis explained A LOT in my first month
Tuning reeds (to me) is for bands... single play, braw tuner app and calabrate your tuner to your low a... you can tune bass and tenors to what it is
Mhz 440 chanter,220 tenors ,110 base is the perfect world.. but calabrate a tuner to your reed and say you get 480.... half 240 ,half 120 you still sound in tune ... similar to random guitar top string E and 5th fret tune ... e might not be perfect but your still tuned to human ears
Also theres no perfect reed, which leads to tapping holes for fine tuning .. but a practice chanter runs good
Nice job... really helped in considering many of the variables that effect tuning...
Regarding the variables of tuning, I've only scratched the surface. It never ends!
Good stuff Patrick ... as always seems to be the case! I hardly EVER see anyone going over this process ... especially in using the drones to aid in setting the chanter.
Thanks Nate!
excellent thanks, im trying to learn to tune my first drone. i'll try this out
If you have an iPhone, get the Braw Tuner app. Tune High A first, then find where your low A is sitting and fine tune from there. Seriously easy and better than a Korg CA20 tuner.
Nice video Patrick!
Thanks!
My korg tuner registers my low A as B? Any ideas?
Highland pipes don’t tune to the orchestral reference of A = 440 Hz. Change the reference frequency until A is a green light. If your A is sharper than 480 Hz, you’ll have to use a Bb reference to get a green light because Korgs top out at 480. The whole scale will read shifted up one note if you use a Bb reference:
G A B C# D E F# G A (A = 478)
becomes
G# Bb C D Eb F G G# Bb (A = 452)
Hi friend, thanks for the video but I want to know, if I want to try to tune on an A 440 by my smartphone, what references should I take, I also want to write for a band with other instruments.@@patrickmclaurin
Are these pipes MacLeods?
They are not MacLeods. They were made by Chris Terry of South Africa.