Pipe Set-up & Tone! |

Bagpipe Set-up: More Than Just Getting the Bloody Thing Up-and-Running — Massaging the Set-up to Make it Sound Marvelous!

Here are some miscellaneous musings on how to set up pipes: bags, drone reeds, chanter reeds, location of drone tops relative to hemp, etc. in order to ensure it’s operating properly and is a good fit.

Pipe Bag Tone

Perhaps one of the most critical aspects of setting up your bagpipe is the pipe bag. There are numerous materials — synthetic, hybrid, hide (sheep, goat, cow), numerous brands — Bannatynne, Gannaway, Ross, Lee & Sons, producing all many of combinations of sizes — Small, Extended Small, Medium, Large, and some specialized sizes like Bannatyne’s Willie McCallum Special. Bannatyne is currently testing a Prototype Sheepskin bag with Willie McCallum.

Bag choice can apparently affect the tone of your pipes. Hide bags, specifically sheepskin, are lauded as the best-sounding bags and an efficacious built-in moisture control system (the hide itself). Bags that are tied-in and not using grommets are also reputed to have the best sound. Your geographic location will likely affect what type of bag you might choose. For example, while tied-in sheepskin bags may provide the best tone, they require more maintenance and the pipes need to be played more regularly to maintain the integrity of the bag.

To follow up on the concept of tone, a Bob Dunsire member, CallumII, provided an excellent example of what drone reed locking is. Here is the explanation verbatim:

The sound from the reed goes in two directions – up and out the drone, but it also travels into the bag, where it meets the sound from the other drones. If they are sufficiently close to each other in pitch, they will lock in step with each other. Sometimes you can notice when moving an in-tune drone that’s a small region of movement where there’s no apparent change of pitch – this is the drones locking and pulling each other into tune.

The effect is similar to this, when you couple metronomes together”:

As described by Lapp, another Dunsire forum member, there are two sine waves locked together when viewed on an analyzer. With respect to volume, when one tenor drone is firing it produces approximately 90 db. Add a second drone and volume only rises to 93 db. However, when the two drones are locked, (described as “the sine waves are in sync at the point of the sound”), the two drones produce 96db. The bump in db is the reason bagpipe tone sounds clear (almost less in tone to my ear). When all three drones are synced as such, the addition of a well-tuned chanter creates this harmonic and clear tone to the listener.

For someone with limited technical understanding on all things engineering, the description of the sound waves and metronome demonstration video clarify the concept of locking. If locking is indeed what happens with the drones, reeds, and bag it certainly exemplifies the importance of the bag; the bag is really the most important conduit, or more probably the sole conduit, between the individual reeds and thus, drones. I guess this conduit allows the reeds to ‘talk’ to each other, if you will. This then opens one up to question of not only what bag material contributes to this tonal conduit, but the effect of all the other things we end up sticking into the bag and stocks for whatever reasons. But let’s discuss pipe bag sizing first…

Pipe Bag Sizing

Bags may also have zippers for easy access to a moisture control system and even your stocks and/or drone reeds, but also simple maintenance (allowing your system to dry out). Zipper location may be at the bottom or the side.

I’ve opted for something in between: a Bannatyne hybrid with a bottom zipper. How did I get here? I like the convenience of a zipper and grommets with the robust feeling of a hide bag.

There are some guidelines on what bag size will work with you, coupled with blowpipe length. One useful link is Jim McGillivrary’s guide here. The reality is that likely the only way that you will know what bag works for you is to actually try one. The major brands do not appear to have congruence on size and shape. For example. Ross bags are reputed to run a little larger than the same size in other brands.

In the Bannatyne hybird group of bags I have tried the Medium, Willie McCallum Special, and Extended Small. I can play all three of them fine but prefer the Extended Small and Willie McCallum equally well. The dimensions are clearly different:

Bannatyne Pipe Bag Sizes:

Small – Depth 228mm x Length 610mm
AG Extended Small – Depth 241mm x Length 675mm
Medium – Depth 267mm x Length 675mm
Large – Depth 292mm x Length 735mm
Willie McCallum Custom – Depth 255mm x Length 700mm

However, when you lay the three sizes out with each other they really don’t look that different — see below, Medium, Willie McCallum, Extended Small. Note how the Extended Small and WMC appear to be virtually identical.

Bannatyne Hybrid bags in Medium (top), Extended Small (middle), and Willie McCallum Special (bottom).

It’s when the bags are blown up that subtleties are amplified. Blowpipe length is the other key factor that can significantly affect your comfort level. Once again, Jim McGillivray has some excellent advice here. In case that link ever disappears, here are Jim’s guidelines:

5′ 2″ or shorter Ross extra-small 8″ or less blowpipe	5′ 10″ to 6′ Ross small or medium All other makes: medium Blowpipe length 10″ to 11″
5′ 3″ to 5′ 6″ Ross extra-small All other makes: small Blowpipe length 8″ to 9″	6′ to 6′ 4″‘ Ross medium or large All other makes: medium or large Blowpipe length 11″
5′ 7″ to 5′ 8″ Ross small or extra-small All other makes: small Blowpipe length 9″ to 9.5″	6′ 4″ or taller Ross medium or large All other makes: large Blowpipe length 12″
5′ 9″ to 5′ 10″ Ross small All other makes: small or medium Blowpipe length 10″

Bagpipe Tone: Getting Your Pipes to Sound Amazing!

OK, so you’ve got your bagpipes comfortable and everything’s working as expected, strike-ins and what-not, how about your tone? I believe that this is one of single most overlooked aspects of piping.

I’ve only really discussed hybrid bags here, but I am convinced from a couple of sets of pipes I played with hide bags, and hearing some of the best tone I have ever heard in my life from other sets of pipes with hide bags, that grommet-less hide bags, particularly sheepskin, provide the ultimate tone. Unfortunately, the cost is that the pipes have to be played at least every second day to maintain the hide in an optimum condition. Perhaps, the truly hybrid sheepskin with grommets and a zipper would be a good alternative and maybe I’ll try one someday.

Now, if you run over to Pipers-Dojo, the Dunsire Bagpipe Forum, and various other places like Ringo Bowen’s page, you’ll get tons of information of refining your tone. This would include everything from blowing steady, changing hemp to waxless for drone tops, and reed set-up, etc. I’m just going to pull various things out of this that I, as a relative piping noob, believe are important to good tone.

Drone Top Position

OK, while not an engineer it seems to me that the correct placement of your drone tops relative to hemp appears to be a simple and effective way to pull the most tone from your pipes. The simple ‘rule’ is that hemp has to be visible below all three drone tops. If I had a dollar for every set of pipes I’ve seen in bands or otherwise without any hemp showing, or even mismatched height tenors…

So, how much hemp needs to be visible for optimal tone on the drone top chambers? Well, a good place to start is with the pros. Check out images and videos of any top notch piper and you’ll notice 1/4″+ of tenor hemp showing. A good acquaintance of mine pointed me to Stuart Liddell who very much exemplifies this with his vintage AND reproduction MacRae bagpipes. He must have close to a full inch of hemp showing on the lower tenor joint! Here’s Stuart with his vintage MacRaes.

Stuart Liddell with his antique Duncan MacRae bapipes with mismatched tenor dimensions. Notice the an inch or so of visible hemp! The same tuning setup is seen when he plays his MacCrae reproductions from McCallum.

Could this be one of the ‘secrets’ to great bagpipe tone? Quite possibly given the commonness of this set up. However, this is a question you could also answer by yourself. Assuming that you already are playing a set of pipes with the drone tops above the hemp line (!), adjust your drone reeds such that the drone tops are well below the hemp on the joint below. Of course, you are trying to match the pitch of your chanter and reed adjustment is necessary, either singly or a combination of bridle movement, pitch screw adjustment, or length of the drone reed in the seat (see my drone reed adjustment pointers below). You should notice more of thin tone to your tenors with the drone tops well below the hemp.

For the bass drone, don’t worry too much about the lower joint; hemp should pretty much never be visible there, and in fact, the mid-bass lower mount should likely be 2 inches, give or take, from the bottom joint top mount. In fact, many vintage Hendersons and Lawries sound and perform phenomenally, (particularly the latter I understand) when the lower bass joint is below two inches from the mount. To do the test here, drop your drone top so that it is below the hemp, re-tune your bass drone, and you should notice a similar thinness to the tone, and possibly some instability, often seen with the bass.

The trick though, is getting the drone tops to tune where you want them. Depending on your desired chanter pitch, this can be quite a challenge and may involve reed choice, at least three drone reed adjustments, and possibly drone reed extenders.

Drone Reed Adjustment Basics

OK, there is all kinds of information on drone reed set-up and manipulation in the multitude of drone reed user manuals and online forum information. However, here are a few basic rules that apply to the average bagpipe drone reed that includes some form of 1) bridle and 2) nose-cone and/or tuning screw, plus 3) the tenon end of the drone reed that is inserted into the lower joint reed seat. The point of this is that there are repercussions with each manipulation one needs to be aware of. I won’t go into changing the weight of the tongue or lessening the weight of it, or sleeving the reed bore, but Ringo covers it well here.

1) Bridles

This is the part that holds the drone reed tongue in place very near the drone reed hole (not the bridle that may be at the seated end of the reed.
The closer you move the bridle to the tip of the reed (away from the reed seat end) the lower the drone top will sit on your tuning pin and the higher the drone pitch will be.
The closer you move the bridle to the tip of the reed, the easier the reed will be, the easier it will shut off with increased blowing pressure, and the quieter the drone will sound.
One basically wants to adjust the reed to the strength where it could be shut down with over-blowing; it will be most efficient and match to your chanter reed strength this way.
Adjust the bridle first when you are setting up your reeds.

2) Nose-cone and/or Adjustment Screw

OK, this concept is a little more complex given the different ways of adjusting this aspect of the reed (screw, putty, cone, etc.) but here goes: the less air column there is inside the reed body, the higher the drone top will sit on the tuning pin and the lower the pitch will be.
As noted above, you adjust this part of the reed after you have set the strength of the tongue. Occasionally, there are trade-offs and you may have to work with both the tongue and the nose-cone – screw to find the right place for your drone top to sit but with adequate drone reed efficiency and tone

3) Tenon of Reed and Reed Seat

The deeper you have seated your reed in the lower joint reed seat the higher your drone top will sit on the pin and the lower the pitch will be.
This can be an effective means to adjust that last little bit of height, either up or down. However, there are trade-offs in that the further out your reed is out of the seat, the less there is holding in place!

Drone Top Optimally Placed + Awesome Tone = 1) x 2) x 3) x Reed Brand; sometimes one has to experiment with a variety of reeds in order to get the right combination of factors that allow one’s pipes to perform and sound at their optimum.

Drone Reed Extenders

Re the drone reed extenders, these are primarily used to address the opposite problem: getting the drone tops DOWN to just above the hemp because you are playing a very low pitched chanter, say 466 Hz, or even lower.

Dunbar makes some affordable drone reed extenders but be advised that your drone reeds may sit well below the stocks and could be knocked out of place when you put your pipes down.

McCallum makes some interesting drone top pitch lowering discs. These appear to be easy to use but methinks they look a little odd!

Optimum Tone as Related to Three Basic Bagpipe Components: Chanter – Tenors – Bass

I recently came across an interesting observation on the Dunsire forum (link to follow) about the relationship of optimum tone and three basic bagpipe components: chanter – tenor drones – bass drone. The old salt term goes something like this:

Optimum bagpipe tone can be divided into 40% chanter, 30% tenors, and 30% bass.

Of course, the actual design of the components is the first cut in this: properly designed and balanced bores from stocks to bushes, properly balanced and tuned chanter. However, it would follow that each of the associated reeds would be the next important thing, and it’s reeds we have the most control over (unless you’re inclined to do a “John Kidd” to your bores!). Thus, if you can ensure that your chanter is properly reeded and tuned, your tenor reeds are carefully chosen and properly adjusted, and similarly your bass reed, your pipes will be playing at their optimal tone.

I have written here that the choice of a bass reed greatly changes the colour and tone of a set of pipes. The tone from a full set of reeds from one manufacturer can be greatly improved by swapping out the bass for a reed from another manufacturer. In my experience Ezeedrones are a great sounding reed, but this is related mainly to the tenors; the tone of Ezeedrone tenors can be greatly improved by swapping out with a bigger sounding reed, like any of the Kinnairds, Canning, or Selbies. Apparently, one of the most common open player set-ups is with Ezeedrone tenors and a Henderson Harmonic bass reed. Recently, I was pleased to see that Jim McGillivray wrote wrote that “I’m convinced that a good piping life is little more than the constant search for a good bass drone reed”. Ah heck, I hope that Jim doesn’t mind but because his advice is so useful, the quote in its entirety bears repeating:

“It took a long time for me to learn this, but as a general rule, when you’re not happy with your drones, focus on the bass. There are lots of great reeds out there today, and it’s never been easier to get a pair of tenor reeds that are perfectly matched and steady as a rock. But unsteadiness in the bass reed is much subtler. I would say that assuming you have proven that you can set up a perfectly steady bagpipe, nine out of 10 times not getting the instrument to lock is the fault of the bass drone reed. Colin MacLellan once told me that when his father handed Colin his MacDougall pipes for good, he gave him everything but the bass drone reed.

You may already have done this, so I apologize beforehand, but leave the tenors and try every bass drone reed you can get your hands on. And don’t set them too weak. Sometimes just lengthening the tongue of a bass reed and making it stronger will solve the problem.

I’m convinced that a good piping life is little more than the constant search for a good bass drone reed.

JM”

I will take this as the search for an ideal bass reed is something of a holy grail journey for most pipers. This strongly suggests the singular importance of a properly set up bass drone to the overall tone of your pipes.