There are a good handful of different pipe manufacturers / brands in existence, Vintage and Contemporary, and many of these are characterized as having unique sounds and presence. While the novice person may not notice large differences among pipe brands, those with more experienced ears do. I don’t have a ton of experience but believe that I can already hear clear differences in the ficw sets of pipes I own or have owned (Late 1990s Gibsons, 2011 McCallums, 2011 Dunbars, 2016 Colin Kyo, WWI Hendersons, those I’ve heard and played from my instructor and friends (mid-century Robertsons, mid-century Hendersons, 2000s Naills), and what I’ve heard in the band and in solos at games. Certainly set-up can make one set of pipes sound quite different, but overall, some distinct characteristics can be applied to various bagpipe makers.
The following are general points I gleaned primarily from the Bob Dunsire forum and other sources. I believe that a good proportion of the original information is from Shawn Husk over a number of forum posts, but a number of other knowledgeable folk also contributed; some of the phrases may be exactly from the forum post, but most of it has been adapted. I’ve added quite a bit. Specific characteristics are for the original pipe manufacturer but can be applied to contemporary pipes based on the vintage designs, hence the use of type.
General Characteristics
Glen type – generally a more mellow sounding pipe; milder bass, bright ringing tenors – the two sounds tend to blend very well with the end result being a tenor dominant sound.
Henderson type – generally a big sounding pipe; big bold bass, bright ringing tenors – the two sounds do not blend seamlessly but are typically stand alone, although they do compliment each other well. Slightly to mostly a bass dominant sound.
Lawrie type – big sounding pipe; very warm round bass sound, tenors are mild and very integrated. Overall a seamless bass dominant sound.
Starck (Naill) type – generally a big sounding pipe with big bright tenors and a balanced bass. Overall a slightly tenor dominant sound. This type has a very big harmonic presence coming from the tenors.
MacDougall type – once thought to be generally a mellower sounding pipe, actual MacDougalls (those in the Edinburgh style not confused with Glens, are a robust sounding pipe with a strong bass). Some suggest that, while the bass is big, it is warm and very well integrated with the tenors – this type of sound is completely seamless, you can not hear the bass from the tenors but rather they blend completely together to form one solid tone. The harmonic character of this type of pipe tends to give the impression that the sound is coming from everywhere at once, it’s a much less focused sound than say the Glen or Henderson types; this results in some atypical harmonics which are quite pleasing.
Robertson type – another big sounding pipe; this is very much like the Henderson type in every way save for the bass is less dominant and the bass and tenors blend a bit more seamlessly.
Vintage Pipes: The Bass to Tenor Dominance Scale and Bold Vs. Mellow Pipes
We can also rate bagpipes based on their propensity to be bass dominant or tenor dominant and bold versus mellow pipes. I have added a new category, ‘Boldish’ pipes, because I find it difficult to place MacDougall drones with the other pipes. I have added Hardie pipes to that category. This is a very coarse comparison. The of some pipes did not stay consistent over time (E.g., Lawrie). However, the comparison is a good starting point for understanding pipe brand sound from the perspective of vintage pipe brands:
Bass Dominant……..……………….…………………..………..Tenor Dominant
‘Bold’ pipes
Henderson…..Robertson…Lawrie………………..Naill……………………………….
‘Boldish’ pipes
………….. MacDougall………..Hardie…………….Starck………………………………
‘Mellow’ pipes
……………………….……………………………………….Glen…………………………………
New Pipes Based on Vintage Pipes
Producing new pipes based on vintage pipes designs is hugely popular these days. In fact the list is quite large. Two vintage pipe manufacturers seem to have captured the imaginations of contemporary bagpipe manufacturers, and the pipers who purchase these sets: Henderson, by an incredibly wide margin, and MacDougall. See below for a list that is likely not yet complete!
Henderson-based:
Hardie, St. Kilda, Dunbar, Kron Heritage, MacLellan, Somers, Drumran (but made to be quieter), Kintail, Wallace (based on a set of ca 1910 Hendersons owned by Craig Munro), Strathmore and Boderiou bagpipes sound very Henderson like (and look to be produced by Wallace), R. Francois, Fletcher (based on P/M Angus MacDonald’s Hendersons), MacMurchie (based on a set of 1930s Hendersons), Colin Kyo (based on 1908 Hendersons but tweaked), and I have heard tell of Kennedy and David Booth, as well.
Lawrie-based:
McCallums, based on Stuart McCallum’s 1927 Lawries, then after 2009 the bass was tweaked for stability and tone based on Willie McCallum’s 1898 Henderson’s, then in 2011, further boldness on all drones based on Willie’s Hendersons. Glencoes are also apparently based on Lawries.
MacDougall-based: Pipes by David Atherton and Jerry Gibson, both out of the US, are based on these bores. Atherton MD bagpipes are based on a set of Duncan MacDougall pipes played by Roddy MacDonald and his son Calum. In the case of Gibson bagpipes, the late Capt John Maclellan’s MacDougall pipes, now played by his son, Colin, were used as the base model, although Gibson also measured a number of other outstanding MacDougall pipes. Duncan (father) and Gavin (son) MacDougall pipes appear to be the most well-known, but at least two other sons were involved in the business. Chris Terry bagpipes out of South Africa are based on John MacFadyen’s full silver Duncan MacDougall bagpipes. Crisler bagpipes are also purported to be based on MacDougall drones.
MacRae-based:
Stuart Liddell’s Duncan MacRae bagpipes are now being made by McCallum bagpipes. They were originally to be made by Wallace bagpipes.
Robertson-based: To date I have only heard that Soutar pipes are along the lines of Robertson. Dunbar bagpipes have a Robertson bore and profile bagpipe that can be made upon request.
Sinclair-based:
Some craftsmen at Sinclair bagpipes took Sinclair specs and experience to turn their own sets of pipes. This include Tweedie pipes. Although the individual who produces Fletcher bagpipes got their experience at Sinclair, Fletcher bagpipes are based on Hendersons.
Starck-based:
Henry Starck bagpipes were the original model for Naill bagpipes. Naill bagpipes are produced by Leslie Cowell and his sons at Naill; Leslie worked for Henry Starck from 1946 until 1955.
Some Notes on MacDougall and Other Bagpipes…
MacDougall bagpipes were manufactured first by Duncan, and then, primarily, his son Gavin (although it is know that Duncan’s other sons were also involved in business to some degree). Duncan manufactured his pipes in Glasgow and Edinburgh, following the typical style of pipes being manufactured in these two centres at the time. The thought is that MacDougall, at least Duncan, manufactured pipes for pipers on spec and there were vastly different profiles swinging from Glasgow to Edinburgh styles. There is a story that Duncan refused to produce pipes for the military and only made pipes for those who personally visited his shop (can’t recall where I read that — Jeannie Campbell?). This contributed to the vast array of profile and mount configurations in MacDougall pipes and who knows about the bores. Have all MacDougalls been properly identified as such?
I believe that Jim McGillivray wrote somewhere that the Edinburgh-styled MacDougalls share many outward similarities in profile and detail with Glens, but not the same sound. Glens are lovely-sounding pipes but comparatively more quiet and perhaps sweet as some say. True MacDougalls are more or less now known to be quite robust in sound compared to Glens. There are a number of known MacDougalls that clearly demonstrate this. They are also thus valued more highly; according to Jim, it is possible that Glens have been unintentionally (or even intentially, my emphasis) misidentified as MacDougalls in the past thus muddying the waters on what a MacDougall ‘should’ sound like.
Jim McGillivray’s excellent line of MacDougall reproductions, The Perth and The Breadalbane, are based on known MacDougall pipes. Both sound excellent (I hear Breadalbanes every week) and both have a very characteristic sound signature, IMHO (based on recordings).
Re other MacDougall-based pipes (Atherton, Gibson, Crisler) I occasionally played a set of Gibsons which are based on Colin McLellan’s set, with some modifications (I don’t want to open the can of worms on how MacDougall Gibson specs are, only to say that I have had a few conversations with Jerry Gibson about this). The Gibson sound signature is quite a bit different from my other sets of pipes. The bass is huge compared to my late model McCallums which to me now sound characteristically more like tenor-dominant Naills (a number of sets which I hear every week): a wickedly lovely ringing, by the way! Before I had the Gibsons I thought the McCallum bass was relatively big but not as big as my Dunbars or Hendersons. The McCallum bass is big, just not as big — and it’s not a bad thing. My Henderson-based Dunbars also have a big sound but perhaps not as big as the Gibsons, or perhaps a little more integrated, surprisingly. My favourite set are my WWI Hendersons. The bass on these is huge and likely the sound is closest to my Gibsons. However, the integration of the bass and tenors may actually be a little more seamless on my Hendersons than the Gibsons.
So, for my money, Hendersons and MacDougalls are big-sounding pipes, but they do have their characteristic tone.
Contemporary Pipes: The Bass to Tenor Dominance Scale and Bold Vs. Mellow Pipes
The same way I rated vintage bagpipes based on their propensity to be bass dominant or tenor dominant and bold versus mellow pipes, here I rate contemporary bagpipe brands. As you have likely gathered by now, contemporary pipes, for the most part, are based on specs gathered from vintage bagpipes. By and large the bores and other measurements are gleaned from more than one set of pipes, but not always. Sometimes this is from the same brand; while Jerry Gibson based the design of his pipes on primarily one set of MacDougalls, he measure over a dozen other sets, mainly MacDougall as I understand. McCallum pipes are based on 1927 Lawries and 1898 Hendersons (at least two refinements over time). Dunbar bagpipes are based on Hendersons from the 1930s and 1940s. Colin Kyo bagpipes were originally based on a set of 1908 Hendersons but have been much refined since the initial prototype. Chris Armstrong bagpipes are purported to be a singularly unique design.
As with the vintage version of this table, I have added a new category, ‘Boldish’ pipes, because I find it difficult to place MacDougall-type drones with that of other pipes. Overall, this is a very coarse comparison — if you have any suggestions where pipes should fit please send me at note at davidlocky@gmail.com and we can discuss!
Bass Dominant……..……………….…………………..………..Tenor Dominant
‘Bold’ pipes
Dunbar………………..…McCallum………………..Naill……………………………….
XXXXXXX…………..Gibson, Atherton…………………………………………………….
‘Boldish’ pipes
………….. …………………………..Jeffers…………….Starck………………………………
‘Mellow’ pipes
……………………….………………………………………………………………………………….
MORE TO COME…
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