I remember taking my
bagpipes for a spin when I first got them. I took them out of the old wooden case,
initially seasoning the leather bag, then put reeds made out of actual reed
into the drone stocks, added a chanter reed, inflated the bag, struck in the
drones, then chanter and heard a cacophonous sound far out of tune. I was
painfully aware that I was doing was probably done in excitement, and ignorance
of how to tune. I needed to learn more; I was eager to learn more. That’s how
we sometimes learn, by trial and error, learning from our mistakes.
In my Memorial Day
Back-to-Basics, Part 1, I talked about the need to strengthen lips, lungs and
arm. In Part 2, I spoke to bagpipes basic maintenance. Both parts are about the
set-up of the pipes. In part 3, I want to look at tuning. You can have the
strength to maintain a steady tone and you can have the lips to play for an
hour plus, and your pipes may be set up to play functionally correct, but if
your chanter and drones are out of tune, a great performance can turn into a
dismal, painful sounding exercise.
Two schools of thought
come to mind regarding effective tuning: Tune the tune the drones to the
chanter or the chanter to the drones. Won’t they both get your pipes set-up
correctly to play? I say yes, but consistent (and correct) technique leads to
good piping. There is wisdom in the generations of pipers that came before me.
So ask experienced player how they tune and play. Pick their brains. Watch
their technique. Try things. Ask more questions, observe how others approach
tuning, and playing technique for that matter. Let’s start with tuning the
chanter first.
The chanter, made of
blackwood or polypenco (a wonderful dense type of plastic), has been designed and
refined for a hundred or more years for sound resonance with holes designed for
bagpipe fingering. Eight finger holes for creating the scale of notes and two
holes at the side of the base of the chanter for sound resonance. Without going
into the music scale and it’s fingering, suffice it to say that each of the
nine notes on the chanter must be tuned. To tune each note one adds (or
subtracts) tape to the top side of the hole open nearest the fingering being
played. Many pipers use black electrical tape, others a clear pipe chanter
tape. Both work. Both need replacing as they will warn and slip causing a note
to go out of tune.
But where to start tuning?
Begin by warming up your pipes. Tuning will mean nothing if you start tuning
while the pipes are cold. Of course you are developing your ear for tuning
correctness. As I warm up, I will adjust my drones and chanter to sound good to
myself. Practicing in tune is more fun than playing out of tune. If you are
tuned when ‘cold’ as soon as you run through a couple tunes, your chanter and /
or drones will be out of tune. Last weekend I played for a wonderful family who
held a memorial service for their deceased Dad, sister and friends. I warmed up
and tuned in 60 degree F, foggy weather. For the first 15 – 20 minutes of my
playing, the weather held, but by thirty minutes into the pre-memorial playing,
the sun was out, only wafts of fog remained and I started to go out of tune. If
you find yourself in this performance circumstance, between tunes take time to
make small adjustments to the drones to match the changing environment. Don’t
panic, just take 30 seconds to retune the drones. Then soldier on.
Tuning starts with low ‘A’
on the chanter, the drones shut off. Typically, one changes the depth the
chanter reed is seated to tune ‘A’. If you are part of a band, the Pipe Major
or Pipe Sergeant will tune to a certain calibration, and let you know. Your job
is then to come close to his (or her) tuning before the band tunes for
practice. Lately our band has been tuning at 478 – 480 Hz using a tuner. A
number of manufacturers have small tuners with digital readouts. My favorite is
an iPhone app (not currently available on Androids) called aptly, Bagpipe Tuner
from Blair and uses the iPhone mic and has an optional Bluetooth mic to clamp
onto chanter or drone. I find that this app works very well. Once ‘A’ is in
tune, slowly proceed up the scale adjusting each note, adding or removing tape
in very small increments. These notes should be measured against the tuner.
A goal for every piper is,
or should be, tuning without the aid of the tuner, tuning by ear. This take
practice, and not every piper has the ear to accomplish this. When one plays
solo, as long as the chanter and drones is in tune to middle ‘A’ then the
performance will sound good. For a band the tuning becomes much more critical.
A band is to sound and act as one, playing in unison with both chanters and
drones playing the same notes. Extra care need be taken in the upper register
of notes as these more easily can shift out of tune. High ‘A’ and middle ‘A’
need to sound essentially the same. One can’t play them simultaneously, but
alternating one to the other will help, as long as you blow steadily.
Once the chanter is tuned,
play middle ‘A’ on the chanter while the outer drone sounds middle ‘A’. If
there is a beating sound, or a sound of ‘wa-wa-wa’ then the two are out of
tune. To adjust, sound ‘E’ and reach across with your right hand and adjust the
drone in (to shorten / sharpen the tone) or out (to lengthen / flatten the
tone) to slow down the beating sound. Note that you can over lengthen or
shorten the drone so that there is no beating sound. The drone is in essence on
a different note altogether. Sound ‘A’ and repeat until the beating is gone. Here’s
another reason to have your pipes properly set-up. Your drone should slide
easily, but not too easily. If it’s too tight, you’ll have a hard time sliding
the drone; to loose and the drone will move as you play. Next add to play the
middle drone and adjust to the outside drone. The chanter can be silent during
this, with the chanter eventually being played to hear and adjust the drones to
chanter. Finally, stop the middle drone and start the third drone, the low ‘A’.
Listen again to the beating adjusting the lower drone slide to match the
outside drone tone. Then strike drones and chanter in to sound ‘A’ and listen.
It can help to alternate to ‘E’ to listen for dissonance.
Finally, play a tuning
scale listening all the while for out of tune notes and drones. If all is good,
play a slow air or 2/4 march to hear the tuning. Play something you know by
heart (e.g. Green Hills) so you can concentrate on how the pipes sound. Playing
something familiar will allow for playing without stress and give your body and
ears chance to play ‘normally’. If you are stressed while tuning, your blowing
will be higher pressured, your arms and hands tighter and you’ll play elevated
and sharp.
So just relax, play tuned,
play, then re-tune, and play as if for an audience of only one… yourself.
