| LEICESTERSHIRE SMALLPIPE | |
| THIS IS A SIMPLE ENGLISH BAGPIPE WITH A LOW, RICH TONE. IT CAN BE PLAYED AS A QUIET SOLO INSTRUMENT OR TO BLEND WITH OTHER ACOUSTIC INSTRUMENTS AND IS AN EXCITING ALTERNATIVE FOR THE PENNY WHISTLE PLAYER. | |
| The most popular key for these pipes is D. The chanter plays the notes of a D major scale and has a range of one octave plus a semitone. Compared with the bottom octave of the D penny whistle, it sounds an octave deeper and has a thumb hole to give the top D and a little finger hole to add the C# leading note below the bottom D. | |
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As the chanter can play in only a limited range of keys or modes, each of its notes can be tuned to a just interval above the drone. The resulting beats between the two produce a rich harmony giving the impression of more than one drone. An interchangeable chanter is also available to play a whole tone lower, the notes of the C major scale. The chanter has a slightly tapered bore and uses a plastic double reed. The single drone, made in two sections and tuned to D an octave below the chanter's bottom D, is rich in harmonics. If a C chanter is used the same drone is tuned down to C or, leaving it at D, the pipes take on a decidedly 'Eastern European' character. (If required, a D drone can be supplied that will tune up to E.) |
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The pipes are also available in F, E flat, B flat, A, low G and low D. A split stock arrangement is available which leaves the reed protected when changing chanters. Chanters can be made with custom tuning, eg flat 3rd or flat 3rd & flat 6th [see video] |
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I usually make the chanter of yew and the drone, blowpipe and stocks of cherry, though the entire pipes can be made of plum or yew and occasionally other woods. The bag is made with a graceful swan neck that holds the chanter at the correct position for playing. I make the pipes either mouth-blown or bellows-blown. The mouth-blown pipes are fitted with an upright drone and the bellows-blown pipes have a horizontal drone. The bags are of hand-sewn leather. The bellows-blown pipes are fitted with a velvet cover which are available in a variety of colours. The bellows are sturdily made of nailed leather with boards of cherry. The chanter and drone have large flared bells, a common feature in early illustrations and carvings of pipes in England. I arrived at my design after being given a brief specification by my brother John, a musician and historian who has been researching the history of piping in the Midlands and Leicestershire in particular. Like the Northumbrian Small Pipe chanter, the chanter is played with 'covered' fingering, i.e. only one finger is raised at any one time. The Northumbrian chanter is stopped at the end, so that articulation between the notes is produced by the momentary silence when all the holes are covered. Our chanter is open into its bell so that articulation, (on a D pipe) produced by returning briefly to the bottom D between each note, has a distinctive percussive character. If required, the chanter can be supplied to play with 'open' fingering.
I have been making the Leicestershire Smallpipe for nearly twenty years and it has proved to be an extremely popular pipe. The most popular key has been D, with many pipers later buying a C chanter. It is a very compact instrument. A mouth-blown set weighs about one pound and with the drone dismounted its maximum length is fourteen inches. My own favourite is the low G chanter fitted with a tuning ring to allow one to play in C. On this chanter, I use a large reed which allows it to have a very comfortable finger spacing as well as a rich mellow tone. I favour fitting these G pipes with a bass drone in G and a tenor which can be tuned to D or C. With this drone arrangement and split stocks one can interchange chanters in D, G and C. |
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listen to sample
