The chanter is the part of the

bagpipe Bagpipes are a woodwind instrument using enclosed reeds fed from a constant reservoir of air in the form of a bag. The Great Highland bagpipes are well known, but people have played bagpipes for centuries throughout large parts of Europe, ...

upon which the player creates the melody. It consists of a number of finger-holes, and in its simpler forms looks similar to a

recorder Recorder or The Recorder may refer to: Newspapers * ''Indianapolis Recorder'', a weekly newspaper * ''The Recorder'' (Massachusetts newspaper), a daily newspaper published in Greenfield, Massachusetts, US * ''The Recorder'' (Port Pirie), a news ...

. On more elaborate bagpipes, such as the Northumbrian bagpipes or the

Uilleann pipes The uilleann pipes ( or , ) are the characteristic national bagpipe of Ireland. Earlier known in English as "union pipes", their current name is a partial translation of the Irish language terms (literally, "pipes of the elbow"), from thei ...

, it also may have a number of keys, to increase the instrument's range and/or the number of keys (in the modal sense) it can play in. Like the rest of the bagpipe, they are often decorated with a variety of substances, including metal (silver/nickel/gold/brass), bone, ivory, or plastic mountings.

Cylindrical vs. conical bore

Chanters come in two main types, parallel and non-parallel bored (although there is no clear dividing line between the two). This refers to the shape of the internal bore of the chanter. On the Great Highland Bagpipe, the internal bore is conical: it is this that gives the chanter its exceptional volume. The Northumbrian pipes, on the other hand, have a parallel bore, giving them a much sweeter and quieter tone.

Keyed chanter

Although the majority of chanters are unkeyed, some make extensive use of keys to extend the range and/or the number of accidentals the chanter can play. The most common pipe featuring this arrangement is the Northumbrian smallpipe.

Double chanter

Another variant of the chanter is the two-piped chanter (often called a double chanter). The chanter pipes may be designed to be played separately, one with each hand, or the two chanters may be played in unison (as in most Arabic bagpipes). One chanter may provide a drone accompaniment to the other, or the two chanters may play in a harmony of thirds and sixths (as in the northern Italian

Müsa The müsa, or müsa appenninica, is a bagpipe from the Apennines of north-west Italy which was commonly used to accompany the piffero in the folk music of the Quattro Province: the ‘Four Provinces’ of (Pavia, Alessandria, Genoa and Piacenza ...

and central-southern Italian '' zampogna''). In pipes of the Carpathian basin up to five separate chanter bores may be placed in parallel within a single chanter assembly, providing both melodic and rhythmic possibilities: in the simplest case, one pipe is used to play the melody while the second provides a variable drone, while more complex pipes may separate certain individual notes into separate, stopped pipes.

Intonation

Because of the accompanying drone or drones, the lack of modulation in bagpipe melody, and stable timbre of the reed sound, in many bagpipe traditions the tones of the chanter are tuned using just intonation, although bagpipe tuning is highly variable across traditions. On the Great Highland bagpipe, tuning of the individual notes of the chanter is done using tape to slightly cover the finger holes as needed. Historically, it was done with wax, as was done with other woodwind instruments.

Practice chanter

The

practice chanter A bagpipe practice chanter is a double-reed woodwind instrument, principally used as an adjunct to the Great Highland bagpipe. As its name implies, the practice chanter serves as a practice instrument: firstly for learning to finger the differe ...

is used as a practice instrument for the Great Highland Bagpipe. It is somewhat similar in appearance, though slightly smaller than the bagpipe chanter, and has a top piece so it can be blown directly from the mouth. It is also used as a first instrument so that learners can initially learn the finger technique before learning the mechanics of controlling the bag. It is almost exclusively made of hardwood or plastic. The practice chanter of today may also be a descendant of the

hornpipe The hornpipe is any of several dance forms played and danced in Britain and Ireland and elsewhere from the 16th century until the present day. The earliest references to hornpipes are from England with Hugh Aston's Hornepype of 1522 and others ...

or "stock-and-horn", a historical reed pipe of Scotland with a capped double reed and bell made of horn, played by shepherds, among others."The Bagpipe" - Francis Collinson

References

{{Reflist Bagpiping