Norden Sackpipa Association of the Americas (NSAA)

texasbagpiper · Senior User Joined: 24 Oct 2006 Posts: 352 Location: Texas

Does anyone have plans for a D/G chanter or a D/G chanter that you can measure to give approximate's from. I'm planing on making D/G chanters and if I have to I'll do it the hard way and make a bunch of prototypes. Its just easier as some of you know to have at least a basic area to start from.

Olle do you know the standard scale/tone hole notes of a basic D/G chanter.

Thanks, Seth

bagpiperjohn · Posted: Tue Oct 31, 2006 8:23 pm Post subject:

Hi Seth,

I have one made by Eriksson. In the next few days I'll try to trace mine and add some measurements to the figure. I'll scan it and try to figure out how to insert the figure onto this site.

cheers,
John Razz

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texasbagpiper · Senior User Joined: 24 Oct 2006 Posts: 352 Location: Texas

bagpiperjohn · Posted: Thu Nov 02, 2006 2:44 pm Post subject: D/G chanter plans

I have plans for an Eriksson D/G chanter but unfortunately I can not post the image on this site since it is not located on a publically available web site. I can email you the image if you send me your email address. However I can list out the basic dimensions.

Total Length: 255mm
Bore Diameter: 6.5mm
Reed End Diameter: 13mm
Sound End Diameter: 24mm

Finger Hole Measurements: The first measurement is bore diameter and second is distance of center of the hole to the reed end of the chanter.

Left Hand Thumb (Underside): 5mm/45mm
Left Hand Fore Finger: 4mm/71mm
Left Hand Middle Finger (Two Holes): 3mm/89mm (offset) and 4mm/95mm
Left Hand Ring Finger: 5mm/112mm
Right Hand Fore Finger: 5mm/144mm
Right Hand Middle Finger: 5mm/163mm
Right Hand Ring Finger: 4mm/189mm
Right Hand Pinkie (tuning hole - offset): 4mm/214.5mm

I hope this helps,
John
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Concord, New Hampshire
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texasbagpiper · Senior User Joined: 24 Oct 2006 Posts: 352 Location: Texas

texasbagpiper · Senior User Joined: 24 Oct 2006 Posts: 352 Location: Texas

I thought the bore would be the same as the A/E chanter, Which is approx 6mm or 15/64", Looks like the D/G is around 6.5mm or a hair larger than 1/4" Olle can you comment on that...

Olle · Posted: Fri Nov 03, 2006 9:19 am Post subject:

I only have D/G-chanters by Alban Faust. I think the diameter is 7mm, except at the very top, where the reed seat is 6mm to make it possible to use the same reed material as for E/A chanters.

So, that the D/G chanter by Eriksson has a wider bore than the E/A chanter is no surprise to me.
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Aaron K. Holt · Posted: Fri Nov 03, 2006 1:03 pm Post subject: Bore diameter

I also have a G/D chanter made by Alban. With mine, he inserted a small length of brass tube at the reed seat, I suppose to narrow the bore there, but I'm not entirely sure why he decided to use brass tube to do it. Could there be other reasons for this?
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Olle · Posted: Fri Nov 03, 2006 2:48 pm Post subject:

It's easier to drill a 7mm hole straight through and then narrow the top by inserting a copper tube there, than to drill in two steps. I think the only reason for narrowing the top is to be able to use 6mm cane.
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Aaron K. Holt · Posted: Thu Nov 09, 2006 6:32 pm Post subject:

Does anyone have measurements for a low D or E drone (one octave below the chanter's low d), and measurements for the reed needed with this?

I know a handful of tunes that would sound good with a lower-drone, but I'm not sure if I can lengthen my existing drone (by adding a straw or a left over cane segment to the end) or if I should just think about getting a secondary drone some day.
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texasbagpiper · Senior User Joined: 24 Oct 2006 Posts: 352 Location: Texas

Experiment with telescopic brass tubing to get the right length. Once you get the right length make a wooden proto-type. You can get all sizes from Hobbytownusa...

texasbagpiper · Senior User Joined: 24 Oct 2006 Posts: 352 Location: Texas

Ok, So far I've had a chance to make one prototype from the plans John made up... It's weird though It is playing almost the same as the E/A chanter Thumb note is Eb and bottom note is Eb as well. I may make a few different reeds and see what I get. Otherwise I'm going to work on making a bunch of D/G prototypes with a 6mm bore.

Olle · Posted: Fri Nov 17, 2006 10:49 am Post subject:

I would go for 7mm. It's just a guess, but I think 6mm would lead to too great impedance for a single reed, when you play the lower notes.
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favrepipes · Joined: 26 Oct 2006 Posts: 63 Location: Vancouver

I started making a D/G chanter based on the Eriksson scan shown above. I'll post some feedback and a picture once it's finished.

I do have a question about the B note at the 89mm mark - is it drilled at an angle so that the tonehole leans toward the reed end as it enters into the bore, or does the 89mm point remain the same both on the outside and inside the bore? Does anyone else have a chanter of the same design with the extra C# hole and if so, what is the hole diameter and placement?

Olle, I am trying to make a fully loaded D/G chanter with all the extensions and I'd like to add a top key like on the chanter that you have posted on your site on the "extensions" page. Can you tell me what the diameter and placement for that keyed tonehole is? I assume that this particular chanter has a 7mm bore?

Thanks much!
Boris

Olle · Posted: Mon Nov 20, 2006 3:00 pm Post subject:

My B/Bb double holes are drilled at an angle towards the center but not towards the top. In other words, it is the same measure on the inside. My B hole is slighly bigger than the Bb hole.

The measures for all my finger holes differ a lot from the ones above for the Eriksson chanter. So I don't think the measure for my high E hole (under the key) would tell you that much. It is 32mm though, which is about halfway to the thumb hole (60mm). It's diameter is difficult to measure without removing the key (which I will not do) but it looks like 4.5mm or 5mm if I peek under the key.
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favrepipes · Joined: 26 Oct 2006 Posts: 63 Location: Vancouver

I completed a D/G set (not yet assembled) and got the chanter to play at the correct pitch using a piece of cane 6.75-7 mm OD. It isn't as sweet sounding as my A/E chanter, rather more buzzy, so I'll experiment a little more. Olle, what alterations do you usually make to D/G chanters?
Bo

Olle · Posted: Mon Dec 04, 2006 10:14 am Post subject:

Alterations of the reeds you mean?

Well, the diameter is the same in my case, since I have a short piece of copper tubing with 6mm inner diameter in the reed seat. If I cut a new reed and intend it to play in a G-chanter I add 1mm or so to the tongue length, but this is not crucial. Usually, any A-reed can be adjusted by normal tuning methods to fit a G-chanter and vice versa. Actually, I store all finished but not yet fine tuned reeds in the same box - I don't bother separating them until I fine tune them to a particular chanter.

Olle
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pipercozza · Joined: 20 Jan 2007 Posts: 5 Location: Brisbane Australia

hi all,
yesterday i made my first D/G chanter (havent finished it yet). aestheticly it looks great. however ive got some questions? it plays spot on in G-D on the bottom hand and up to A then the next 2 notes are very odd. the very top note is fine. are the meausrements of the note locations correct on the scan? all the scallops are made to 3mm above the bore and the outer diameters are exact to the scan too. i made 3 reeds last night and had the same problem with all. i think my D bit is just a hair under 6.5mm. otherwise it has a nice tone, but with the offset hole open its playing B rather than B# (i think thats the note) and the next hole up tends to want to play B# rather than C. how deep are the scallops on the eriksson chanter in the scan? to get my notes into pitch ide need to deepen the scallops a lot but that would look and feel a little awkward?
if someone will tell me how ill post a piccy.
cheers
cory

texasbagpiper · Senior User Joined: 24 Oct 2006 Posts: 352 Location: Texas