minstrel: Bagpipes

[Barbara Webb]

My husband has two sets of 'medieval' bagpipes so I thought I'd add a few
suggestions. First, you might not get a lot of help from asking
users/makers of traditional highland pipes, which differ in various ways
from period ones - more drones, louder, tuned in inconvenient key for
playing with anything else etc. These people may be able to point you to
someone more appropriate but in my experience (and I live in Scotland)
there is little overlap between those involved in highland piping and
other forms of bagpipe playing.

Someone mentioned Galician pipes; these and several other European folk
pipes are certainly a possibility worth considering. Some are pretty much
the same as medieval pipes, and it tends to be a cheaper option to get
hold of them. The drawback can be in reliability - you might get a good
set, but a lot of what is sold is for the tourist trade, and therefore of
poor quality as instruments, so you need to know what you are looking for.

Also mentioned were some of the kits available e.g. from Renaissance
workshop. Could be worth a try but I've yet to see/hear a good set of
'kit' bagpipes - not necessarily a problem with the kit, but bagpipes are
one of the "fussiest" instruments in that very tiny differences in how
they are set up can make vast differences in how they play, so there's
more risk that what you build won't really work very well. At least if you
buy it from a maker they should have solved any problems before they send
it to you!

So finally, what I'd recommend is talking to someone who specifically
makes pipes in the appropriate style (if possible, talk to as many people
as you can who use that maker's pipes as well!). Two well-known makers in
Britain are Jonathan Swayne & Julien Goodacre - both make various
traditional British pipes but also sell a nice 'medieval' model and I know
several satisfied customers. I can give you contact details for them if
you want to follow this up, but I would assume there are probably equally
good makers in the US, I just don't happen to have names. There are also
several makers I've heard recommended in Germany.

Hope this helps - get in touch if you want more information,

Caitlin


-- 
The University of Stirling is a university established in Scotland by
charter at Stirling, FK9 4LA.  Privileged/Confidential Information may
be contained in this message.  If you are not the addressee indicated
in this message (or responsible for delivery of the message to such
person), you may not disclose, copy or deliver this message to anyone
and any action taken or omitted to be taken in reliance on it, is
prohibited and may be unlawful.  In such case, you should destroy this
message and kindly notify the sender by reply email.  Please advise
immediately if you or your employer do not consent to Internet email
for messages of this kind.  Opinions, conclusions and other
information in this message that do not relate to the official
business of the University of Stirling shall be understood as neither
given nor endorsed by it.