Tuning Contra Chanter Pipes
Channel: Karl Echtermeyer
Date: 2020-10-14

In response to feedback about my previous video on tuning contra-chanter bagpipes, I made a new video that avoids blowing the chanter by mouth or removing reeds. It describes the following process for tuning these pipes:

[Note: At 6:34 I mistakenly state that the melody bore is flat, but it's actually sharp. That makes me adjust it the wrong way at first. Sorry for the mix-up.]

1. Tune the tonic of the melody pipe to your pitch reference. In this case I used a tuning app on my phone to set this pitch to F. To do this, adjust the melody reeds by pulling it out to lower the pitch or pushing it into raise it. This is actually a temporary step to create a reference pitch within the chanter.

2. After the melody pipe tonic is set, adjust the contra’s open note to match it precisely. This is where you actually set the chanter tuning.

3. Next, set the dominant of the chanter’s melody pipe to a perfect fifth from the tonic. For those who are curious, these pipes are basically set with just intonation, not equal temperament.

4. Now, set the tonic of the melody pipe to match the open note of the contra You do this by adding or removing wax from the tuning slot on the side of the melody pipe. Add wax to lower the pitch and remove it to raise it.

5. Set the lower note of the contra by adding or removing wax and/or adjusting the position of the contra-extension. You want it *exactly* an octave lower than the dominant on the melody bore.

5. Check the overall intonation of the chanter by playing notes against both the tonic and the dominant on the contra. Adjust the reeds as needed to get everything in tune. Remember that you may discover that you need to adjust many times.

6. If the pipe has a separate bore for the octave, adjust the reed to bring the octave into tune with the rest of the chanter.

7. Tune the drone to match the chanter.

If all goes well, you will have a pipe that plays in tune and sounds properly against your external pitch reference.