DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.16909137
title: Harmonic Frontier Audio - Bagpipes - Scottish Smallpipes in A (Preview Pack, v0.9)

description: Harmonic Frontier Audio – Scottish Smallpipes in A (Preview Pack, v0.9)

Currently trending on Hugging Face Audio Datasets (Aug. 2025) 

Scottish Smallpipes in A, a preview dataset, created by Harmonic Frontier Audio.It provides developers, researchers, and musicians with a compact reference set, demonstrating the quality and format of the full Harmonic Frontier Audio bagpipe dataset series.

About This Dataset

This dataset was published by Harmonic Frontier Audio, founded by Blake Pullen — a creative technologist, filmmaker, producer, and musician, and founder of Harmonic Frontier Audio, Planet Vegas, and Digital Piper’s Lab.

Author Site: blakepullen.com

Official HFA Site: https://harmonicfrontieraudio.com/

More Datasets: Harmonic Frontier Audio on Hugging Face

This Dataset on Hugging Face: https://huggingface.co/datasets/Harmonic-Frontier-Audio/Bagpipes_Scottish_Smallpipes_in_A_Preview

Keywords: bagpipes, smallpipes, folk instruments, audio dataset, AI training, sound design, Harmonic Frontier Audio, Blake Pullen

🎶 About the Scottish Smallpipes

The Scottish smallpipes are a quieter relative of the Great Highland Bagpipe, traditionally bellows-blown though mouthblown sets are also common.They typically play in the key of A with a range from low G to high A, accompanied by three drones tuned to A.Unlike many instruments, the smallpipes produce a continuous sound with no rests, and the chanter naturally grows louder as it ascends in pitch.This continuous and dynamic quality makes them uniquely challenging — and rewarding — for audio modeling and dataset creation.

 

📂 Contents

Audio Files (.wav)



Recorded at 96 kHz / 24-bit WAV format

Exported as mono or stereo (depending on mic configuration)

Clean recordings with no fade-ins or fade-outs (pipes are already sounding at file start/end)

High-pass filtered at ~40 Hz to remove subsonic rumble


 

Categories in this Preview





Scale Exercises



No Gracenote Scale Exercise

G Gracenote Scale Exercise

Includes chanter-only, and stereo mix examples





Sustained Notes



Low A (plain sustain)

C (vibrato)

D (plain sustain in chanter-only mic, and stereo mix)

E (vibrato)

High A (plain and vibrato)





Short Tune Snippet



"My Gallant Hero" - Mono mix of chanter + drones (balanced, natural sound)





Isolated Components



Drones only (no chanter, drone mic only)




Metadata (.csv)Includes structured fields for file name, instrument, category, content, note pitch, vibrato (true/false), BPM, mic position, channels, sample rate, bit depth, recording chain, and dataset version.

 

🎤 Recording Notes



Pipes recorded in a treated room with dual mic setup:



Chanter mic (Oktava MK-012) near chanter

Drone mic (Rode NT1-A) near drones



Stereo files are balanced mixes:



Chanter = Left

Drones = Right



Levels are natural to the instrument — high notes peak louder than low notes, reflecting authentic dynamics.


 

⚡ Usage

This preview pack is designed for:



Evaluation of Harmonic Frontier Audio format and quality

Testing workflows in ML training, sample library creation, or DSP pipelines

Demonstration for developers exploring bagpipe timbres


👉 Note: This is not a full dataset. The complete Harmonic Frontier Audio dataset for Smallpipes in A will include:



Full ornamentation library

Sustained notes across the full range

Additional exercises and variations


Other smallpipes keys (C, D, B♭) and Highland Bagpipes will be released as separate datasets.

 

📜 License

Released under CC BY-NC 4.0.



Free for non-commercial use, testing, and research.

Commercial licensing available via Harmonic Frontier Audio.

A formal rights declaration is included in this dataset bundle.


 

📧 Contact

Harmonic Frontier Audio📩 info@harmonicfrontieraudio.com🌐 https://harmonicfrontieraudio.com/

 

🔮 Future Roadmap

This preview release is the first step in the Harmonic Frontier Audio Celtic Instruments Series.Upcoming planned datasets include:



Full Scottish Smallpipes in A dataset (expanded embellishments and articulations)

Highland Bagpipes

Irish Low Whistle

Irish Flute


Over time, Harmonic Frontier Audio will also expand into additional world folk instruments, building the first dedicated catalog of folk/ethnic datasets for AI training, synthesis, and sound design.

 

🗒️ Release Notes

Version 0.9 (August 2025) – Initial Preview Pack release for Scottish Smallpipes in A.See CHANGELOG.md for detailed version history.