what's the latest pitch of the pipe chanter?

[bullet08]

i haven't played the pipes in about 6 yrs. thinking about picking it back up. i know the pitch of the pipe chanter has been going up, or at least it was going up for 20 yrs i played the GHB. what's the current popular pitch of the low a?

pete

[Bagpiper]

While the pitches of the drones and the tonic note on the chanter are referred to as 'A', they are actually much sharper (higher than Bb) than this on the modern Great Highland Bagpipe. Presumably the pitch was close to A when the music first began to be written down, but over the course of the past century, pipe makers have been producing sharper and sharper chanters.

The standard for the frequency of the A above middle-C is 440 Hz (cycles per second), although modern concert bands and orchestras tend to tune a little sharper than this. The standard frequency of Bb is higher by a factor of the 12th root of 2 (1.05946), i.e. 466 Hz. Published measurements from 1885 show the pitch of one chanter to be 441 Hz, while the average of several chanters was found to be 459 Hz in the mid 1950s.

Recent measurements show that modern chanters tend to tune between 470 and 480 Hz for low A.

[acadianpiper]

Most solo competitors tend to play at a pitch around 472-476 Hz. Most bands are pitched at somewhere between 474 Hz and 478 Hz. The grade 1 bands competing at last year's World Championships were all pitched at or above 480 Hz. Several were using a pitch of 482-484 Hz.

Since these pitches are well above the concert A pitch of 440 Hz, a few makers are now producing concert A chanters specifically to facilitate playing with other instruments. MacLellan makes one and, I believe, MacCallum does also.

[ironron]

I just cant understand what is going on in the piping world today, Why do they keep medeling with the the pitch of the chanter.
Pipes today dont sound anything like they did when i started playing in 1944.

I think they sound to sharp & lack quality.There is no body & soul now ! to the sound of the pipes, It seems that everybody is trying to outdo one & other, especially some of the so called new manufacturers.

I can listen to a pipe band nowdays , & it does nothing to me, They have taken the soul , from the piob mhor!

[Satellite]

Is there something like imesh that i can download for musicc ?? i heardd imesh was filled with virus's ? i know most music downloads are illegal so do you know that are okay to use and will be safe for my computerrr .....?

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