Piping Gadgets

There are many bagpiping related gadgets on the market,  this is a brief review of some of the gadgets available,  with some advice as to how useful they are and how to get the best from them.

Electronic chanters
Electronic chanters are useful if you find yourself in a situation where you can not play a conventional chanter either because it is a public place (eg train carriage) or you will disturb someone you care about (wife/baby etc).   They are best used for learning and memorizing new tunes and revising repertoire. For technique they are very accurate at detecting crossing noises but an over reliance on electronic chanter can result in some bad habits being formed - you do not need to lift your fingers very high to change notes and so your technique can become sloppy.  Another issue is that you do not blow an electronic chanter so an over reliance on one as a practice device could result is a lose of muscle tone for blowing.  Electronic chanters are a good practice tool for gaining extra time on a chanter but electronic chanters are not a replacement for a real practice chanter.  An alternative if you just need a very quiet chanter is to add an elastic band to a practice chanter reed so that it plays quietly - the tone may not be great but it works and is cheaper than an electronic chanter.

Digital Tuners
There are several types of digital tuners available,  guitar tuners, chromatic tuners and bagpipe tuners.  Guitar tuners only tune a limited subset of notes and are not appropriate for tuning bagpipes.  Chromatic tuners can be used for many instruments including bagpipes and tuners specifically designed for highland bagpipes obviously work with bagpipes but some will have a chromatic option for use with other instruments.  

Some players may believe that a digital tuner is the panacea for getting a great sounding instrument but they are really a tool which can help and should not replace a trained ear. 

If you are at a stage of your playing career when you are not steady in your blowing a digital tuner may be a distraction rather than a help,  digital tuners offer a precise digital reading of pitch and if you are unsteady in your blowing you will find that the meter will not give a steady reading.  The human ear is better at averaging out the pitch to enable you to tune better than a digital tuner can.   You can use a tuner instead of a manometer to monitor and improve the steadiness of your blowing - see below.

To use a tuner you first calibrate the Low A - play low A and adjust the frequency of the tuner until indicates that the A is in tune.  You can then use this frequency to check high A.  If there is a variance between the two A's then you may need to adjust the chanter reed - it may need to be moved up or down in the chanter or it may be too strong/weak for you and you are not blowing both notes consistently.  Once you have the A's at the same pitch you can use the chanter as a reference to tune the drones.  If you are struggling to get a drone in tune or one of the notes of your chanter doesn't sound right, you can go back to the tuner to check where it is tuning but you should try to use and train your ear - the tuner is just an aid.  

Chromatic tuners
The bagpipe does not fit into the conventional western tuning system so some allowances need to be made when using a chromatic tuner.   Firstly it must have the capacity to be calibrated to a frequency which is high enough for the bagpipe A - 470-480Hz which is considerably higher than the standard 440Hz of western music.  You must also remember that for a note other than the A's on the chanter a little maths is involved because the bagpipe scale does not fit with the western chromatic scale.  For more information on using a chromatic tuner please follow this link for a PDF document.

Chromatic tunes have the advantage of being cheaper than bagpipe specific tuners and will generally perform the job required but you need to be aware of the limitations and adaptions needed to make full use of them.  Using a clip on contact microphone with a tuner makes it much easier to use a tuner and are available in standard and bagpipe specific forms with the usual cost variance.

Bagpipe specific tuners
Bagpipe specific tuners remove the need for the extra maths in tuning the notes of the bagpipe scale usually have additional features for isolating and tuning the drones.   The cost of a bagpipe specific tuner is greater than a standard chromatic tuner because of the limited market and development costs of such a device. 

Manometers
If you are not yet a steady blower then a digital tuner can be used as a visual aid to help you improve.  If you have a bagpipe specific tuner which can isolate the drones then you can place the calibrated tuner in view as you play and watch the change in pitch.  If you are using a chromatic tuner you can achieve similar results using a contact microphone on one of your drones.  Another tool which is cheap to make and a great aid in improving blowing is a water manometer.  More details about water manometers can be found on Andrew Lenz excellent site,Bagpipe Journey

Metronomes
Metronomes are useful tools for setting a pace for a piece of music and keeping regular rhythm.  The difficulty with the bagpipe is that it is such a loud instrument that you need an ear piece or a non audio indication of the beat to make use of a metronome.  Some players have expressed concern regarding using an earpiece because of potential hearing damage due to the volume needed to overcome the volume of the pipes, the alternative is a metronome with lights or a vibrating alert which doesn't need to be heard.  Some tuners have a metronome function.  Drummers are also available but some have problems keeping constant time and they come with additional maintenance requirements.

Digital Recorders
A recording device is a great for recording practices and lesson so that your can look back at a later date.  For practice sessions you can critically assess your playing and if you keep an archive you can review your progress over time.  A recording of a lesson is useful for future reference as it is often difficult to remember every point made by your tutor.  Modern digital recorders store the recordings on memory cards which enable the recordings to be easily transferred to a computer, reviewed, edited and emailed to a tutor.

Digital camcorders are now becoming cheaper and it would be possible to use these to record a practice session and review with images as well - you could place the camera on a tripod focused on your fingers to help with technique issues.  

You may not need to buy new gadgets for your piping as many computers, mobile phones, digital cameras etc. have facilities to record audio and/or video and may be sufficient for your needs. 

Most gadgets are available from your local bagpipe supplier,  the College of Piping, the Piping Centre etc.  The only exception is digital records which are more generally available - Google is your friend !