Back to blog roots/A new tuner

I've decided to make this blog more focused on piping. Although I will still blog about other things that are on my mind, I'm thinking that maybe if I try to put in more piping related posts I might have bagpipes on the brain, which would make me more inclined to practice. We'll see how that goes.

So here we go.

It was brought to my attention last night that there is a new electronic bagpipe tuner on the market. It's made by Mark Saul, a well-known name in the piping scene, and is somewhat revolutionary. First let me give a rundown of what else is out there.

1. Ears. The first bagpipe tuner, always available and very cheap. It takes a long time to develop a good ear and tune effectively.

2. Korg Chromatic Tuner. A good low cost option. It's not specifically designed for pipes, but works well to set the low A in a band and quickly tune drones.

3. Yamane Bagpipe Tuner. A very nice tuner, but not at all low cost. Made specifically for the pipes, the analog scale makes it easy to read the pitch, and it's easy to calibrate without worrying about numbers. It's not affected by background noises that can throw off the Korg, but again in a band setting it's really only good for setting the Low A and drones.

The new tuner by Mark Saul is a complete reinvention of the process of tuning the bagpipes. It's designed to tune each chanter note individually, as well as each of the drones. It mounts on the blowpipe stock for easy viewing, and its pickups mount to the stock of each drone and the chanter with regular electrical tape (which every piper should have lots of). The estimated retail price is $300 US, toward the upper range of the prices, but it's more versatile than the Yamane listed above. It can be a valuable teaching tool and really handy for tuning bands, especially lower grade bands. There are some videos on YouTube showing demonstrations of the tuner.

The bad news is that when used by a band, Saul suggests that every member of the band have this installed on their pipes. That makes for a significant investment on the part of the band. With the tuners listed above, a band can easily get by with just one unit for the band.

So this brings me to my thoughts on tuners in general. They're fine for a band, but I don't recommend them for players tuning for solo work. I shudder when I see soloists, usually in the lower grades, using a tuner to get ready for their competitions. First, the chanter only needs to be in tune with itself; unlike most (ok, all)other instruments, it doesn't have to match a pre-determined concert pitch. Second, as you use the tuner, your blowing pressure (especially for lower grade players) is almost guaranteed to change from tuning to performing. Changes in pressure drastically change the pitch, and if you tune at one pressure and perform at another the tuning is all for naught.

The big reason I don't like to see soloists tune with electronic devices is this: I feel a good piper should be able to tune chanter and drones by ear. A tuner can help a piper get in tune, so he/she becomes used to what a well-tuned pipe should sound like, but there's also a tendency to tune with the gadget then not think about tuning after that. After all, if the gadget says it's in tune, it must be. Players need to keep in mind that the judge is listening with ears, and will comment on poorly tuned pipes regardless of what the tuner says. No matter how cool gadgetry gets, a piper needs to be able to tune his/her own pipes by ear. If the ear knows what to listen for, you never get a false reading, and if the batteries run low you have bigger troubles than an out of tune set of pipes.

So the bottom line on tuners is this: when used wisely by someone who can tune pipes by ear it's a valuable tool in a pipe band's arsenal, but shouldn't be relied upon exclusively, and the solo player should use it sparingly and only as a practice tool. That's my two bits.