Essentially the same as a set of
mouth blown Scottish Smallpipes
with the drones in separate
stocks, My master class medieval
smallpipes were inspired by the
Grant Pipes. They are a result of
the need for a set of smallpipes
able to fill a number of roles.
Externally, they needed to be
historically correct for
Renaissance and Medieval Faires
and yet visually stunning. The
drone arrangement needed to suit
Highland, Irish, Early, and modern
styles. Additionally, the chanter
needed to be somewhat more
flexible than the usual
one-octave-plus-one scale. And
they needed to be loud.
Click here to zoom the picture.
I built the master class medieval smallpipes for my self. One day you might find me playing to a noisy crowd at faire. The next
may find me in a small chapel escorting a bride down the aisle ( not everyone appreciates great pipes in small rooms ) and
later in the week accompanying plugged-in guitars, bass, and drums. Playing on stage with sound reinforcement adds another
unique set of challenges. My goal was to have one set of smallpipes that would suit all these various needs.
Let's look at the drones first. I play a lot of tunes where
the bass/tenor combination sounds best but frequently
need the baritone for other songs. In keeping with the
early look, the drones have no tuning beads. Instead,
you simply tap the top to silence them. To make the
drones more audible to the audience and easier to
mike when using a P.A., I brought the drones around to
the front--over the right arm. The medieval style bells
also help with this by directing more sound forward.
The chanter utilizes an extra hole under the right thumb
for playing the F natural. With the drones set D/A/d, the
set plays the standard D major scale and D minor, and
many songs in G. If you play much early music, you'll
find they work great with the baritone set on the fourth.
If it's the highland sound you're after, simply silence the
baritone. No one will notice you only have one tenor!

The chanter on my personal instrument employs an
open fingering similar to a recorder. For players more
accustomed to it, I offer A and B flat chanters with
highland fingering.
Earlier, I mentioned volume. Smallpipes enable you to play with other instruments and in places too small for great pipes
but some styles are just too quiet for other venues. This is the main reason I chose cocobolo for this set. The hardness
and density of the wood insure a clean, crisp tone at a level able to keep up with guitars, fiddles, and bodhrans.
Finally, I wanted a set of pipes that
would look as great as they sound.
You can't get any more dazzling than
cocobolo with its magnificent grain
and color. From the start, I knew this
set needed mounts. It makes no
sense to me to spend a great deal of
money on premium, exotic hardwood
only to embellish it with plastic, fake
ivory. Especially when there are so
many natural alternatives available.
For this, I chose my old favorite, Yew.
The color and grain are beautiful in
their own right, and it's a natural
compliment to the cocobolo. Top it all
off with a custom velvet bag cover
and you have a kit that's hard to beat.
My Master Class Medieval Smallpipes are available on a custom order basis. I will also turn it from
Ebony. Mounts can be turned in horn, Lignum Vitae, holly, satin wood or ebony.
My own set is pitched in the key of D, A=440. The keys of A, B flat and C are also possible. A velvet
bag is included on this set as is a horn tipped acrylic lined blow stick see (cocobolo notes).
Like all my other pipes it comes set up and ready to play with a fabric carry bag and I'll even throw
in a book if you need it.
Medieval Smallpipes (Grant Smallpipes)
Three drone "Master Class"