Oliver Seeler's ~ Universe of Bagpipes ~

Now available directly from The Universe of Bagpipes: ~ The best "first pipe" we've found - and then some! ~ Scottish Great Highland Bagpipe Model P1 by J. Dunbar Ltd. of Canada Only $695.00 U.S. !

J. Dunbar Ltd, of Canada, Model P1 Great Highland Bagpipe

We Also Offer: J. Dunbar Ltd. Practice Chanters & Outfits, upgraded "Kitchen Pipes," Clanrye Synthetic Chanter Reeds, Electronic Practice Chanters, Teaching Videos, Tutorials and more: Catalog Index Page.

If you're thinking of learning to play the Highland bagpipe, read the below commentary carefully. It's a bit long, but it may save you a great deal of time, trouble and money.

Before considering the purchase of a full set of Scottish Great Highland Bagpipes (GHB), read the introductory material on this site about practice chanters. Then if you still feel that you are ready for a full set of bagpipes, you will have to make a decision about which pipe to purchase. For most people, cost is a major consideration. Bagpipes are not cheap, and a decent instrument is generally considered to cost around $1000 US. Especially fine bagpipes by the best makers can cost close to $10,000 but as a general rule when much more than around $2,000 is spent the balance goes into things like heavily hand-engraved silver work, lavish use of real ivory and so on - in other words, decoration; this is nice if you can afford it, but won't make a bit of difference in the way the pipe plays and sounds.

An Important Note About Our Prices J. Dunbar Ltd. bagpipes are made in Canada. In recent months the U.S. dollar has again fallen sharply against the Canadian dollar - a trend that has been continuing for a couple of years. We have always kept our prices as low as possible, and we simply do not have a "cushion" in our prices to absorb this decline. Thus we have reluctantly raised the price of these fine bagpipes. Beware: Some dealers simply do not post their prices, and base quotes on the exchange rate at the time of order. Others post prices, but then ask for a higher amount. Some try to avoid the issue by charging high shipping fees and/or by offering incomplete instruments (no reeds, bag cover, etc.). You will find out-of-the-way disclaimers on some sites stating that prices are subject to variation. We believe that our customers deserve to know what they'll be paying from the beginning. The prices posted on this site are firm.

There are, at the extreme (and we do mean extreme) other end of the spectrum, bagpipe-like objects that can be purchased for as little as $200. There are also, unfortunately, a large number of persons and firms selling these horrors to unwary fledgling pipers. Most if not all of these pipes are made in Southern Asia. While there are certainly craftsmen in that area who would be more than capable of building very fine instruments, the demand, generated by importers and exporters, is for something that can be called a bagpipe for the lowest possible price. The result is an instrument made of offbeat wood species (but often touted as "rosewood" or "blackwood" or "cocuswood") with drones of questionable dimensions and sloppy internal construction, with a chanter that is almost certainly out of tune with itself (let alone anything else), a blowpipe that will likely split if it's ever operated long enough to get damp and a bag made of leaky poorly-tanned, maybe even smelly, leather. The reeds supplied with such instruments are usually altogether beyond mention, and the finish often looks as though it was applied with a broom. At the very least getting one of these pipes into usable shape will require some hours of skilled work, along with a new chanter, bag and reeds - say about $300 worth. So, it's just barely possible, with luck, to end up with a playable instrument for around $500. It's also possible to sink substantially more than that into the project and still end up with something fit only for hanging on a wall (and a dimly-lit wall at that). There is, recently, another way to go. A number of pipemakers are now producing bagpipes made of synthetic materials (generally lumped together under the often inaccurate term "plastic"). The best of these rival any bagpipe made in terms of performance and far exceed any wooden pipe in terms of durability and ease of maintenance. The best synthetic material for this purpose is an extremely strong and durable machinable acrylic composition known by several names - most machinists are familiar with it as "Delrin" while some call it "Polypenco." This structural material is hard and dense - very much like a tropical hardwood - but not at all brittle. The color used is a pure black (through and through), and the surface will finish to any level of gloss that the maker has the time and skill for, without any sort of coating. Quality Delrin orchestral woodwind instruments such as clarinets, oboes, etc. have been produced for years by various mainstream instrument makers. The instruments are made by machining the Delrin - turning, boring, drilling, reaming and so on - not by molding. So the process of building the pipe is essentially the same as with wood. However, by its nature Delrin is easier and faster to machine than wood and while it is actually quite an expensive material there is very little waste or breakage during manufacture; these factors combine to lower the price of the finished instrument substantially in relation to one made of wood.

Also Available Here: J. Dunbar Ltd. Model P3 Great Highland Bagpipe Internally identical to the P1, the P3 has the more familiar elaborate outside decorative turning and imitation ivory.

Some time ago we began offering Delrin practice chanters here at the Universe of Bagpipes, made by the fine Canadian firm J. Dunbar Ltd. We chose the Dunbar PCs because in our estimation they are an outstanding value - flawlessly made, good sounding, 100 percent reliable, tough as nails and very nice looking to boot. These have been very well received by our customers, so we decided to also make Great Highland Bagpipes by Dunbar available. As with the practice chanter, we feel that the bagpipes we are offering, the Dunbar Models P1 (and now also the P3), are simply the best buys available to the serious beginning piper. But cost is not the only advantage of this sort of bagpipe. Bagpipes in general are high-maintenance and somewhat fragile instruments. Temperature and humidity extremes, rough handling, rain, spilled coffee, curious small children and a host other dangers are always concerns for a piper. Just finding a safe place to set down a pipe for a few moments, without breaking it down and putting it into a case, is often a problem - never mind what to do at, say, the beach. A Dunbar P1or P3 can be kept in a simple cloth bag and tossed into the back seat of a car next to the family dog, carried through rain, checked as baggage on an airline and so on - and one never experiences the horrible sensation of discovering a cracked or broken part, or the frustration of finding that one or more of the nine joints between the various parts has either become so loose that it falls apart, or so tight that it can't be gotten open without a dangerous amount of force. A final note on materials concerns esthetics and tradition. Over the centuries bagpipe makers have used whatever materials and tools fell to hand, beginning with natural cane stalks with burned-through finger holes, then carved local softwoods, then harder woods turned on primitive lathes and then imported woods worked on machine lathes. In relatively recent times, African blackwood (genus Dalbergia) has become the material of choice for fine Highland bagpipes. It's a wonderful material, but it has nothing intrinsic to do with either Scotland or bagpipes and is only "traditional" insofar as it has been much-used for a relatively short time, historically speaking. Meanwhile, synthetics have been developed that are now the material of choice for many applications, including musical ones, not because they are cheaper or easier to work with, but because they are the best performing materials for a particular job; for example, nobody argues the point that synthetic clarinet and saxophone mouthpieces are superior to wooden ones. So, I suggest that the use of synthetics in the construction of woodwind instruments is actually traditional, in the sense that it follows a long established pattern of using what works best when musical, mechanical and financial considerations are balanced against one another. But What About The Sound? This is all very nice, but what about sound quality? That is, after all, what it's all about. The exact character of the sound produced by any woodwind instrument depends on a great many factors, some of which have a much greater effect than others. The two most important things by far are the reed and the shape and internal finish of the bore. It is the air column within a woodwind, excited by the reed, that produces sound. This sound leaves the instrument and enters the surrounding air from openings in the side and/or the end of the bore. Only a tiny amount of the sound energy of the vibrating air column is transmitted directly through the walls of a woodwind to the outside air; this is in contrast to the way that a string instrument works, where a great deal of the sound produced is carried to the outside through large thin vibrating surfaces, such as the top and back of a guitar or violin. In string instruments the acoustic properties of the materials are critical and have a huge effect on the sound - and in spite of much experimentation wood remains, by far, the only real choice. The same does not hold true for woodwinds. A given synthetic woodwind may sound a little different to some ears than another made of wood, but every bagpipe, no matter of what it is made, is going to have a bit of character of its own. "Blind" tests have demonstrated that many expert listeners (such as competition judges) simply cannot group pipes by material when they can't see them.

Going It Alone? If you've mastered the basics of the practice chanter and are now thinking about ignoring everyone's advice by going it alone with a full set of pipes and without a teacher, you're in for an interesting time. Just about the only thing we've ever seen that just might make this possible, at least for some people, is this two-volume set of teaching videos by Jim McGillivray.

Another consideration regarding sound involves the chanter (the melody pipe). Today many professional and serious amateur Highland pipers use chanters not made by the same maker as the rest of their pipes. Bagpipe chanters, much more than the drones, have individual performance qualities and these vary from maker to maker and even among chanters made by the same maker. Pipers who have reached a certain level often develop a preference for one or another maker's chanters, which can usually be purchased alone. For this reason some makers even offer their bagpipes without a chanter, thus allowing a piper to use whatever chanter he or she likes. What is important for a beginning piper is to own a chanter that functions properly musically and mechanically and that continues to do so as it ages. The latter can be a problem with any wooden chanter, no matter how fine; it is common for a new wooden chanter's dimensions to change subtly as it "breaks in," especially in the very critical narrow "throat" area, just below the reed. An experienced piper can make certain compensations as these changes develop, and it is also common to eventually return a fine wooden chanter, after it has stabilized, to its maker to have its bore re-reamed with the same tool with which it was made. The fledgling piper, however, has more than enough problems producing correct tone without worrying about this and is thus well served by the utterly stable synthetic chanter, which will sound exactly the same in fifty years as on the day it was made. None of this is to say that synthetic chanters are by nature ultimately "better" than wooden ones, but they certainly have their advantages, especially for the beginning piper and for any piper playing in extreme environmental conditions. Note: As of early 2001, the P1 (and the P3) are being issued with Dunbar's newly designed chanter. This chanter is the result of extensive collaboration between the pipemakers at Dunbar and a number of world-class pipers. The firm is quite excited about this new chanter, and expects that pipers will be purchasing it separately for use in their pipes, of whatever make. Therefore the new chanter is fitted with hemp, rather than O-rings, so that it can be used on just about any bagpipe, Dunbar or not. About the Exterior Style of the Dunbar P1 The most familiar exterior shape and trim of the drones of a Great Highland Bagpipe is relatively modern, dating from around the early 1800s. The ivory (or "imitation ivory") trim parts on the ends of various drone sections, the boxy profile of the drone terminations, and the "combing" - closely spaced groups of grooves on the drone sections - are all more or less recent additions and/or modifications, as is sometimes massive amount of metalwork. An older exterior pattern, now considered "antique" and sometimes called a "chalice" pattern (after the shape of the drone ends) is the graceful design seen in the Dunbar Model P1 (and increasingly in pipes by other makers). There are a variety of reasons for the various elements of the modern design, most of them having to do with the strength and other characteristics of wood. For example, wooden tubes of any sort tend to crack at their ends, and bands of other materials (metal, horn, ivory, other woods, etc.) at such locations help prevent this. The use of the enormously strong synthetic Delrin, of which the Dunbar P1 is made, allows a return to the sleek, uncluttered earlier design without running the risk of cracking, breaking a drone by whacking its end against something, or other disasters. Overall size and location of the drones is the same in both styles and the internal configuration and performance of the instrument is unaffected by the exterior design. The internal specifications of the Dunbar P1 are exactly the same as those of all other Dunbar bagpipes, both of modern and early exterior design and regardless of whether they are made of wood or Delrin. That internal design follows closely dimensions used around 1911 by the very famous pipemaking firm Henderson. Pre-World War I Hendersons are considered by many to be the best-sounding of all bagpipes and they are avidly sought after (and incredibly expensive). Of course not all pipemakers today follow the Henderson dimensions, but the point here isn't to argue the nuances of the design, but rather to show the care with which the Dunbar bagpipes are made. Dunbar produces two other Delrin bagpipe models, most notably the P3. This bagpipe, internally identical to the P1 but externally in the familiar "modern" style; see our page on this pipe (link below).

Further On-Site Information on J. Dunbar Bagpipes: Ordering Information: The Dunbar Model P1 Great Highland Bagpipe Options and Enhancements for Dunbar Bagpipes Setting Up, Playing & Maintaining Dunbar Great Highland Bagpipes The Dunbar Model P3 Great Highland Bagpipe

Return to the Catalog Index Page

Return to the Universe of Bagpipes Main Page

Email The Universe of Bagpipes: bagpipes@hotpipes.com


Copyright1999 - 2002, Oliver Seeler,