BORDER PIPES - SCOTTISH LOWLAND BAGPIPES

Garvie Bagpipes
Edinburgh

www.borderpipes.co.uk
Nigel Richard

email
garviebagpipes@zetnet.co.uk

Border pipes are bellows blown, have three drones in a common stock, and a conical bore chanter. They keep a lot of the characteristic vibrant tone of the Highland pipes, but at a lower volume.

Although they are not as well known as the Highland pipes, they have a history on both sides of the Border and in the Scottish Lowlands which goes back some 500 years. The popularity of these pipes has increased over the last dozen years or so, as the quality of the pipes available has improved, and a growing number of pipers have appreciated their particular musical qualities.

One way in which the Border pipes are potentially more versatile than the Highland pipes or the Scottish small pipes, is that in addition to the standard scale, the chanters can give accurately pitched cross fingered accidentals. After many years work I developed, in the early 1990's, a Border pipe chanter which was fully chromatic by cross fingering, giving a good minor third, minor sixth, major seventh, sharp fourth, and minor second, without altering the standard fingering of the normal pipe scale.

Border pipes make excellent solo instruments. Their tone quality, and the fact that they are tuned to A (440) and do not sharpen during playing, also makes them ideal for playing with other instruments. The volume of most Border pipes is a perfect match for two fiddles but is certainly not too loud for one.

These factors are beginning to make them the Scottish pipes of choice for playing in traditional music groups, and they are also becoming much more common in informal sessions.

Fully mounted Border Pipes in A, made in Mopane with boxwood mounts, gold plated ferrules and drone sleeves, with velvet bag. Click on picture to enlarge image.

Apart from accurate tuning, the things I consider most important in making good Border pipes are:

• rich and direct chanter tone giving clear articulation of grace notes.
• drones with a full rounded tone like those of the Highland pipes.
• moderate volume without sacrificing tone quality.
• playing pressure at a comfortable level.

The key of A is by far the most popular for Border pipes, which suits other players of traditional music, particularly those playing Scottish music. Border pipes in Bb and G are also available. The standard sets have two tenor drones and a bass drone, a combination which has proved itself with Highland pipes. Other configurations with an alto or baritone drone are available.

See more details of the different styles of drone and bellows on the links at left.

Fingering chart.