Burns Night Special: MIDI Bagpipes are everywhere!

Peter is back with a special report: "As 25 January is Burn's night (the Scottish celebration of their national poet, featuring haggis, poetry and bagpipes) it seems an appropriate time to hail the surprisingly common MIDI bagpipe.
  • The best-looking MIDI pipes ever are these on the right, made by Version Midi (whose website is broken). They sell for around $5,000, and are played by Spanish bagpipe hearthrob José Ángel Hevia.
  • The DegerPipe is more affordable at around £400. It's made by German bagpipe enthusiast Manfred Deger, and modeled on the chanter, the pipe that plays the melody on a bagpipe. It features drones generated by wavetable sound synthesis and a built in metronome. My favourite sound clip from Manfred's website is "AnDro", which uses "GHB sound" (named after GH Boyd, another midi bagpipe pioneer, not the drug). It starts with what I guess is the electronic version of a bagpipe deflating: link.
  • In 2005, what you really need are the iPipes (seen above). Actually, they're not called that, but it's a better name than Master Gaita® for so many reasons. It's a PVC midi controller, with the unusual guarantee: "No finger moisting needed to activate sensors."
    For more on bagpipes, check out the excellent The Bagpipes Go to the Movies, an exhaustive list of bagpipe appearances on celluloid and TV, from Ally McBeal to Yellow Submarine.


  • Comments:
    This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
     
    Ron writes from Seattle:
    "There's a couple more that have been around for years you may or may not know about, although these two are not MIDI controllers. Have a look at http://www.technochanter.com (electronic chanters made in a variety of styles by Fagerstrom in Sweden) and http://bagpipesonly.com/bagp1.htm (Ross electronic bagpipes). I have been looking at electronic bagpipes for a long time now, with an eye toward purchase. At long last, I recently became the proud owner of a Fagerstrom technochanter, although I'm not particularly proficient with it yet.

    "On a related note, the "GHB" mentioned in your article relating to the Deger Pipes probably does not stand for GH Boyd (I do know of Mr. Boyd -- I almost bought a set of his pipes years ago). It more likely stands for "Great Highland Bagpipe," which is the full name of the well-known Scottish bagpipes. I believe Mr. Deger was merely stating that the sound set used for "Andro" was the Great Highland Bagpipe sound, as opposed to the Scottish Smallpipes sound used on "goldring.wav." That's one of the best things about the Deger Pipes -- the use of the two different sounds in one electronic set (not to mention the MIDI controller aspect). I don't believe any other set of electronic pipes features both sounds.

    "Lastly, that "bagpipe deflating" sound is just Mr. Deger's way of showing that his pipes are tunable over a wide range, which is, again, something that the other electronic pipes don't offer (as far as I know). Having played with pipers many times, I can tell you, that is NOT the sound a deflating pipebag makes. Think of the sound of a goose farting and you'd be closer to the mark."

    Thank you, Ron!
     
    You might also be interested in the "Piob Beag" electronic bagpipes at http://www.electronicbagpipes.com . This unit is a standalone system with built in speaker, or in can be used in midi mode. The Piob beag, which is made in Scotland unlike the others, features a tapered stem and has finger spacing identical to the real thing. It is tunable to different keys including lowland pipe. BTW GHB does stand for "Great Highland Bagpipe"
     
    örgü modelleri

    thanx
     
    N73 Themes

    MIDI Bagpies everywhere :)
     
    Thank you. I will translating.And post. :)

    TRboard
     
    This comment has been removed by the author.
     
    Eğlence, Paylaşım Forum
     
    Ayridunya.com
    Thanks
     
    Sempatikforum
     
    PsTurkey
     
    EGLENDİRELİM.COM
     
    Post a Comment

    << Home
    Music Thing on Twitter
      follow MT on Twitter

      Music Thing Hits:
      Music Thing Heroes:
      Music Thing Friends:
      My music gear for sale
      DIY Modular Synth
      Matrix Synth
      Create Digital Music
      Analog Industries
      Boing Boing Gadgets
      London Video Production
      Oddstrument
      Wire to the Ear
      Palm Sounds
      Noise Addicts
      Retro Thing
      Analogue Haven
      Music Thing Massive
      About Music Thing:
      Send tips to Music Thing
      About this site
      Music Thing Massive
      RSS Feeds


      Problem with the ads?
      Please let me know