silverorange stuff

With some assistance from my piping instructor, I narrowed down my choice for a set of highland pipes. Sticking with a reputable company with many years of pipe making experience is always a good idea. A set of pipes costing less than $1000 probably aren't going to be of very good quality. Avoid Pakistani pipes like the plague - they are made of poor quality materials, and will most likely never play properly.

Wood

African blackwood is still the most popular type of wood used for constructing a quality set of pipes. This wood is used because of it's tonal qualities and it's ability to cope with the constant change in moisture levels.

Trim

Silver and ivory trim is the most common, but also the most expensive. I choose nickel as it looks almost as good as silver and is quite a bit cheaper. Silver can replace the nickel pieces later on if I wanted to do so. While I choose to save on the trim, I spent a bit extra to get a matching blackwood chanter instead of the Polypenco (plastic) one. The workmanship is amazing. The people at David Naill definitely know how to work with metals and wood.

Bag

My pipes came with a hide bag. A lot of fancy synthetic bags exist today that don't require as much maintenance as mine. Hide bags often benefit from seasoning as it works it's way into the seams of the bag making it more airtight. It's a bit messy to do, but well worth the effort.

Reeds

The pipes arrived with Henderson Harmonic drone reeds. I can't rememeber what brand of chanter reed I started out with, but my current one is a Ross. The drone reeds work well, although I've had some issues with them cutting out after playing for 45 minutes or more due to moisture build up. I recently purchased a set of Kinnaird Carbon Fibre reeds to replace them.

Playing

The key to keeping these pipes in good working order, like any other site of pipes, is to play them often. Frequent playing keeps the moisture levels consistent allowing everything to stay in tune more easily. If you aren't going to be playing the pipes for an extended period of time, still try to put some moisture into them once a week just by blowing into the blowstick. Doing so will reduce the risk of cracking as the wood dries out. The pipes should always be stored in a cool, dry (but not too dry) place.

Sound

Some people like the sound of the bagpipe and some people don't. Those that do probably like the sound of my pipes. I've heard only one other person play them and they sounded amazing. Of course, the person playing them had a lot to do with that... he's been playing for over 30 years and has played in top level pipe bands around the world.

You may have noticed that I used the word amazing twice in my review. The workmanship that goes into each set of David Naill pipes is very evident in the end result. Each piece fits perfectly with the other and the pipes tune beautifully. If looked after properly, these pipes will easily outlive me and be in perfect tune.