TUNING A CHANTER WITH A TUNER 

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Without question the most accurate way to tune a chanter is with a well trained ear. There are 
so many tonal variations that can be achieved over and above just accurate pitch and there are 
also numerous variations caused by blowing discrepancies etc. that can affect the end result. 

However we are not all blessed with perfect pitch, and there has to be some way to obtain 
that well trained ear in the first place. Playing long sustained notes and listening to the effects 
against the drones is one way. Listening to various notes against one drone and moving the 
drone up and down to learn the differing sounds if the drone is flat or sharp in pitch against 
the chanter is another method. 

A tuner like the Saul Tuner or Pitch Pipe that is set to the chanter scale can be of great 
assistance to learn how to get the notes close to being in tune and then slightly varying your 
blowing to more accurately tune against the drones. Blow softer and the chanter comes into 
tune against the drones and your chanter note is a little sharp. Blow harder and the sound 
improves and the chanter note is a little flat. This can be done with every note on the scale. 
More detailed tuning advice is given in “The Complete Pipers Handbook”, so I will not dwell 
too much on that topic here. 

 

Another inexpensive option is a cheap chromatic tuner such as the Korg units that are readily 
available. Obtaining the mathematical details as to where a chanter should tune from 
Kinnaird, drone reed makers, Bob Rogers from South Carolina produced an excellent graphic 
representation of the dial on a chromatic tuner to show where each note should appear. Bob 
has kindly allowed us to reproduce the diagram which is shown below. The chanter can be 
improved using your ear and testing each note against the drones, but this method is quite 


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close. I find E or Low A to be good reference notes to keep returning to; to ensure the person 
using the tuner has not varied their blowing from the original strength or the chanter has not 
changed in pitch. 

Always play a chanter for 10 – 15 minutes to let it settle a little before making any changes. 
Ideally a good 30-40 minute playing session and then refining the chanter is ideal. 

Thanks Bob, a handy diagram to own and understand. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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