Chanter review?

[cajuncelt]

Sorry I should have been more specific.... I'm looking for a practice chanter to start with. Thanks for all your advice, as I may have been looking toward the blackwood, and will focus on the poly now.

So if the standard is shorter than the chanter on actual pipes.... what would be the reason for getting that as opposed to the full size? Wouldn't that just make the switch to pipes that much harder?

Yes, poly definitely.
I never understood why buy a short chanter. Everyone eventually switches to long that I know of.
I will second the Gibson. The comment that the practice chanter doesn't matter is not really true. If you decide to join (or are in) a band, you want your chanter as robust as possible. Sound quality makes a difference as well. You don't want the "kazoo" sound. Buy a Gibson long.

[wvpiper]

Yes, poly definitely.
I never understood why buy a short chanter. Everyone eventually switches to long that I know of.
I will second the Gibson. The comment that the practice chanter doesn't matter is not really true. If you decide to join (or are in) a band, you want your chanter as robust as possible. Sound quality makes a difference as well. You don't want the "kazoo" sound. Buy a Gibson long.

If he joins a band, he'll be given a band chanter that matches everyone else.
If he's in a band, they'll have recommendations for preferred practice chanters
I'll stand by my comment that as long as he get's a chanter from a quality maker, in polypenco, and uses a decent reed, it doesn't matter (with caveat to the beginning piper.

[SteveB]

First - Speak with your tutor/instructor!
While starting on the piping journey, it is quite beneficial to be working with the same practice chanter as your tutor.
My tutor and I are both using Dunbar Deluxe Long in African Blackwood. I am using an Abbott reed, and he is using a Walsh reed. This works as the Abbott reed produces a very robust sound, and the Blackwood chanter produces a very sweet note. I have a McCallum Long Practice Chanter, which is really a medium length in their series, in Polypenco. The sound of the notes is a little harsher than the Dunbar. The indents on the McCallum and Dunbar practice chanters simulate the feel of the bagpipe chanter. There are many traps to avoid. Please read the sticky by BeloitPiper. It is the consensus of many of the pipers here on X marks the Scot.
I am now beginning the process of learning rhythm and tunes. During part of the session both of us are playing the exercise together on our practice chanters. Where we are both using the same instrument, and have tuned our reeds in to each other, it makes the learning process much easier. I can hear clearly where I am not doing the right fingerings.

I can not emphasize enough - CONSULT WITH YOUR TUTOR - before buying a practice chanter.

There are excellent long practice chanters made by Dunbar, Gibson, and Walsh.

Now get into enjoying the journey to the Great Highland Bagpipes.
I am a beginner on the practice chanter, the pipes are far in the future.
Cheers