Chanter The Journal of The Bagpipe Society

This edition is from our archives, so it is presented as scanned pages rather than text.

Chanter: Journal of the Bagpipe Society

New projects may be forgiven for starting with high hopes, and our hope is that Chanter will become a useful, even indispensable companion to happy bagpiping. Chanter is the principal forum of The Bagpipe Society; while the Newsletter aims to keep members informed about the Society’s activities, meetings, concerts, and other events, the Journal will provide an outlet for articles on all subjects concerning bagpipes. But as this is a periodical about a musical instrument it is appropriate that it should contain not only words, but also music. So it is our intention to include all sorts of melodies, from pieces drawn from the oldest of sources to the latest of compositions.

This, the first number of Chanter, contains articles on aspects of bagpipe making, maintenance, and repertoire as well as some recent compositions for bagpipes. Several of the articles are the first of several series of articles to be published in Chanter. For example, Focus on Blowzahella is the first in a series in which special attention is paid to a prominent bagpiper or group featuring bagpipes. The Focus On series will include factual histories and interviews. John Goodacre’s article on his Leicestershire small-pipe is the first in a series entitled Workshop in which makers describe the instruments they make and discuss their philosophies and techniques of bagpipe design and construction. David Van Doorn’s article Bagpipe First Aid, is the first in a series on bagpipe maintenance, and my own article A Repertoire for the English Bagpipe? is the first in a series that will explore musical sources from medieval times to the eighteenth century.

Write for Chanter! We rely on members to contribute articles to Chanter, and if the present harvest of contributions is anything to go by the Journal will continue to be informative and enjoyable. Please write to Chanter if you have anything that you wish to share with the members of the Society.

We had originally hoped that Chanter would appear quarterly; however, at a recent committee meeting it was agreed that the Society does not have sufficient funds to support this frequency of publication. Therefore, Chanter will appear biannually, the issues being numbered by volume and part: the first issue being Volume 1, Part 1: Spring/Summer; the second Volume I, Part 2: Autumn/Winter; the third Volume 2, Part 1: Spring/Summer; and so on. The next issue of Chanter should appear on November 3, 1986; articles and advertising material should arrive no later than September 22.

It would be greatly appreciated if contributors could send articles in typescript, preferably double-spaced on A4 paper. If you can’t get it typed, please write as clearly as possible on every other line.

Advertising Rates

Cost: £6.00 quarter page
£10.00 half page
£14.00 whole page (A5)

Please make cheques payable to: The Bagpipe Society

Editorial Address

All contributions, including advertisements, should be sent to:

Peter Stacey
Journal Editor
63 Lonsdale Road
OXFORD OX2 7ES

©Copyright

The copyright of all material included in Chanter remains with the individual authors.

A Special Word of Thanks

The preparation of the first issue of Chanter has been surrounded by enthusiasm and good-will. I would like to thank the contributors, and all who have offered help and advice. A special word of thanks goes to André de Vries and Biddy Wells who have worked behind the scenes on word-processing and paste-up!

Peter Stacey