Practice chanter

The practice chanter is essentially a long, thin piece of wood or plastic (in two parts) with a small-diameter hole bored lengthwise through the centre.

In the 1960s African Blackwood was in very short supply, and Ireland's only bagpipe maker,[citation needed] Andrew Warnock of The Pipers Cave in Northern Ireland, began making chanters from polyoxymethylene (also known by several names), an extremely strong and durable machinable plastic which at the time was used for making police batons.

The practice chanter consists of a top section with mouthpiece, a lower portion with finger holes, and a reed.

The two blades of the double reed vibrate against one another when air passes over them, and the sound is channeled down into and through the bottom section of the chanter.

The stock is tightly fitted into the top section of the practice chanter, and is usually wrapped with hemp, plumber tape, etc.

The practice chanter is significantly quieter and better suited for the indoors, and requires less blowing than the bagpipes, making it physically easier to play.

The sound of the feadan Gàidhealach is quite sweet and it appears that these homemade chanters were not just used for practice, but considered a proper instrument in their own right and played in a traditional house cèilidhs in the Western Isles of Scotland.