Makers of pipes & folkloric instruments

Whether the Scottish Highland, the Irish Uilleann pipes, the French Bombarde, the German Dudelsack, or even the Asturian Gaitas, essential is the use of flawless larger parts, especially for turning the critical chanters, base and turner stocks, also called the drones of the bagpipes.

Woodwinds made of porous timbers, like ebony (Diospyros spp.) will result in critically flowed instruments, indeed the human saliva is acid and the parts of instruments exposed to it will crack!

When selecting the best timber species, we consider in first place the prevailing standard of the African Blackwood, but also good substitutes by their aesthetic, sound quality, stability and workability.

  • PierreBlanchet Mopane HBP
  • PA - Musik Low-Whistle Mopane & ABW
  • PA Whistles-high- Mopane & ABW
  • WF - Mopane grain details
  • Barils - ébène - mopane - Thierry Denis
  • WF - Wild Olive grain details
  • WF - Mopane- Wild Olive and African Blackwood
  • Scottisch HBP - Pipe Major Keith Walker playing
  • Scottisch Highland Bag Pipe and Small Pipe - Keith Walker

Mopane colophospermum

  1. The aesthetic of the wood is a strong point.The heartwood is reddish-brown with very dark streaks. Notable figure produced by the growth rings.
  2. The sound quality is nearly perfect.It is described by the makers of quality clarinets as an early starter, with a slightly sweeter tone, that some find typical of the clarinets made by Schreiber, the German leader in musical instruments. This wood has a density of 1.3 kg/dm3, 77 lb per cubic foot, about 96% of the Dalbergia melanoxylon, the wood standard for woodwind instruments.
  3. Mopane is significantly less prone to cracks and slits than other woods of higher density. It is considered by some as even more stable when turned than the African Blackwood.
  • Scottisch HBP - Pipe Major Keith Walker playing
  • Pierre Blanchet - McDonald & Taylor - HBP
  • Pierre Blanchet Instruments en Mopane
  • 0705 Gaitas Mopane
  • Fifres- Thierry Denis
WIND INSTRUMENTS & RELATED COMPONENTS & ACCESSORIES HARWOODS USED:
Mopane =Mopane colophospermum
Pink ivory =Berchimia zeyheri
Black chacate =Guibourtia conjugata
African Blackwood =Dalbergia melanoxylon		 Standard sizes in mm
Section of the blanks is indicated first, length second.
PIPES :
Highland bagpipes (HBPs) Sets of ABW and Mopane / additional chanters / turners stocks and base stocks. 14 blanks of 11 different sizes / totalling 6.555 dm3
1 x 54 x 54 x 305
2 x 51 x 51 x 205
1 x 40 x 40 x 385
1 x 47 x 47 x 310
1 x 47 x 47 x 195
2 x 47 x 47 x 160
1 x 47 x 47 x 125
1 x 47 x 47 x 115
1 x 40 x 40 x 310
2 x 40 x 40 x 245
1 x 40 x 40 x 220
Bagpipes and folkloric instruments Sets of ABW and Mopane Irish: Uilleann pipes
Irish pipes
5 blanks, section 30 x 30 mm / totalling 0.640 dm3
1 x 30 x 30 x 325
1 x 30 x 30 x 175
1 x 30 x 30 x 136
1 x 30 x 30 x 75
English pipes
8 blanks,
section 36 x 36 mm / totalling 2.62 dm3
1 x 36 x 36 x 380
2 x 36 x 36 x 310
1 x 36 x 36 x 260
3 x 36 x 36 x 200
1 x 36 x 36 x 160
Gaitas: Spanish pipes
12 blanks of various sections / totalling 4.302 dm3
1 x 65 x 65 x 115
1 x 50 x 50 x 350
2 x 40 x 40 x 320
2 x 40 x 40 x 230
1 x 40 x 40 x 190
1 x 36 x 38 x 175
1 x 36 x 36 x 140
1 x 36 x 36 x 120
1 x 36 x 36 x 110
1 x 40 x 40 x 90
Bombarde
(French pipe)		 Sets of ABW and mopane 5 blanks of various sections / totalling 0.722 dm3
1 x 80 x 80 x 50
1 x 30 x 30 x 300
1 x 30 x 30 x 280
1 x 20 x 20 x 180
1 x 20 x 20 x 150
Drum sticks Blanks of ABW and Black chacate 2 X 28x28x490

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