The weekend, organised by Bagad Pibau Morgannwg, will be packed with concerts, a twmpath, workshops, dance displays, makers’ stalls, free lectures and demonstrations.
The line-up includes outstanding performers from Wales, the Basque region and England, with special new collaborations just for the occasion.
Performers include Patrick Rimes and Angharad Jenkins (Calan), Stephen Rees and Andy Mclauchlin (Crasdant), Ceri Rhys Matthews (Fernhill), a rare appearance by Jonathan Shorland, the founder of the modern pibgorn making revival, performing with hurdy gurdy player Steve Tyler, and Antwn Owen Hicks, Gafin Morgan, Gerard KilBride (Bagad Pibau Morgannwg/ Taran) with special guest Chris Allen (local hurdy gurdy maker).
The Bethlehem Village Band will be leading the Twmpath on Saturday night and the José Antonio Martínez Oses Trio are travelling from the Spanish Basque region especially for the Festival, playing incredible traditional music on the alboka, a close cousin of the Pibgorn. José Antonio Martínez Oses is also the finest maker of the alboka in the world.
Throughout Saturday, there will be Dance Displays by Dawnswyr Nantgarw, music workshops, free lectures By Robert Evans and Emyr Davies (St Fagans: National History Museum), reed making and horn carving demonstrations and sessions in the local pubs.
More information and ticket details can be seen at www.pibfest.com. It’s strongly advised to book early for this incredibly rare, special event.
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Been messing about with midi for sometime with the band
Taran
and thought I would have a go at making a midi pibgorn. Usinging an existing Yamaha vl70m wind controller module and a BC3a as the midi wind sensor plugged into a £10 viking helmet off ebay as the horns added to my technopipes, the results are very very good, if a little crazy.
The bc3a vents air out of the top horn hole and sends wind midi data to the vl70m, and the bottom hole sends standard note change midi data to the module. I have fitted a bulk head( top half of a kinder egg) between the two hole to stop moisture passing through and a small vent hole at the top of the horn so not to blow the pressure sensor of the bc3a.
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A practical guide on how to make an elder pibgorn by Gerard KilBride, in the keys of C or D.
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Tools
The Pibgorn chanter is made of Elder-Sambucus nigra
It can be found near ruined buildings and farm hedges.
There is much myth about the elder tree, it is called Ysgawen in Welsh and is known as the Queen of Trees, Hylde-moðer, the Elder Tree Mother, she rules the 13th moon in the Ogham calendar, the ending of the old year and beginning of the new at Samhain.
More can be read here..
http://www.whitedragon.org.uk/articles/elder.htm
I cut the chanter blanks in October when the tree is shutting down for winter and the berries have all gone. Great care must be taken as there is much superstition surrounding the cutting this tree. As a gesture I always tidy around the tree and only cut what is needed. You will find the chanter length is naturally defined by the distance of the knots in the wood growth.
My chanter is 220mm long, with the tenons being 20mm long leaving a central section of 180mm. I cut between knots in the elder branch which I aim to be about 250mm long. The Ideal finished width of the chanter is about 20mm when the bark is removed so the ideal cut raw width should be about 26mm.
I would look for elder that has a slight bend, which they naturally do. This curve can be seen in the old pibgyrn at the Museum of Welsh Life, St Fagans.
The diameter of the pithy centre varies from piece to piece, but in the branches I cut it's roughly 6mm. I debark the elder blanks straight away, care should be taken as the bark is a strong purgative, its use dating back to Hippocrates. It can make you feel very sick. I use an old coat hanger and push out the pith centre, then I use a long 5.5mm hss drill bit to clean out the centre.
I leave the chanter to dry in the workshop for a few months, you can use them straight away as I am sure they were, but the tenons will shrink and if you try to put waxed hemp on the tenons they will distort. The holes will vary and tuning will be needed to be redone many times.
When dry I round off the the chanter with a block plane. It normally ends up oval with a finished width about 20mm but this varies.
I finish off with sandpaper and leave it without any varnish or stain, as in time it will take on its own patina. Varnish if you like but I would wait until all the holes are drilled and tuned, and it has dried.
Cutting the tenons is done with a craft knife and then a flat file, available from
http\\www.dick.biz
The finished size should be 14mm wide and 20mm long, I don't use cotton thread on the finished tenons, but if you make them a little small you can put some cotton on, but not too tight as this will distort the tenon. I would use a bow-rope lapping technique with waxed thread. Start with a horizontal thread and then wind backwards over the thread and finish off with two timber hitches.
Widen the central bore hole to 7mm along the lenght of the chanter, which should give you an approximate C base note, at the reed end widen the bore to 7.5mm for the whole length of the top tenon 20mm and no more, this is called the reed seat and is need to be widened to accommodate the reed.
I mark the holes from the bottom end of the reed tenon, marking 18mm down and then place the first hole, then working downwards marking equal spaced centres of 26mm . I use a 3mm drill bit to start. The thumb back hole is drilled 12mm down from the top tenon.
Tuning.
I begin by using a reed that I know works well. I know this is a bit chicken and egg but it may take many reeds before you make a good one, or you could buy one from an established maker. First, adjust the chanter to make the octaves in tune, by moving the reed in and out of the reed seat. When the octaves are set (without worrying which note is produced) we should be roughly around C to D. You can lower or raise the bass note later. I then tune each note by ear working from the bottom up, enlarging the holes to raise the pitch of the note. I use tone hole cutters bought from:
www.dick.biz
You will need the 3 smallest sizes. You can use a tuner if it is easier as it will take many fine tuning runs to get it right.
You will most likely need to raise the pitch of the whole chanter, which should be between C and D. To do this the central bore can be enlarged. By drilling out the central bore hole, you will raise the pitch and a drill bit .5mm wider will raise the note by about 25 cents of a note.
I buy the drill bits from
http://www.axminster.co.uk
try and get extra long hss wood bits.
If you need to lower the chanter pitch the reed tongue can be lifted slightly which will drop the scale or you can add mass to the reed by placing a small blob of beeswax on the tongue end.
see also the reed adjustment section.
I have recently made a closed fingered chanter as an experiment in preparation for some work on the st fagans pibgyrn. Using the same spacing but different hole sizes, it works well but a very different playing style and sound.....picture to follow>
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A practical guide on how to make an elder pibgorn from start to finish in the key of C or D. With photos, descriptions, links and measurements.
Watch this space.
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