App Detail » Small Pipes - Scottish Smallpipes

Published by: Michael Eskin

iPad App - Designed for iPad

Price: $1.99
Current Version: 1.3
Released: June 20, 2010

What's New

Found and fixed a possible startup crash issue.

App Description

Note - iOS 8.3 caused the sliders in this app to become transparent. Will issue an update as soon as possible. I apologize for any inconvenience.

Small Pipes is an amazingly authentic sounding set of Scottish Smallpipes.

Be sure to check out the cool demo videos on my website!

Compared to the big Scottish Highland pipes in the key of B-flat, the Smallpipes are in the key of A, and have a rounder, mellower tone.

The chanter fingerings are based on those used for the Highland pipes.

The left half of the chanter image is for the "top" hand, the right half is the "bottom" hand.

The bar at the bottom center is the left thumb hole that is on the back of a real chanter.

Playing tip: On the real Scottish Smallpipes, you have to keep your left thumb covering the back chanter hole for all notes except the highest one. On the app, the back chanter hole is provided by the gray bar (lights up green) at the bottom of the screen under your left thumb. If you aren't hearing any different notes, make sure your left thumb is on the bar.

Touch the 'i' icon at the upper right corner of the main screen to show/hide the on-screen volume and drone startup pitch ramp controls. All settings are saved and restored the next time the app is run.

Touch the drones in the background painting to start/stop the drones.

The drone and chanter sounds are provided by ePipes in Glasgow, Scotland, and are based on an extremely high quality per-note studio recording of one of the finest sets available.

Rotate the iPad to Portrait orientation to see the fingering chart. Rotate back to Landscape orientation to play.

To get started, make sure that the orientation lock switch on your iPad (just above the volume controls on the side) is in the off position, then rotate the iPad to landscape orientation to play.

Next, touch the bar at the bottom with your left thumb, and touch the left half of the chanter starting with the tips of your left index, middle, and ring fingers. Next touch the right half of the chanter with the tips of your right index, middle, ring, and little fingers. The tips of the fingers must be used, not the flats.

Once you are comfortable playing the easy fingerings for the notes on the chanter, use the help screen (rotate the iPad to portrait orientation) to assist you in learning the proper Highland bagpipe chanter fingerings. These fingerings are used when properly executing all the Scottish piping ornaments.

On the fingering chart, touch the Tradlessons logo to visit the app support website. Touch the ePipes logo to visit their website to learn more about their virtual bagpipe instruments and controllers.

Play along with tunes in your iPad's music library by starting a music track playing using the iPad's iPod app, then launching Small Pipes. Adjust the chanter and drone volume by touching the 'i' icon to show the on-screen volume controls. I like to use this feature to play marching snare drum music files to create a virtual Pipes and Drums Corps. (Please check out the demo videos!)

Using the iPad's Settings app, under General/Home, enable the "iPod Controls" setting to allow you to bring up the iPod music control panel by double-clicking the home button while Small Pipes is running.

Please visit the app support website to learn the specific differences and limitations of the app compared to a dedicated electronic practice chanter before purchasing the app for this purpose.

Q: I have an iPad with iOS5 and the sound stops when I put four fingers on the screen.

A: Go into the iPad Settings app, and disable the "Multitasking Gestures" feature. This feature creates issues for all apps like mine that use more than 3 fingers on the screen at a time.

Q: I'm not hearing any sound, help!

A: Make sure that the mute switch on your device is turned off.