Scottish Highland Bagpipe Practice Chanter Black Silver Mount Free Reeds, Bag and Book (Brown Chanter)

Great for beginners like myself easy to use comes with everything

3 stars for price, it looks nice, and it makes sounds.So it IS a practice chanter in the sense that it makes sounds tantamount to music notes. It's really the equivalent of buying a $30.00 guitar...don't expect it to play like a Gibson or even an Epiphony. With instruments, you get what you pay for, and at this moment, you're looking at buying a $20 instrument whose counterparts sell for 75-100 bucks.That said, the chanter is incredibly hard to blow. It definitely is a good exercise for your lungs if you're training to play great pipes. I actually reamed the chanter out (don't try it unless you know what you're doing!!!) to make it easier to play and raise the volume a bit. Worked so-so. The reeds included are best described as follows: Someone in Pakistan looked at a picture of proper chanter reeds and made a semblance of one in the style of a Khyber Pass Webley revolver. They honked, they squeaked and they made vaguely turkey-like noises at varying pitches, none of which sounded like a chanter reed should.I ordered Warnock reeds for it, and I know it will help with the tone, but the chanter itself is cheap, and it's something to play around with until I get the pipes I'm saving for. Probably pick up a good practice chanter too, and give this one to someone who wants to learn to play pipes, and needs something to play around with and learn breathing and finger control. It's good for that...and messing with your cats.

I'm in a class of beginner bagpipers, this practice chanter is the WORST sounding chanter in the class. So embarrassing, like a dying goose is crying for help. My teacher tried it and couldn't get it to sound right. My advice, start out with at least a $100 range practice chanter and you'll be happier and more engaged.

I've dreamed of playing the bagpipes for about 50 years now and finally decided to see if I was up to the challenge. I am following the advice that you learn to play the practice chanter before moving on to basic bagpipes then to full pipes. Being a petite female (small hands for sure) it has taken a lot of finger exercising to be able to get the pinky finger on the bottom hole (A). But I expect it would be that way with any chanter purchased for an adult. The sound isn't quite what I expected but is good enough to be able to tell if I am playing the right notes or not. The sound quality is also dependent on how even your blowing is. You will want to purchase extra reeds ( this does come with 2 reeds) and some hemp at some point as both do wear out. Hemp is good they say for 4 to six months. Make sure that you take the chanter apart after each time playing so that it can dry out. If you don't it will eventually ruin the chanter because mold will build up inside... that will also pose a health issue to your lungs called pipers lung. All in all I feel this is a good beginner chanter. Eventually you'll want a better one but this is an inexpensive way to find out if this instrument is a good fit for you. Best of luck to all who wish to learn to play the bagpipes and don't be like me and wait until you are almost 60 yrs old to start. LOL Although better late in life than never!

The Chanter looks nice,is well built, but the reeds that came with it don't work! It sounds like a broken duck call! It needs better reeds! Can't play it! Low to almost no pitch!

This is perfect if you are looking to explore this instrument as a beginner- be sure to look up helpful YouTube lessons on how to assemble and use. Very nice case and extra parts.

The media could not be loaded. I don’t know what everyone is complaining about. You payed less that $30 for a PRACTICE chanter. It works. I like it. I will probably spend more that $100 for one in the future but right now I am on a budget and this gets the job done.

This is my first experience with a chanter, as I am just learning. I do find the holes are difficult to cover, but that's probably me. For the low price, I do think it is good enough to get started until I a ready to step to a more expensive one.