Parts
In the photo at the top of the page you can identify the main parts of the practice chanter and their functions. At right in the photo we see the top section which consists of the mouthpiece (the uppermost portion) and the reed cover (the thicker portion). The silverish ring at the base of the reed cover is a ferrule.
The mouthpiece is the part into which the player blows. It can be made of nylon, wood, or plastic. The thicker portion of the top section (the reed cover) channels the air over the reed causing it to vibrate, which is what produces the sound. The ferrule is purely decorative. It can be made out of ivory, imitation ivory, plastic, nylon, or a metal such as silver.
The reed (shown just to the left of the top section at the top) can be made of cane or plastic. A plastic reed is shown in the photo. The two blades of the double reed vibrate against one another when air passes over them. This is what produces the sound which is then channeled down into and through the bottom section of the chanter which is shown just to the right of the ruler (provided for scale) in the photo.
The bottom section of the chanter is the portion which produces the melody. The melody results from the covering and uncovering of small holes drilled into the core of the chanter at precisely determined intervals. At the very top of this section is the stock into which the reed is inserted. The stock is wrapped with yellow hemp the function of which is to create a tight fit between the top and bottom sections of the practice chanter. This occurs as a result of the hemp absorbing moisture during play and swelling up. At the base of the bottom section is a yellowish ring called the sole. On a wooden chanter, such as that in the photo, the purpose of the sole is to keep the wood from splitting.
Read more about this topic: Practice Chanter
Famous quotes containing the word parts:
“Thus Satan talking to his neerest Mate
With Head up-lift above the wave, and Eyes
That sparkling blaz’d, his other Parts besides
Prone on the Flood, extended long and large
Lay floating many a rood, in bulk as huge
As whom the Fables name of monstrous size,
Titanian, or Earth-born, that warr’d on Jove,
Briarios or Typhon, whom the Den
By ancient Tarsus held, or that Sea-beast
Leviathan,”
—John Milton (1608–1674)
“Here I am.... You get the parts of me you like and also the parts that make you uncomfortable. You have to understand that other people’s comfort is no longer my job. I am no longer a flight attendant.”
—Patricia Ireland (b. 1935)
“Though of erect nature, man is far above the plants. For man’s superior part, his head, is turned toward the superior part of the world, and his inferior part is turned toward the inferior world; and therefore he is perfectly disposed as to the general situation of his body. Plants have the superior part turned towards the lower world, since their roots correspond to the mouth, and their inferior parts towards the upper world.”
—Thomas Aquinas (c. 1225–1274)