Hi everyone,
I’ve been doing some research on the RG Hardie Twist Trap practice pipes, and wondering what people here think of them in terms of their quality, value, and ease of learning.
My thoughts are that these pipes may be a relatively affordable option to develop basic bagpipe technique on a beginner level, and I don’t intend to play these in sessions.
Thank you for your time!
Some more information about your musical interests and long term goals would be helpful.
I can’t recommend the twist-trap pipes for any purpose, really. The chanter is not in tune and because it uses practice chanter reeds for the drones, the drones are very unstable and don’t balance with the chanter.
If your aim is to play GHB, just stick with a practice chanter and eventually GHB. If you want a performance capable mouthblown smallpipe, I’d recommend against it, but something like the MacCallum “folk pipe” would fit the bill. If playing sessions is the goal, learn on practice chanter and purchase a set of bellows pipes.
I have a set of Dunfion small pipes with eesydrone small pipe chanter reeds.Beautifully machined out of polypenco engineering plastic they are great and never go out of tune.
I added a moose patent flap valve and I have chosen to use a practise chanter reed in the chanter as it has a sweeter sound than the provided bagpipe reed.
Current cost about £500 including uk delivery.
They also do great bagpipes and bellows blown small pipes in plastic or wood.
Thank you for your thoughts and comments. I’d like to eventually learn either the small pipes or GHB for solo playing but haven’t decided on which to pursue first.
Perhaps simply getting a practice chanter as a first step would be a good solution. I was interested in the twist traps because I read several great reviews on them, but it also seems like there are actual smallpipes available for only a bit higher price.