Great question, John. I'm sure there are people who get the extra keys because the look cool, but I'd hope that you'd not get the bigger chanter until you "needed" it. By that I mean that you need it to play the music you want to play.
I started out with at 7-key set, and I'm glad I did. I think you are more likely to pay closer attention to the basics that way. But I kept setting aside music that I'd love to play if only I had more keys. By the time I was ready to move to a big chanter I had tunes waiting that called for a lot of keys! I ended up getting a 16-key set, but soon wished I'd gone for 17 keys. (I'm missing the low D#, which everyone told me I didn't need. Many people still tell me that, but I know what I want!) I just recently started working on a tune that uses the one key I'd never used, so I'm now vindicated in getting this chanter. When I got it, though, I had immediate buyer's remorse, wondering what I'd gotten myself into. --Rick On Dec 14, 2010, at 11:58 AM, John Dally wrote: > When do you qualify to really "need" more keys? When I ordered my set > a number of years ago I was convinced that the desire for 17 keys was > really too much, so I ordered a thirteen key set instead. Now I find > myself reaching for the two "missing" Bb's and C#'s. Is there such a > thing as "key-envy"? Is it presumptuous or perhaps a failure of > imagination to want more keys? How many keys is enough? I hear tell > of twenty five key chanters now. Is this obsession a pipemaker's > nightmare? > cheers, > John > > > > To get on or off this list see list information at > http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
