www.pipeband.site







About


Using the pipe band tradition of Ireland as a point of departure, the project embraces the pipe band’s non-hierarchical structure, potential for community building, microtonality, and powerful sonic properties–but defies its notions of nationalism, triumphance, and militance through a group performance using DIY chanter pipes made from cheap, accessible materials and a tuning system driven by the chanters’ innate tonal properties. All of the research below is open source, you are invited to experiment with and build upon it.

In Ireland, pipe bands played a crucial role in the resistance around the time of 1916, when the Republic of Ireland liberated itself from centuries British imperialism. If you see value in this project and support its anti-imperial sentiment, please consider making a donation to help those affected by the ongoing genocide in Gaza via the link below.















 
︎ Performances ︎


(15 Minutes) at Dokzaal, Amsterdam
as part of the Sandberg Design Department Graduation 2025

︎︎︎ Thursday 12th June: 19:00
︎︎︎ Friday 13th June: 16:30
︎︎︎ Saturday 14th June: 18:00 and 19:30

Band Members
Deboleena Mazumdar, Sara Nyård, Marianne Noordzij, Sohju Kim, Stan Wiersma, Oscar van Leest, Anouk Albrecht, Chryso Amaya Michailidis, Mel Keane.




︎Making the Chanter Pipes ︎

Materials and Tools:
  • 6mm Brass Pipe
  • Bagpipe Reeds
  • A Pipe Cutter
  • Duct Tape
  • A Scissors
  • A Small, Round File
  • A Marker

See below a short video on how to construct the pipes ︎︎︎


The tuning is somewhat approximate, as fluctuations in blowing pressure will change the pitch of the note, but this tuning/making system is a good place to start:








︎ Band Practice ︎


A group pipe performance was formed by nine band members over the course of four practice sessions using a combination of graphic and textual notation, open discussion, and intuition.



                       











︎
Open Source 2025