Hilton Chanter™ Named Product of the Year 2025 | Best Practice Chanter for Bagpipes

Hilton Chanter™ Named Product of the Year

Following Lincoln Hilton's recent recognition at the Australian Good Design Awards, the Hilton Chanter™ Founder’s Edition for the design of his award-winning bagpipe practice chanter; Hilton Chanter™ has now been named Pipes Drums Product of the Year 2025, marking a rare and deeply meaningful back-to-back achievement for a bagpiping instrument.

The announcement was published by pipes|drums, one of the most respected independent publications in the piping world. To receive this honour from within the global piping community—after being recognised on an international design stage—feels especially significant.

Reimagining the Practice Chanter

For generations, the practice chanter has been treated as an accessory rather than a stand-alone musical instrument. As pipes|drums noted in their announcement, it was rarely considered something designed to perform on its own or alongside other instruments.

Australia’s Lincoln Hilton saw something different.

The Hilton Chanter™ Founder’s Edition was conceived as a serious ensemble instrument—capable of playing solo, blending musically with other instruments, and inspiring longer, more meaningful practice sessions. The goal was not to abandon tradition, but to elevate it.

This vision guided every design decision, from tuning accuracy and tonal balance to materials, ergonomics, and visual identity.

Design and Sound, Recognised Together

The Product of the Year recognition builds on the chanter’s earlier success at the Australian Good Design Awards, where it was evaluated alongside products from global design leaders.

As pipes|drums observed, the Hilton Chanter™ Founder’s Edition not only meets a musical need, but is also beautifully designed and crafted—an instrument where sound and form are inseparable.

For us, this matters. Great sound without thoughtful design is incomplete, and great design without musical integrity is hollow. The Hilton Chanter™ was always intended to deliver both.

Panelists’ Comments on the Hilton Chanter™ Founder’s Edition

The judging panel’s feedback captured exactly what this project set out to achieve:

• “One word: innovation.”

• “It’s a brave thing to improve something so relatively basic. This is a very successful attempt.”

• “It won a Good Design award—like Porsche and Dyson. That says a whole lot. And it’s beautiful.”

Improving something as fundamental to piping as the practice chanter is inherently risky. Hearing that risk recognised and rewarded is incredibly affirming.

What This Means for Modern Piping

Modern Piping remains a small with a focus on hand-crafted quality. The Hilton Chanter™ was developed through years of experimentation, failed prototypes, refinement, and belief—often without certainty that the effort would be understood.

To have the instrument recognised both outside the piping world by international design judges, and within it by respected piping panellists and media, is profoundly validating.

This award is not just about a product. It’s about recognising piping as a living, evolving art form—one that deserves modern tools, thoughtful design, and uncompromising musical standards.

Thank You

To every piper who believed in this instrument early.
To those who took a chance on something different.
And to the judges and panelists who saw what we were trying to build.

The Hilton Chanter™ Founder’s Edition is only the beginning.