How do Bagpipes Work?
Seriously, how do these silly things make noise? I mean music.
There are hundreds of kinds of bagpipes in the world. They all work similarly, but in this post, I’ll be talking about the great highland bagpipe.
Bagpipes are a woodwind instrument like a saxophone, clarinet, or bassoon. But, unlike those instruments playing one reed, a bagpiper plays four reeds at the same time.
Bagpipe Fast Facts:
Woodwind instrument made of…
Drones:
Two tenors and one bass.
Produce a steady tone.
Drones contain a single reed, like a saxophone or clarinet.
Reeds are now usually synthetic.
Chanter:
Nine total notes.
Where the musical melody is created.
Contains one double reed like an oboe or bassoon.
Reed is made of wood.
The bag is either synthetic or sheep or calf skin and can contain water traps or moisture control systems.
What are bagpipes made of?
The pipes are usually made from African Blackwood and this is the traditional material for the instrument.
But there are also sets ofpolyphenolo or “poly” pipes that are designed to be played outdoors in more extreme conditions. I own sets of both!
The wooden pipes sound sweeter but can be damaged by cold, rain, or a rowdy beer tent. Poly pipes are better suited for those conditions and are great as a starter set, a winter set, or some other perilous situation set.
Tuning up my “poly pipes” on a cold - but beautiful - fall day in New York.
Airflow
The bagpipes are unique in that they have a reservoir of air that allows the player to take a breath while continuing to produce sound.
Once the player has filled the bag with air, if they need to take a breath, they squeeze the bag with their arm to provide the same airflow or pressure to the four different reeds.
The bag acts as a “third lung” for the piper.
The airflow makes the reeds resonate, and then, voila, you have music. Well, you have noise at least.
Then, once the air in the bag has been used up, the player blows more air into the bag.
Rinse and repeat.
I believe this is one of the harder parts of playing bagpipes: making the four different reeds believe they are receiving the same, continuous pressure. It simply takes practice and stamina to get a steady sound on the bagpipes.
My smallpipes work exactly the same way as the great highland bagpipes but are much quieter!
Bagpipe Reeds
Chanter reeds are “double reeds” in that two pieces of wood vibrate against each other to make sound. They look pretty similar to oboe or bassoon reeds.
Drone reeds are “single reeds” because one piece of wood - or plastic - sits against an opening and vibrates when air passes under it. The bagpipe has three drone reeds, one bass and two tenors. These reeds work the same way as a saxophone or clarinet mouthpiece.
Drone reeds were once only made of cane wood. They sound great, but can be fickle and hard to keep steady in changing conditions. Synthetics reeds came along and are a bit less sweet but much easier to keep stable and steady.
Learn How the Bagpipes Work in Person
There’s so much more to the story, and I’d love to share it with you live.
I have a program that’s a mix of performance, education, interaction - and some humor - that explains just how unique bagpipes are in the world of music. I cover things like:
How bagpipes work
The history of bagpipes
The origins of the instrument
Stories about the tunes I play (I wrote some of them!)
And a whole bunch of modern and traditional bagpipe music
If you’re still reading, thanks for visiting. The piper reminds you to breathe, not sweat the small stuff, and drink water.
