Bagpipes

Bagpipes are a class of musical instrument, aerophones using enclosed reeds. The term is equally correct in the singular or plural, although pipers most commonly talk of "pipes" and "the bagpipe". more...

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Overview

A bagpipe minimally consists of an air supply, a bag, and a chanter. Optionally, further chanters and/or drones can be added.

Air supply

The most common method of supplying air to the bag is by a blowpipe, or blowstick, into which the player blows. The blowpipe can be fitted with a non-return valve, or the player can close the tip of the blowpipe with their tongue while they breathe.

A more recent innovation, dating from the 16th or 17th centuries, is the use of a bellows to supply air. This has the advantage that the supplied air has not been heated and moistened by the player's breathing. Bagpipes using bellows can therefore use more refined and/or delicate reeds.

The possibility of using an artificial air supply, such as an air compressor, is one occasionally discussed by pipers but although experiments have been made in this direction, widespread adoption seems unlikely.

Bag

The bag is simply an airtight (or near airtight) reservoir which can hold air while the player breathes. This means that the player can play independently of the need to take breaths. It also has the advantage that the player can breathe more naturally, and so can play comfortably for long periods of time. Materials for the bag vary widely: most common are skins of local animals, for example, goat, sheep, cow, pig, and so on. In modern times, players have experimented with modern materials such as rubber, goretex, and other airtight fabrics.

When made of skin, the bag is usually saddle-stitched with an extra strip folded over the seam to prevent air leaking. Holes are cut in the bag to accommodate the stocks, the connectors which the various pipes are attached to the bag with. With more modern materials, the seam is usually stitched and then a strip of material glued in place to achieve the same purpose. These bags are often fitted with rubber collars to insert the stocks in, which can result in a better, tighter fit with less chance of damaging the bag while attaching the stocks.

Another innovation in bag design within the past 10 years is the addition of moisture control systems. Moisture from the piper's breath condenses on the pipes drones and reeds which can cause problems. Bags with zippers can be fitted with moisture control cartridge systems attached to the drone stocks which remove moisture as air passes through bentonite clay particles. Corrugated tube traps attached to blowstick stocks also aid in moisture control via condensation. These types of systems require bags with zippers.

Chanter

The chanter is the melody pipe, played by one or both hands. A chanter can be bored internally so that the inside walls are parallel for its full length, or it can be bored in the shape of a cone. Additionally, the reed can be a single or a double reed. Single-reeded chanters are parallel-bored; however, both conical- and parallel-bored chanters operate with double reeds, and double reeds are, by far, the more common.

Read more at Wikipedia.org