  
When people think of bagpipes, they usually associate them with Scotland. However, the bagpipes are an ancient instrument found in many cultures all over the world. The first form of this instrument can apparently be traced back to the Middle East, centuries before Christ. The pipes were later popular in all of Europe during the Medieval and Renaissance periods.Early pipes were made from animal skin, with hollow leg bones of small animals attached; holes drilled into the bones allowed musicians to produce various pitches and tones. The bagpipes were introduced to Scotland from Ireland. The Scots added a third drone (see below) and applied their own tartans to the bags. Village musicians may have first used the bagpipes and drums to entertain; the pipes were also played at funerals. Bagpipes were used by the Scots in battle against the English probably because the English found them to be disturbing and unsettling. (Eventually the English banned the instrument, along with other traditions that they felt were threatening). On this page we'll look at Scotland's Great Highland Bagpipes. 
Traditionally, the bag was made of sheep leather, made airtight by treating it with honey or molasses. Today pipe bags are made from goretex, and treated with sealant.The pipes were originally made of a hardwood, such as ebony, and decorated with ivory or silver. Today's pipes are usually made of less expensive wood or plastic resins. The piper breathes air into the blowpipe to keep the bag full. The blowpipe has a one-way valve so air can't get back out that way. Pressure is then applied to the bag under the arm to force air out of the other four pipes. Three of the pipes are drones - two tenor and one bass. These lay across the piper's shoulder and produce the constant humming sound. The last pipe is the chanter; held in the hands, its holes allow a melody to be played with the fingers.  Bagpipes play only nine notes. They are not set in the usual Western major or minor scales; instead they use a somewhat different scale of half tones. Bagpipes have no volume control; they were designed as an outdoor instrument. The chanter and drones contain vibrating reeds like other wind instruments; the chanter reed is double-bladed, so it's the loudest. The chanter has eight holes which are covered by the player's fingers. It works just like a flute; if some holes are uncovered; the length of the vibrating air column inside is shortened, raising the pitch. The chanter has a bell-shaped flare at the bottom like a trumpet, which also helps produce a louder sound. The drones - the long pipes that rest on the shoulders - each have only one hole at the end, so each plays just one note. The bass drone is one octave below the tenor drones, which are in turn one octave below the chanter. The upper sections of the drones are built so that they can slide in and out; by altering their length they can be tuned. By lifting one of the fingers on the chanter very quickly, a small 'blip' of sound at a higher pitch is created; this is used to separate notes, so that the rhythm of the melody can be heard. This and other techniques make the bagpipes difficult to play well, but give the music its distinctive sound. Scotland the Brave | Amazing Grace | Maillaig We received these comments from a visitor: Hi--please excuse my forwardness, but as an ex-competitor, teacher, composer and life-long devotee of Highland piping, I felt a need to point out a few things after reading your web page: A) Serious scholars cannot say with any certainty exactly how pipes came to in Scotland. It is not at all certain that the bagpipes are of middle eastern origin. They are, in their primitive form, widely distributed, and may have developed independently in several parts of the worlds. B) The original woods used by Scots pipe makers were presumably local, and ebony is certainly not local to Scotland! Ebony is a late comer, and was not common or popular until the High Victorian era, later supplanted by African blackwood. C) Sheep and cow hide bags are still common, and in fact most of the top bands use sheepskin. D) The "blip" sounds, the single gracenote cuttings, are used to seperate notes, and to give accent, and are not primarily related to rhythm at all. The longer gracing, the embellishments, do enter into the rhythm of the music (if timed correctly). These cuttings and embellishments can be either higher than the melody note, or lower, or a combination. E) The bag is NEVER squeezed, but rather a constant pressure is always maintained, and thus both the arm pressure and the lungs are what "force" the sound out of the reeds. F) Highland pipes saw far more duty in the British Army after Scotland and England became the United Kingdom of Great Britain & Ireland, than in the days before the political union. The pipes were heard more in the battles between Scottish clans than against the English. G) The Scots were an "Irish" people before crossing over into what we now call Scotland, an we do not in fact know that the pipes arrived in Scotland from this migration. Hope this helps! Cheers, DN Siegel The Galilee, Israel. |