Whenever I am out playing the pipes I always seem to have a long line of people asking hundreds of questions about them. It seems that, despite being around for thousands of years, the pipes still seem to be as mystical as ever. Hopefully this page should help you to learn more about the bagpipes, specifically the Great Highland Bagpipes.
- How Loud are the Bagpipes? Put simply - VERY loud. There has been quite a bit of research into just how loud they are. Most people agree that standing about 5m away they are 105decibels. To put this into perspective, standing on the pavement at rush hour is only 70dB, a busy factory or a nightclub is around 90dB, and if you operate a pneumatic drill you only get 100dB
- Why so loud? Not all bagpipes are this loud. Most types are a lot quieter but the most common type, the Great Highland Bagpipe (or GHB) has developed from the Warpipes which were used in battle. It was pointless having a quiet instrument as the soldiers wouldn't be able to hear the commands. With the arrival of guns Drums became hard to hear and easily misunderstood. To avoid this confusion, the English army introduced the Bugle, and the Scottish adopted the Bagpipes
- Surely the Scottish invented the bagpipes though? Absolutely not. This is one of the strangest misconceptions about the bagpipes. Historians agree that the bagpipes were invented in what is now Eastern Europe or the Middle East over 3,000 years ago. It is known that the Ancient Egyptians had a version, and so did the Romans. One of the more famous pipers was Emporer Nero and people have even suggested he may have played the pipes whilst Rome burned. The bagpipes seem to have arrived in Scotland through the Roman Army who used them. As the empire grew, each country adopted its own version of the bagpipes. It is generally accepted, however, that the Scottish put together the idea of a Pipe Band with Pipers & Drummers
- How many different types of bagpipes are there? Dozens. The most famous is the GHB, but in the British Isle alone there are at least 5: the GHB, the Uilean Pipes, the Irish Warpipes (very similar to the GHB), the Northumbrian Pipes and the Scottish Small Pipes. Some are played with bellows, some have blowsticks. Some have very large drones whilst others have very small ones. They all follow the basic principle of a bag with a chanter attached and usually some drones
- What is the bag made of? Isn't it wrong to use pig-skins? Another common myth is that every piper in the country is walking around with the remains of a pig under our arms. Until recently, most modern pipes did use animal skin (hide) as bags. This, however, required lots of maintenance to keep the bag supple and airtight. Modern bags are even more stranger - most pipers now have a bag made of Gore-Tex - exactly the same material used to make raincoats. Many also have zips to allow easy access to the bag for maintenance
- So with a bag of air a piper can plays for hours on end without stopping? In theory, yes we could. Unlike other woodwind instruments which usually have to breathe with the music, the resevoir of air means we can breathe more naturally into the bag. This produces a constant sound which means that to produce nicer sounding music we need to punctuate it with lots of grace notes. However, although the bagpipes could be played endlessly, our bodies couldn't handle it. The amount of air required to play the pipes means our lungs are used almost to capacity when we are playing so we usually can only manage 20-30 minutes before going a strange blue-colour!
- How long does it take to learn the pipes? Most people agree that it should take in the region of 5-7 years to properly learn the Great Highland Bagpipes. It is usually taught in stages. Firstly, you will be on the practise chanter learning the basics of music and simple tunes. Next you would usually try out the pipes. In my case I paraded with the band but not playing for a few times to get me used to blowing and marching. Once you are on the pipes properly it is a constant learning experience. Since we never have music all tunes have to be learnt completely by heart.