The illustration above depicts a bagpipe made of
African Blackwood (without a bag cover) and the diagrami, although easy to understand, requires a few commentaries
to aide someone not yet acquainted with this instrument understand how i functions. African Blackwood is the
traditional hardwood employed to craft Scottish Highland Bagpipes, althout I have seen excellent bagpipes, made of Maple,
Iron Wood, Teak and other fine hardwoods. I have also seen lesser-quality pipes employ woods such as rosewood, cocobolo
wood, cocuswood, plastic, polypenco and just about anything that can be made into a bagpipes.
The blowpipe is used to fill the bag, which
serves as a air reservoir for the air that make the reeds vibrate and the instrument produce its sound. A combination
of blowing and squeezing the bag with the left arm, regulates the air pressures that it's required to produced a balanced,
yet nice and melodious, even and powerful sound.
You will notice that at the inside end of the blowpipe
plastic and rubber valve. Traditionally this would be piece of circular leather with a piece of the valve, fashioned
into a "flap tie" or "leg, which is tied into place at the base of the blowpipe and held together with hemp thread.
Other blowpipe valves have a rubber flap and a brass "leg". The combinations and options are many.
The blowpipe valve in this picture is one preferred
by many pipers for its reliability, called "Lil Mac". It is made of plastic and has a rubber flap on the end, and it's
carefully inserted into the blowpipe itself, being careful not to crack the blowpipe.
The drone reed shown is a synthetic reed.
I prefer to make and use my own cane drone and chanter reeds, as I am a "traditionalist".
natural
look which resemble bamboo.
The bag
shown is made of cow hide bag. Sheepskin, cow, deer, elk, and even kangaroo hide bags are also used (good
for those pipers needing excessive moisture to escape the bag quickly), as well as Gortex, Banatyne, rubber bags and
hybrid bags (hide bag with a synthetic inside).
The traditional
way of sealing a bagpipe joint is using hemp string, either waxed or unwaxed, and they are yellow or black in colour.
Newer methods include plumber's teflon tape and other concoctions. You can see some of the plumber's tape on the joints.
Plumber's tape comes in white, pink, yellow, orange and blue colours.
