Bagpipes are a woodwind instrument using enclosed reeds fed from a constant reservoir of air in the form of a bag. So that is it!
Actually they came from the middle east. Probably started with shepherds supposedly looking after the flock of sheep. A hollow reed when blown across the open end made a sound. Many of these put together made what is now the Inca Flute. However, too many pipes were reduced to one by cutting holed in the hollow reed, hence the recorder and basic flute. But when taking a breath the noise stopped. The idea of fitting a bag, probably a sheep’s bladder, and a blow pipe made for a constant sound. As time went on the modern bagpipes evolved.
The construction is a leather bag fitted with a blow pipe, a chanter and three drones.
First the bag. I was assured when I was in Scotland, that the leather bag was kept in good condition by regularly soaking it internally with a mixture of whisky and honey. Maybe I should have done that with mine.
The blowpipe is fitted with a leather flap valve just inside the bag so that when you stop blowing the air does not escape back to you.
The chanter is fitted in a similar manner but no flap valve but a reed instead. It has nine holes, eight down the front and one at the back, excluding the hole that the air flows through to make the noise. The reed is generally bamboo, carefully split and tied to give the unique sound.
The three drones are similar but much larger and can be tuned through a short pitch range. The drone are different sizes and have to be “tuned to match”.
Playing the pipes
To get the instrument to play is quite an operation. First you need to inflate the bag. Then, without squashing the bag you have to get it to the correct pressure that the drones will play. A reasonable press with the forearm will start the drones. Then it take a good squeeze, more like a good push to get the chanter going. To tune the drones you stop them playing by covering the two short ones with your hand, not yours but someone else’s hands as you can’t reach them yourself. Generally you get the chanter to play the “E” note and tune the drones to that.
As the pipes can't play the same note twice in succession then they have to play "grace notes". More on that later.
The unique sound of the bagpipes will carry for many miles without distortion.
It was 1956 to 1958 when I played in the pipe band so I have to rely upon a memory that is a long way back.
The Dark Island Player playing on the pipes.
Regards, Den
.. 
