Yep, you read that right. The bagpipes have entered the digital age. The earliest documented evidence of bagpipes dates back to 1000 BC, found on a Hittite slab at Eyuk. While often associated with Scotland, bagpipes have a history stretching back to the Middle East and were adopted and adapted by various cultures, including the Romans, who are believed to have played a role in spreading the instrument through Europe, including to Scotland.
The bagpipes haven’t changed that much in all those years. The acoustic set the I play still requires maintenance, tuning, and lots of care. The sound, pitch, and tuning is affected by moisture, altitude, temperature, mercury in retrograde!
Enter the digital bagpipe! I started out with an electronic set of bagpipes made by a dude in Germany. They are called ‘Redpipes’. I played the Redpipes on a number of gigs and recording sessions and they actually worked okay. The sound wasn’t exactly the same but with added effects like reverb, some chorus, and a nice clean amplifier, they sounded pretty awesome. They looked like bagpipes too so many people didn’t even notice they were electronic. However, the Redpipes were very finicky, even for an electronic instrument. They tended to start making weird noises or just flat out not play for no reason. And when you’re playing in a band setting or someone’s counting on you to play, that’s not going to cut it.
So my Redpipes finally gave their last wheeze and I went looking for a new alternative. I wasn’t very hopeful because, you know, bagpipes. But I found something totally cool. The Blair Chanter. It’s made by a company in Australia. It sounds awesome! As opposed to the Redpipes, which are electronic, the Blair instrument is digital. Instead of capacitors and resistors, the Blair runs on a digital chip. Way to bring the pipes in the future, right?
And the sound is quite convincing. It has it’s own onboard reverb to add some depth to the sound which is quite pleasing. Here’s a sample recording I threw together with me playing the Djembe.
I’m having fun with it. I use it for practicing and learning new tunes. It makes practice a bit more fun too. If you’re not aware, most bagpipers practice on an annoying little instrument called a ‘chanter’. It’s kind of like a semi-musical recorder. It helps with learning fingering but it in no way resembles actually playing the bagpipes. And it sounds weird too. It’s kind of loud in it’s own way. So I try not to practice around others because I don’t want to annoy them. The cool thing about the Blair is you can use headphones! So no one else can hear it but you. I remember I was waiting on a delayed flight out of Austin, Texas around the time South By Southwest was starting up. I was sitting in the terminal playing my little chanter with the Apple earbuds in with this majestic bagpipe playing in my head. All the folks going to and from their planes were staring and probably wondering, “What the heck is that thing?”.
Super cool!
I have a little hook-up where I can supposedly plug the Blair into a set of bagpipes and make it appear that I’m actually playing the pipes. That’s the next step. Hopefully I can go live with the digital pipes and start rocking out again.
