How to Tune a Bagpipe Drone

The bagpipe has three drones which rest on the piper's shoulder. The drones are the tubes that protrude from the bagpipe. The two treble drones and one bass drone provide the almost mournful tone of the bagpipe and must be tuned to harmonize with the chanter.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

1. Tune the two treble drones to an octave lower than the low A on the chanter. Tuning the treble drones requires a few simple adjustments, as the bagpipe is designed to have a permanent tuning.

2. Adjust the tone on the bass drone so that it is tuned two octaves below the low A on the chanter. The bass drone is the one nearest the piper. Leave a little bit of the hemp thread showing. Adjust the bottom joint of the bass drone on the bagpipe to change the pitch.

3. Lengthen the tube to flatten the pitch. Gently rotate the tube back and forth while applying upward pressure to slide the parts up or down depending on the desired tonal adjustment.

4. Shorten the tube slightly to increase the pitch. The shorter tube makes the tone higher.

5. Make minor adjustments to tune the bagpipe drones. The amount of movement required to tune the drone is very slight, and it can be accomplished easily within a minute or so.