How to Balance Bagpipe Volume

Scottish bagpipes emit such distinctive, thrilling sounds that nearly everyone recognizes the instrument the moment they start playing, everybody knows what they are. They can produce haunting melodies, but if they are out of balance the result will fall short of what the musician intended.

Difficulty: Easy

Instructions

1. Identify the parts of the bagpipe that balance. There are several stocks that run out of the bag: two tenor drones and the bass drone, which is closest to your heard. Reeds inside the drones make the sound. You exhale into a blow stick to produce the air that runs across the reeds. The chanter contains the reed that makes the sounds different based on the scales you play.

2. Balance the chanter first. If the chanter is louder than the drones it throws off the tone of the bagpipe. The chanter is the smaller stock that hangs down from the bag for easy reach to play the notes on the pipe. Twist off the chanter stock from the bag. Pull the nose cone off of the reed.

3. Look for the little screw inside that you can change the loudness and the pitch of the reed. The reeds can also be sanded down to get an exact pitch in relation to the drones.

4. Find the "O" ring over the reed that you can move back and forth to change pitch. Move it toward the bag and the O ring lets more air get under the reed's tongue to make it louder. Move it the other way to make it quieter.

5. Adjust the drones balance. The drones are the stocks that you hold on your left shoulder. Twist the stocks off of the bag and move the reeds that are bound in hemp to adjust the loudness of each drone. Start with the bass drone first. Wind a small rubber band around the reed to slightly mute it.