Reed Variation Used for Playing the Bagpipes

Video Transcript

" Hi! I am Mike Oberst with expertvillage.com. I am a bagpipe instructor. In this segment, I am going to tell you and show you the difference between the reeds used and a practice chanter and in the chanter of the great highland pipe. The great highland bagpipes are classified as a woodwind instrument. It uses a double reed much like an elbow or a bassoon but unlike an elbow or a bassoon in which the reed is played directly to the mouth. In the bagpipe instruments, the reed is played inside a stalk. If you remove the stalk, you will find the plastic reed. You only need a plastic reed in a practice chanter for the lower volumes in which you would like for this practice instrument. This is the chanter used for the great highland pipes that you can see the holes are a whole lot bigger to provide for the bigger sound that would come from the louder instrument. This reed is made of wood and should be for the amount of volume that passes through as produced by the heavy wood and so that is the difference. The plastic reed is quieter for the practice chanter and the wooden reed is louder for the louder highland bagpipe."