Instruments - Part 5

Bagpipes

We continue our series about various musical instruments.  Today, the bagpipes.

A little while ago, I saw this photo in the blog Sicko Ricko's Crap, which inspired me to make today's post.  Thanks, Rick.  This bagpiper's name is Paul.  His necklace reads "Paulywog."  We'll see more of him later.

The instrument consists of a bag that holds air plus two or more pipes.  Air is blown into the bag by the piper, as shown here.  One pipe, called the chanter, is played by the piper's fingers and produces the melody.  The pipes have a double reed like an oboe, giving them a sharp, piercing sound.

The other pipes, called drones, each produce a continuous unvarying tone, which gives the instrument its distinctive, and to some people irritating, sound.  This set of pipes has three drones.

Here's Paul again.  His bagpipes uses a bellows, which he operates with his right elbow, to pump air into the bag.

Bagpipes can be very loud, so they are best played outdoors, like here at Burning Man.  The loud, piercing sound also makes it a good military instrument, famously used by Scottish army units, since it can be heard over the din of battle.

Of course, most bagpipers are not naked.  But Scottish bagpipers traditionally wear kilts.  That gives us the opportunity to see what's underneath if a gust of wind comes along, like here ...

or here, at the Tartan Day parade in New York City on April 6, 2015.  It was a charming if unintentional reenactment of Marilyn Monroe's famous subway grate scene in The Seven Year Itch.

We end with a video clip of piper Paul playing at the Seattle Hempfest in 2015.  At the end, he was forced to get dressed by two spoilsport security guards.  You could say, "Piper's peter piqued a pair of picky peepers."

Aside from the security guards, everyone else clearly liked what they saw.