Expert: Arash Ebrahimi - 5/5/2007

Question
Hey there, I just started learning to pipe in January.  My instructor loaned me her pipes for the weekend and told me to try and make them work.  I started by removing the drones and corking the stocks, then filling the bag and just playing the chanter.  That seemed to work okay, although i almost fainted trying to get it to tap in.  Then I tried to attach the drones, but the bag will not fill up now.  I can feel the air rushing out of the drones as fast as I can blow it into the bag.  Am I doing something wrong or is there something wrong with the pipes?

Answer
Hey Chris,

Well first of all, congratulations on learning the pipes.  Not sure if this weekend was the first time you were on the pipes or not, but that first time is always exciting.

The bagpipes are a very complicated instrument, so even a small change can make the air rush out of the drones the way you are talking about, so don't worry, you haven't broken them or anything :)

It sounds like the one or more of the drone reeds have fallen into the bag.  You can check this easily by either zipping open the bag (if it has a zipper) and looking inside, and if not, taking the drones out and seeing if they have reeds connected to them.  

If this is the problem and you have a zipper bag, just take them out and reconnect them.  The two tenor drones will have the same types of reeds and the bass drone will have one that looks different.

If the bag doesn't have a zipper, feel around the bag until you locate the reeds and try to push them up through the drone or chanter holes.

The problem could also be one of the following:

-leak in the bag
-your blowing still needs to be developed
-the chanter and drones are letting too much air out at the joints.  The joints might have to be re-hemped.

Try some of these things and see if they work.  If not, feel free to ask another question :)  Your instructor will definately be able to help too