Though bagpipes are thought of as a strictly Celtic phenomenon, they actually originated in the Middle East before spreading throughout Europe in the Medieval and Renaissance periods. We can see many of these different influences in the types of bagpipes available today. In Britain and Ireland, for example, there are Highland pipes, Scottish small pipes, chamber pipes, shuttle pipes, and Uilleann pipes. There are various types of bagpipes throughout the world as well: traditional, chalice, Mediterranean, medieval, and a related item, the chanter.

The construction of bagpipes is relatively similar throughout the world. Bagpipes are made up of an airtight bag and five ‘pipes’ usually made out of black African woods or resin. Three of the pipes are drones -- two tenor and one bass — and lay across the pipers shoulders producing the constant humming sound we tend to associate with the piping. The last pipe is the chanter, the only actual hand hold the piper has on the instrument, and the source of the bagpipe’s melody.

To produce the distinctive bagpipe sound, pipers breathe air into the blowstick to fill the bag while squeezing the bag under their arm to maintain pressure and force air out of the other four pipes. The secret is to fill the bag so that the pressure is strong enough to close the valve, stopping the air from rushing back down into the piper’s throat. With all this to coordinate, luckily there are only nine notes that can be played - and with no volume control, all you can be is loud!