The bagpipe is a reed instrument with several pipes (from 2 to 4) whose distinctive feature is a bag which serves as a reservoir for air, furnished either by breath (through a blowpipe with a leather non-return valve) or by bellows strapped to the body. Because the wind supply is continuous, the sounding pipes normally cannot be silent, and repeated melody notes must be articulated by inserting grace notes (notes of extremely short duration) between them. Melodies are played on the finger holes of the melody pipe, or chanter, while the remaining pipes, or drones, sound single notes tuned against the chanter by means of extendable joints.
Although the history of this instrument is obscure, bagpipes were known as early as the 9th century in Europe. Earlier evidence is scarce but includes four Latin and Greek references of about AD 100. The medieval bagpipes had a 'bag' made from the whole skin of a pig. The mouth pipe was stuck into the back and the chanter protrudes from the animal's mouth. Other versions include a bladder or a whole sheepskin or goatskin, minus the hindquarters; later, two pieces of skin were cut to shape and sewn together.
The bagpipe is a common European instrument even though it is found only in certain definite and isolated areas. In the Middle Ages, it played a prominent musical role as a folk instrument, but after the 15th century, some were used for court music, and others survived as military instruments. The earliest surviving Scottish Highland pipe dates from 1409. Except that it lacks a bass drone, it resembles the present-day Highland pipe, which has a conical bore, double reed chanter with eight finger holes and three drones (two tenors and a bass tuned an octave lower); its scale preserves traditional intervals foreign to European classical music. The Scottish Lowland bagpipes, played from 1750 to about 1850, were bellows blown, with three drones in one stock, and had a softer sound.
The Irish union pipe, or uillean pipe, is a complicated bellows blown instrument with a conical double reed chanter, usually with nine closed keys. The open bottom of the chanter rests on the player's knee. When all the keys are closed, the sound stops; when the chanter is lifted off the knee, the chanter overblows to a higher octave. In addition to its three cylindrical single-reed drones, it has three regulators(conical reed pipes).
Other versions of bagpipes include the simple Indian bagpipe which has a single chanter and no drone. The Arabian, Tunisian, Aegean, the Caucasus and Russian bagpipes have double chanters with horn bells but, again, no drone. The bellows-blown French musette has a velvet covered bag which was fashionable in French society under Louis XIV. It had two cylindrical chanters and four tunable drones bored in a single cylinder. Partly offshoots of the musette are the British small pipes, of which the Northumbrian small pipe is played today. Its cylindrical chanter, with seven keys, is closed at the bottom, so that when all holes are closed, it is silent.
The Macedonian gaida has a tapering chanter with a small horn bell and a single bass drone. The Slovakian gajdy has a short chanter with an upturned bell, and a base drone fixed at right angles to its stock. Other single drone bagpipes include the Breton biniou and the Spanish gaita. The German Dudelsack has a goatskin bag with two drones; the Italian zampogna has two drones and two chanters, each fitted with double reeds. The French cornemuse has a stock carrying the chanter and a small drone, as well as a larger one.
