Bagpipes are the wood-wind instrument; that possesses a great variety. The musical instrument is so intricate with the Celtic history that most people can’t stop asking are bagpipes Irish or Scottish. Keep reading as we are going to unveil the types of bagpipes.

What is the Scottish Bagpipes origin?

As mentioned before, Bagpipes are a massive part of the culture of Scotland. When people think about Scotland Bagpipe along with the Scottish kilt comes to mind. The Great Highland Bagpipe is the most famous of all bagpipes of the country. The marching bands and the parades mostly prefer it.

Some evidence of history suggests that the British and Scottish army used to play the Bagpipes as early as the 1400s.

What is the Scottish Bagpipe Features?

The instrument is wood-wind with a double reed. Following are its parts:

Bag

The air reserves in this. It is mostly made of animal skin. These days they use synthetic material to create it.

Blow stick

Through the blow stick, a person blows in the air into the bag of the instrument. It contains an airlock system that traps the air inside; thus, it requires a lot of lung endurance to blow the blow stick.

Chanter and drones:

The Chanter is the melody pipe of the bagpipe. It contains a series of finger holes. It is cylindrical. Its ends are opened. Just like Chanters, the drones possess reeds to produce the musical sound. Each bagpipe has three drones, and it produces constant humming sound.

What is an Irish bagpipe?

It is the native Irish instrument. In the country, Irish Bagpipes are known as Uilleann bagpipes. ‘Uilleann’ literally means elbow in the Irish language. The Irish started to play the Bagpipes in the 20th century. According to some of the evidence from history, the Irish played ‘Union Bagpipes’ in the 18th century.

What are the Irish Bagpipe features?

Both the Scottish and Irish Bagpipe differ significantly for each other. Here are some of the features of the Irish instrument:

Bellows

Instead of Blowpipe, the Irish bagpipe contains bellows. The elbows control these.

Chanter:

Both the bagpipes have different Chanter. The Irish one contains double-reed Chanter and is meant to rest on the thighs. Due to this, the Irish bagpipes sound better when played while sitting.

Drones and Regulators

Both Irish and Scottish Bagpipes have similar Drones that serve the same purpose but produces better Irish bagpipe music. A standard Bagpipe possess three drones including baritone, bass drone, and a tenor

The regulators look identical to the chanters, and it also owns note-holes. At the end of it, sprung keys are present. There function to produce chords, melodic ad rhythmic sound.

Final words:

If you wonder are bagpipes Irish or Scottish then here is the answer to your question. Bagpipes are played both in Scotland and Ireland. Though the bagpipes differ in sound and shape in both the country. The Scottish bagpipe history goes way back in time then the Irish past.