Electronic Bagpipes (4K) | Pros & Cons

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My thoughts on the pros & cons of the various electronic and digital bagpipes on the market today (June 2021).

For more information on Matt Willis Bagpiper visit:

[carlot]

After a bad stroke, the electronic pipes did help me to carry on playing the pipes.

[MAMDAVEM]

Hi Matt, Another interesting and thoughtful video. From the persepctive of an active traditional bagpipe player, your pro's ancd con's make sense to me. An alternative perspective would be from an older (and former traditional pipes) player. At my age, both my father and grandfather had signifcanlty reduced their playing, both were former army and band players, playing the pipes for over 45 years. Within a further 10 years they had stopped playing altogether, not because they had fallen out of love with the pipes but that they found them to be too physically demanding. Of course they didn't have the option of electronic pipes, and I'm not sure what their reaction to them would have been! For me it has re-kindled my love of playing and whilst the only cons I personally see to electronic pipes (I play the Balir digital chanter) is battery life and the inability to stop the sound quickly. I do have the Blair cut-off pedal but it is pretty noisy. The pro's for me are;

1. I can continue to play the pipes without the physical exersion required to play my traditional pipes and the worry about them being fit to play without a lot of regular maitenance.
2. No longer being in the band scene I find it more difficult to get reeds, tuning support etc. However things have definitely got better with plastic drone reeds, synthetic bags, moisture traps and tuning apps.
3. Previously my tuning concerns were that I would be in tune with the other band members, Now I have the freedom to choose Smallpipes in A, Bb, C and D, Pipes in A maj, Do, E maj, G maj. Blair have also very recently brought out software for the Uilleann pipes sound which I can wait to try. Maybe you could do a video on this?
4. Being able to select different pipe insturments and keys has encouraged me to explore other pipe music, Smallpipes, lowland pipes, Galta and this has definely changed the type of music I listen to and like to learn.
5. Being able to choose concert pitch has encouraged me to play music alongside other instruments, recently I did a collaboration with my guitar playing cousin in New York and we have posted it on Youtube. We have several more in the pipe so to speak.

In summary, digital bagpipes have extended my playiing career and stimulated my love of pipe music and I am eternally grateful to their developers.

[remychevalier]

I loved this video, and wanted to add a comment as a pro for e-pipes. I have respiratory issues and would never be able to play a set of bagpipes, but with these new electronic pipes, I now can get a set and finally learn the pipes and enjoy them. (Something of a dream, that I thought would always be out of reach!) so you’ve inspired me, and I’m excited to give it a go!!
-Again, I’m so happy I’ve found your channel!!

[RandelCandelaria]

I own the Redpipes Classic and it has gotten back to playing an instrument I love! I started over 40 years ago but about 15 years ago I had to put my pipes aside for failing health reasons. What a joy to have discovered Redpipes which allowed me to play again. My biggest complaint however has nothing to do with the instrument itself. I ordered a more advanced customized set in Dec. '22 and was told not to expect them until June. June came and went and when I inquired further I was told it would be another two weeks, sometime in mid-July. July came and went and I was told within 4 weeks. Seven weeks later still no word. I'm beginning to wonder if Redpipes is floundering or have fallen upon bad times.

[Donnybrook]

My Blair chanter has improved my piping 10-fold. Love it.

[MrZen]

After seeing your short video where you play on your redpipe, I realized I did not see this video ! Very instructive, thanks Matt ! :)

[suepritchard]

Would’ve been good to hear you play that weird looking thing!

[RockStarOscarStern]

Always holding tune is the good thing, extending the range would make them more useful. They should make Uillean Pipe versions

[justinnaramor]

Hello Matt.

Last time I wrote you a comment I said I would give my thoughts on electronic bagpipes in general. I figured this would be the most appropriate video to do that on anyway; that's precisely what this video's about. This comment might get a little long, just thought I'd give a warning on that before continuing. I feel I should also mention that I'm visually impaired to the point of being completely blind, so the comment will be written from that sort of perspective.

Without further ado, let's go! :)

First things first: why I find bagpipes so fascinating; this will help provide some context for my feelings on the electronic versions.

The appeal in bagpiping (in my opinion, anyway) really revolves around how the instrument works. Specifically, the bag and air supply. You first blow air in, and that air is contained inside a bag. So really the bag is being blown up, like a balloon. Once that bag is blown up to the right amount of inflation, you then press on the bag with your arm to essentially squeeze the air out of it (I.E you literally just deflated the bag when you squeezed it, after having initially inflated it). This causes the air in the bag to get transferred over to the pipes in the bag which then make sound. This is where, immediately, you can see how bagpipes differ significantly from most other wind instruments; you never actually blow air directly into the sound-making portion of the instrument, like you would on a saxophone or flute or whatever. Instead, you blow the air into the bag. The bag then "blows" the air into the sound-making portion (the pipes with reeds) when you push the air out by squeezing, or sitting, or stepping on the bag (OK, that was kind of a joke, but my point is you have to put some sort of pressure onto the bag to squeeze the air out). Obviously the bag has a limited capacity for air ( just like any other inflatable object; heck, even a scuba tank has a limited air capacity), so if you want to keep the sound sustaining for longer than what that capacity would allow, you have to put new air into the bag to replenish the lost air coming out. As you correctly pointed out, you can't just lift your arm off of the bag when you re-inflate it; this will result in pauses in the sound... unless you want to intentionally have pauses in the sound, for a musical effect. Otherwise, the sound continues until the bag runs completely (or almost completely) empty. This method of air supply is very unique to this instrument; there's no other instrument that really works in this way.

So, how does this compare to electronic bagpipes?

I've done some research/reading about electronic versions. To me, if you're going to have an electronic instrument that simulates a particular acoustic instrument, I think it should try as hard as it can to simulate that instrument as closely as possible in order for it to feel realistic to any degree; players of the traditional instrument should be able to get acustomed easily to the electronically simulated version and they should be able to apply almost all of the playing techniques of that instrument. With a guitar, for example, you have 2 parts each operated by your 2 hands: a fingerboard portion, used for selecting particular notes, and a strumming portion, used for triggering the selected notes. So if one is to have an electronic version of a guitar, it should simulate that. Thankfully, there are electronic guitars on the market (or some of them are also DIY projects) that do in fact simulate this.

Here's the problem I've seen with some electronic bagpipes: that playing style I outlined above (blowing up a bag with air and squeezing it and so on) is wrongly simulated. I'll elaborate more on what I mean:

I've seen some electronic "bagpipes" where the "bag" that you squeeze appears to be little more than a giant "pressure sensor" (I.E you never actually blow the thing up with air, and as such there's no actual airflow going to the (simulated) pipes.

I feel this is fake... very, very fake. It's just not bagpipe-like. It does not correctly simulate how bagpipes are played. Some folks might argue "Oh, but I have a lung infection or respiratory issues so this will be perfect for me". I'd argue that's ridiculous. You can still inflate a bagpipe bag with air without using your lungs. I'm sure you're aware of bagpipes that are bellows-blown instead of mouth-blown. That's an obvious solution to this issue. And if you still want electronic bagpipes, can it really be so hard for someone to make an electronic bagpipe where the bag is inflated with air from bellows? LOL! For that matter, can it really be so hard to make an electronic bagpipe that requires a bag to be inflated with air, period? The thing is, we already have successful MIDI controllers that are played like wind instruments that actually require you to blow air into them (they don't just simulate the fingering), so doing this in a bagpipe style should really not be that hard. What would be the reeds in the pipes might instead become switches or some other kind of sensors that react to the speed/pressure of the air coming from the bag (kind of like how you might put a little ball into a tube and then blow a strong enough blast of air to push the ball through the tube). The signals from those sensors would either get converted into MIDI data or else trigger an analogue synthesizer. The blowpipe (used for blowing up the bag) would just be an ordinary blowpipe; it contributes absolutely nothing to the generation of electronic sound.

In this video you mentioned the Redpipes Caledonia, and from my research, that device does actually involve you blowing up a bag with air. Still though, seeing as how I'm blind, I still have to wonder: how closely does it simulate the playing style? Do you have to actually inflate some kind of bag with air? Then after it's inflated, do you have to squeeze that bag to push the air out of it (which would then trigger the before-proposed sensors or switches in the pipes)? Do you then have to continuously supply new air to the bag to keep it full, like on the real pipes?? If it doesn't simulate any of this, then I say it's fake. The only thing it simulates is a bag being squeezed... nothing more. I'm not even talking about the fingering for the chanter here at all; I am strictly talking about the bag and air supply portion. Bagpipes are a wind instrument (I.E they rely on a current of air passing through them), and I feel the electronic bagpipes should also act like this.

Anyways, I know this comment was more like an essay in length. I'm just speaking my mind though :) I'd appreciate any of your thoughts/comments on all of this.

Justin Naramor

[Cicco]

... thanks Matt ... I think I made a mistake in learning only on a digital chanter (mainly because I didn't want to "annoy" anyone else in the house while learning/practising, and I could plug my electronic chanter into headphones) - because later I found the transition to the reed chanter really difficult!!! I think I had good hand technique, but getting used to blowing (and moving fingers at the same time) was really challenging for a while, and the "lower sensitivity" of a reed chanter meant a little bit more effort (although the digital chanter helped me to avoid crosses and "weaker" fingerings etc as you mentioned) so my (very humble) advice would be that you can definitely learn on a digital chanter, but when you've mastered a particular technique, don't move on until you can pick up the reed chanter and play the same technique on it....

[misi]

I've got a Degerpipe and a Fagerstrom. For me the most con of the Deger is the wrong balance. The most weight is in the head, where there's the electronic and the battery. It feels uncomfortable. On the other side I can use rechargeable batteries, instead of the Fagerstrom. This one has small batteries, which will be empty very fast. I was thinking about building an adapter for USB-Cable to solve this problem. The pro of the Fagerstrom is the size. You can take it everywhere with you.

Edit: The more I think about it, the more ideas comes to me. 😊
One pro of the Deger is the metronome. It is easy and not very precise, but helpful.
Con: the firmware of the Deger sometimes crashes and it looses my configurations.

[ElijahG]

Good stuff. I bought a WARBL to try and get into Uilleann pipes because real UP cost a lot and the WARBL can play other types of pipes. But I wasn't happy with it because I knew that playing it wouldn't mean I can play real UP's. And I didn't want to be a fake piper. so I recently got a used UP practice set and oh boy is it harder lol. My bonus mistake was buying a used set and not just getting a new Daye set or something that would be more properly set up. The reed it came with was extremely questionable from my research and testing (its extremely hard playing). I bought a new reed that seems better but getting it set up to play in tune has been really hard. It doesnt help that I cant tell when its an issue thats improper setup vs improper playing, because I'm definitely doing both (like if its out of tune or om not using the right pressure, ect). Where if it came professionally setup or I knew another UP'er who could say if its setup right would eliminate those issues. I'm hoping that eventually I get everything working properly haha. But if I want to hear something that doesnt sound like pain and suffering pretending to be music, I can plug in my WARBL.

[Kingtrollface]

I'm buying one of these next month, can't wait

[lucky]

Great video, I would like to share my personal experience: I had a Fagerstrom Technopipe, then I switched to Deger (only because I also play "medieval" bagpipes with German fingering and my Technopipe didn't have the option to play with that fingering) and I also have a Redpipe Classic.

The Technopipe is very small and portable, this is also its main con: the tone holes are very closed compared to a real bagpipe or a long sized practice chanter (imagine to play a tin whistle, this is ok if you play a gaita Gallega but can be awkward if you need to practice for a GHB). Also, there is no mouthpiece so you have to hold the chanter with your hands alone: this is not a problem if you play only Highland pipes but if you have to lift most of your finger (as in high B or C with the gaita Gallega) the chanter may fall. It has the option of midi output.

The Deger is more like a long practice chanter in size, it also has a fake mouthpiece (you cannot blow trough it but it helps to keep the chanter in place if you have to lift most of your fingers), it also has more fingering options (at least my version: GHB, gaita, medieval and French) and midi ouput. The main con is the electrict contact are very sensitive to the dryness of your fingers: in winter I almost cannot play it without using hand cream.

The Redpipe is obviously less portable, it has the same fingering options of the Deger and has a 6, 3mm line out jack to connect to an amplifier (the Technopipe and the Deger only have a 3, 5mm phones output).

[garyrobertson]

13.26 Hi Matt, just want to say what a fantastic video. I’ve been in the process of lookin to buy some kind of electronic bagpipes so we can include them in a more kind of acoustic setting. I always use the old school Highland pipes on stage and prefer the authenticity of them, although we are always stuck to B flat and the band crack up 😂😂
I’m just basically looking for maybe the Blair or even the Glencoe to give a ‘pipes’ sound with the band for acoustic. Is there any one in particular that you would recommend and do I need to get a wee amp to include with this? Thanks again and what is the name o your current band so I can check out?
I’m in a band called The Cundeez from Dundee, Scotland and we do a mix o Punk, Celtic, Ska and even a wee bit o Reggae at times. Loads o vids on here.
👍🏻😃🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿

[ralphhunter]

A big con for me is say you were doing a birl, but even if your finger just touched the edge of the contact it will sound a low g.

[michaelkazmierskidunn]

Wow! I actually grew up on electronic bagpipes since my love affair with pipes started in Christmas of 2004 at age 8! Unfortunately I needed to use electronic pipes because we didn't understand that I wasn't blowing through my diaphragm and that I would often get pressure in my eyes from blowing mostly from my head-support into the chanter, but then after being in the school choir for a few years I finally learned diaphragm blowing. I LOVE electronic pipes myself and can definitely agree on the pros. Only thing is, I've never tried either the Redpipe or Blair ones (only grew up on Ross, Fagerstrom and sadly very shortly a first-generation Deger I actually bought from Matt because I was dead jealous of everyone else who had it, but it died literally a month or so afterwards!, have yet to get it fixed even though I do know of a few friends who speak fluent German, LOL).

[rhydianharris]

Hi Matt - great videos. I am a beginner and bought msuyelf a set of McCallum pipes which are good but I have 2 young children at home which affects my ability to practice (even with chanter alone). Digital pipes with bag seem like a good solution but is there a brand where you have to blow too as I find that developing stamina through blowing and controlling pressure with your elbow is the hardest thing to master

[eswarjuri]

How about people, who never played a bagpipe before? I mean if you start off by using an electronic bagpipe, you don't even build up any muscles or lung capacity you could lose when changing your instrument! Lol

[pauldonaldson]

Great info. Thanks for your insights!