Bagpipes
Created | Updated Jan 28, 2002
A rather archaic instrument the bagpipes, in their numerous different forms have been present in the human inventory of musical instruments since Roman times, and evidence exists that they may possibly have even been played in Ancient Egypt.
The concept of bagpipes is a very straight-forward progression from playing a simple reed blown flute. Once described as "one animal blowing into the skin of another animal", this pretty much sums it up. By attaching a hide bag to their flute, early pipers realised that they could produce a continuous tone, as opposed to having to stop for breath every so often.
Today bagpipes exist in a huge variety of forms from the highly crafted and very refined to the crude and functional. Probably the best known of these are the Great Highland Bagpipes of Scotland, even though these are among the most recent incarnation of the instrument. They came to Scotland originally from the celtic communities in Galicia, Brittany, and Ireland, probably around the turn of the 16th century AD. Here they found a home amongst the clans of the highland regions as a martial instrument and their piercing tone was quickly recognised as a useful tool for rallying soldiers and spurring men on in conflict. This is a role which the bagpipes served well in, even up to as recently as WWII in the Scottish and Commonwealth regiments.
Indeed Pipe Major Eric Moss of the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders has been quoted as saying that "the music of the highland bagpipe serves only two purposes with any distinction at all. The first is calling men to arms in the heat of battle and the second is lamenting the dead". It is this last function which the bagpipe serves so well, which saw the pipers and drummers of the 1st Battalion Black Watch, officially requested to play at the funeral of US President John.F Kennedy, where they played the chilling funeral lament 'The Mist Covered Mountains'.
Apart from the Great Highland pipes, other types of bagpipes are -
-Uillean pipes
-Northumbrian pipes
-Small pipes
-Lowland pipes
-English pipes
-Border pipes
-Lancastrian pipes
and this is to name but a few.
All of the above types of bagpipes have their origins in the British Isles, but there is still a strong tradition of piping in the states of Eastern Europe, North Africa, and the Middle East. The playing of bagpipes seems to be particularly prominent in Muslim countries perhaps because of the modal structure of the scales used in many bagpipes, which would better suit religious chants from the Muslim faith.
The bagpipes perhaps more than any other instrument (except maybe drums and the yedaki) could safely lay claim to being one of the least changed instruments in the last two millenia. Listening to the bagpipes (in any of their forms) is to step outside the vast tradition of western and modern music and listen to a sound, which is virtually unchanged from the times of Nero, King Arthur, William Wallace, and Rob Roy MacGregor.
In recent years there have been many attempts at modernising the sounds of bagpipes, with various levels of success. This seems, to me though, to be an exercise in futility. It is a sound so ancient and unfamiliar that it is destined to remain a specialised and singular musical form.
From pipe band competitions and ceilidhs, to turkish weddings and funerals, the bagpipes can evoke the mood of an occasion like few other instruments, and they are an enduring and fascinating part of our musical history.
If you are going to be listening to the bagpipes though, it would be well worth noting that in any crowd of people listening to the pipes, a good portion of them will be there for reasons not of their choosing (funerals, weddings, friends relatives, etc) Taken to excess, the bagpipes have an uncanny knack of annoying, infuriating, angering, and generally ruining what following they do have, through overuse.
With this is mind, any crowd will have its fair share of bagpipe haters and it is worthwhile to be armed with a few good derisory bagpipe jokes, depending which way the wind of conversation is blowing at the time. So I have compiled a short collection of jokes which, while not uproariously funny, will be enough to raise the hackles of most pipers and get you in with the 'ANTI' crowd.
Why do pipers walk around when they play?
To get away from the noise.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
What is the difference between an onion and bagpipes?
No one cries when you cut up bagpipes.
MORE TO FOLLOW......OUT tshhh.
The concept of bagpipes is a very straight-forward progression from playing a simple reed blown flute. Once described as "one animal blowing into the skin of another animal", this pretty much sums it up. By attaching a hide bag to their flute, early pipers realised that they could produce a continuous tone, as opposed to having to stop for breath every so often.
Today bagpipes exist in a huge variety of forms from the highly crafted and very refined to the crude and functional. Probably the best known of these are the Great Highland Bagpipes of Scotland, even though these are among the most recent incarnation of the instrument. They came to Scotland originally from the celtic communities in Galicia, Brittany, and Ireland, probably around the turn of the 16th century AD. Here they found a home amongst the clans of the highland regions as a martial instrument and their piercing tone was quickly recognised as a useful tool for rallying soldiers and spurring men on in conflict. This is a role which the bagpipes served well in, even up to as recently as WWII in the Scottish and Commonwealth regiments.
Indeed Pipe Major Eric Moss of the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders has been quoted as saying that "the music of the highland bagpipe serves only two purposes with any distinction at all. The first is calling men to arms in the heat of battle and the second is lamenting the dead". It is this last function which the bagpipe serves so well, which saw the pipers and drummers of the 1st Battalion Black Watch, officially requested to play at the funeral of US President John.F Kennedy, where they played the chilling funeral lament 'The Mist Covered Mountains'.
Apart from the Great Highland pipes, other types of bagpipes are -
-Uillean pipes
-Northumbrian pipes
-Small pipes
-Lowland pipes
-English pipes
-Border pipes
-Lancastrian pipes
and this is to name but a few.
All of the above types of bagpipes have their origins in the British Isles, but there is still a strong tradition of piping in the states of Eastern Europe, North Africa, and the Middle East. The playing of bagpipes seems to be particularly prominent in Muslim countries perhaps because of the modal structure of the scales used in many bagpipes, which would better suit religious chants from the Muslim faith.
The bagpipes perhaps more than any other instrument (except maybe drums and the yedaki) could safely lay claim to being one of the least changed instruments in the last two millenia. Listening to the bagpipes (in any of their forms) is to step outside the vast tradition of western and modern music and listen to a sound, which is virtually unchanged from the times of Nero, King Arthur, William Wallace, and Rob Roy MacGregor.
In recent years there have been many attempts at modernising the sounds of bagpipes, with various levels of success. This seems, to me though, to be an exercise in futility. It is a sound so ancient and unfamiliar that it is destined to remain a specialised and singular musical form.
From pipe band competitions and ceilidhs, to turkish weddings and funerals, the bagpipes can evoke the mood of an occasion like few other instruments, and they are an enduring and fascinating part of our musical history.
If you are going to be listening to the bagpipes though, it would be well worth noting that in any crowd of people listening to the pipes, a good portion of them will be there for reasons not of their choosing (funerals, weddings, friends relatives, etc) Taken to excess, the bagpipes have an uncanny knack of annoying, infuriating, angering, and generally ruining what following they do have, through overuse.
With this is mind, any crowd will have its fair share of bagpipe haters and it is worthwhile to be armed with a few good derisory bagpipe jokes, depending which way the wind of conversation is blowing at the time. So I have compiled a short collection of jokes which, while not uproariously funny, will be enough to raise the hackles of most pipers and get you in with the 'ANTI' crowd.
Why do pipers walk around when they play?
To get away from the noise.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
What is the difference between an onion and bagpipes?
No one cries when you cut up bagpipes.
MORE TO FOLLOW......OUT tshhh.
