Response on BPF about the "best" innovations

Drone Valves: I've read the "Worst" posts and I have to say I love my drone valves - guess I'm just one of those lazy pipers, but I haven't noticed any difference in tone. Perhaps at a higher level of play I might think differently, but for me they have been a huge help. My bag is nearly full when I strike in and cut offs are a piece of cake. I use the hyland drone valves with my cannister system - had to fiddle with them a bit to get them working right, but I've not had any problems with them.

Synthetic Bags: I was handed a set of pipes with a hide bag by my instructor back when I started on pipes. I absolutely hated it. When I had the cash to get my own pipes I got a Ross Cannister zipper bag with all the guts. My instructor tried very hard to discourage me from going with a zipper, but I ignored his advice and interestingly enough he now plays a zipper bag.

The cloth bag felt pretty flimsy at first, but once I got used to it - wow. I'd never go back to the hide bag. There is a hybrid bag made by Gannaway which combines hide and synthetic. I've seen them, but haven't tried one - might be a nice compromise.

Not the best yet: I've read the posts about the synthetic chanter reed as well. I have heard one of those being played and I have to agree that it didn't sound as good as cane, but I wouldn't be too quick to pass them off as a bad innovation. I think it is only a matter of time before a material or method of production is found that will match the quality of cane and overcome some of the downsides of a cane reed.

Final note: At a certain level there is perhaps enough of a difference to embrace the sheep skin bag and cane reeds (drone and chanter) but I'm not there and at my age doubt that I will be. I love playing my pipes and that's what matters to me. If something makes that easier for me and I can't notice a change in the quality of the sound, then it's all good as far as I'm concerned.

The "Bagpipes"

The history of the bagpipes is an interesting one.

They are thought to have originated in the middle east and imported to the Scotland by the Romans. Bagpipes are mentioned (though not by name) in the Bible and there are numerous carvings, paintings and sketches of bagpipes going back several centuries before Christ. While this is all interesting, I was carrying my pipes upstairs to practice and it suddenly hit me as to what a simple name they bear. They well could have been named by a preschooler.

Teacher: What would you call these Johnny?
Johnny (4 years old) points to the drones, chanter and blowpipe: What are those?
Teacher: Those are pipes.
Johnny points to the bag: What is that?
Teacher: That is a bag.
Johnny: I call it bag-pipes.
Teacher to Johnny's parents: Your boy is a genius!

Voila! So let it be said, so let it be written!

Try doing that with just about any other instrument:

Piano: Pee-an-o? If you told someone to draw that you can only imagine what it might look like.
Trumpet: Trum-pet? Sounds like an activity that would get you charged with a felony under animal cruelty laws.
Drum: I'd be temped to use it as an adjective to describe a plump, boring person. "Yeah, I've met that guy - he's a bit drum."

What genius dreamed up those names? Let's see, I have a wooden box with a neck on it and some strings that when plucked will make wonderful music. I'm going to call it ... a stringplucker! You'd have to be an idiot to call it a guitar! Gi-tar - something a dinosaur might become extinct in.

Obviously the Scots were very practical people. Why waste time dreaming up some odd name for something when what it is speaks for itself. Bagpipes - simple!

I wonder what the guy was thinking when he came up with Sax-o-phone?! HEY! Get your mind out of the gutter!