Has Anyone Ever Tried To Build A Scottish Bagpipes

Fingers657 · September 2023

Effects pedal ?
Would it be even possible to build such a torturous sounding thing?

ecc83 · September 2023

Ach, ye cannee get the wood laddie.

Dave.

Benm39 · September 2023

Is there a 'cruel and unusual punishment' section this could be moved to?

ICBM · September 2023

MXR Pitch Transposer mostly.

ewal · September 2023

Well drones are easy! Then play a few Big Country tunes on top. I always remember it being commented that their guitar melodies were bagpipe like.

Roland · September 2023

Guthrie Govan used his AxeFX (or it might have been an FM9) to create the bagpipe effect for the Atriedes theme in Dune.

Supportact · September 2023

What's that Jeff Goldblum quote from Jurassic Park...?

Flanging_Fred · September 2023

I bought a RaingerFX Drone Rainger pedal to try and get close to Bulgarian bagpipes. The concept still holds up but trying to ape the scales and general vibe is proving to be tricky.

Secret_Sam · September 2023

The thread made me curious about what scales the bagpipes use. That would be a critical part of a bagpipy sound.(Apparently they play a mixolydian scale tuned to a non-standard pitch that is somewhere between b and b flat. Which explains a lot.)

Google Chrome suggested some related questions, including "What are bagpipes players called?"

I wonder if any members have suggestions?

ewal · September 2023

You can tune bagpipes. I used to play in a brass band and played alongside pipers on several occasions, so they definitely can be tuned to Bflat.

Flanging_Fred · September 2023

Secret_Sam said:

The thread made me curious about what scales the bagpipes use. That would be a critical part of a bagpipy sound.(Apparently they play a mixolydian scale tuned to a non-standard pitch that is somewhere between b and b flat. Which explains a lot.)

Google Chrome suggested some related questions, including "What are bagpipes players called?"

I wonder if any members have suggestions?

Bernard. I think they’re all called Bernard. Even the women.

ICBM · September 2023

ewal said:

Well drones are easy! Then play a few Big Country tunes on top. I always remember it being commented that their guitar melodies were bagpipe like.

Of course - playing in the style of the instrument you're trying to emulate is the key. It's much easier to trick your brain into thinking that the sound is accurate when the phrasing is. (Hence the 'tone is in the hands' thing when players use very different gear but still sound like themselves.)

Secret_Sam said:

The thread made me curious about what scales the bagpipes use. That would be a critical part of a bagpipy sound.(Apparently they play a mixolydian scale tuned to a non-standard pitch that is somewhere between b and b flat. Which explains a lot.)

The absolute pitch is irrelevant - it's the combination of the drones, the scale and the melodies that makes them sound the way they do.

roberty · September 2023

Supportact said:

What's that Jeff Goldblum quote from Jurassic Park...?

"Fuck me, would you look at that?!"

Hurling_Fruitmig · September 2023

Does this mean that a modern gentleman is a fellow who knows how to build a Scottish bagpipes effect pedal, but doesn't?

smudge_lad · September 2023

Flanging_Fred said:

Secret_Sam said:

The thread made me curious about what scales the bagpipes use. That would be a critical part of a bagpipy sound.(Apparently they play a mixolydian scale tuned to a non-standard pitch that is somewhere between b and b flat. Which explains a lot.)

Google Chrome suggested some related questions, including "What are bagpipes players called?"

I wonder if any members have suggestions?

Bernard. I think they’re all called Bernard. Even the women.

I’d have let ye aff with something like Hamish or Angus, but Bernard?? Haha, I’ve never met a Scotsman named Bernard in aw ma puff…it’s German I think?

Bagpiper or Piper is the less funny, actual answer of course

stufisher · September 2023

Love that Stuart Adamson vid clip @ICBM thanks for posting

Roland · September 2023

ICBM said:

The absolute pitch is irrelevant - it's the combination of the drones, the scale and the melodies that makes them sound the way they do.

Many years ago I saw Elton Dean, Alexis Korner, and Alan Skidmore play a bagpipe piece on four saxophones. Yes, I know, four instruments and only three mouths. One of them, and I forget who, used the Roland Kirk trick of jamming a second mouthpiece into his mouth to provide the drone.

Dr_Necessiter · September 2023

ewal said:

You can tune bagpipes. I used to play in a brass band and played alongside pipers on several occasions, so they definitely can be tuned to Bflat.

Tuned to be flat. Gedditt?

Fingers657 · September 2023

I wonder if Electro Harmonix or Digitech/DOD would take on the challenge?
Im sure the US military would order loads as weapons of torture

Would definitely save on water bills

steer · September 2023

Secret_Sam said:

The thread made me curious about what scales the bagpipes use. That would be a critical part of a bagpipy sound.(Apparently they play a mixolydian scale tuned to a non-standard pitch that is somewhere between b and b flat. Which explains a lot.)

Google Chrome suggested some related questions, including "What are bagpipes players called?"

I wonder if any members have suggestions?

Call them what you want - they will all be deafer than a 70's roadie.

Fingers657 · September 2023

They are called Pipers.

ewal · September 2023

I once played a tune (Loch Lomond) with the Red Hot Chilli Pipers.

Fingers657 · September 2023

steer said:

Secret_Sam said:

The thread made me curious about what scales the bagpipes use. That would be a critical part of a bagpipy sound.(Apparently they play a mixolydian scale tuned to a non-standard pitch that is somewhere between b and b flat. Which explains a lot.)

Google Chrome suggested some related questions, including "What are bagpipes players called?"

I wonder if any members have suggestions?

Call them what you want - they will all be deafer than a 70's roadie.

What ?

BintyTwanger77 · September 2023

Fingers657 said:

Effects pedal ?
Would it be even possible to build such a torturous sounding thing?

Nothing tortuous about it, they sound glorious, and yes Adamson could make his guitar sound like the pipes and that too was glorious.

Cols · September 2023

Fingers657 said:

I wonder if Electro Harmonix or Digitech/DOD would take on the challenge?

Secret_Sam · September 2023

Disappointed to find that was launched in 2019 ... didn't seem to catch on for some foolish reason.

Cols · September 2023

I’m afraid that EHX actually announced the launch of that one on 1st April 2018.

flying_pie · September 2023

Secret_Sam said:

The thread made me curious about what scales the bagpipes use. That would be a critical part of a bagpipy sound.(Apparently they play a mixolydian scale tuned to a non-standard pitch that is somewhere between b and b flat. Which explains a lot.)

We have a guest piper in our band (for Dropkick Murphys/long way to the top). Thankfully her pipes are close enough to Bb and we don't need to deviate from standard tuning.

We actually have to mic them up as they get lost in the mix indoors. That allows me to utter the phrase "We're just going to take a minute to make the bagpipes louder, said nobody ever, but that's what we're going to do so good luck everybody"

SpoonMan · September 2023

Not sure about this but I always thought bagpipes (the Scottish military type) were very restricted as far as note choice/scales and there was a limited amount of things you could play on them. Mainly tunes written specifically for them.

If there's any truth in that then I suppose it would certainly have an effect on sounding like them.

flying_pie · September 2023

SpoonMan said:

Not sure about this but I always thought bagpipes (the Scottish military type) were very restricted as far as note choice/scales and there was a limited amount of things you could play on them. Mainly tunes written specifically for them.

If there's any truth in that then I suppose it would certainly have an effect on sounding like them.

You are correct.

As a Scotsman I have always viewed the bagpipes as being Satan's recorder

although that's perhaps unfair as a recorder is more versatile

ICBM · September 2023

SpoonMan said:

Not sure about this but I always thought bagpipes (the Scottish military type) were very restricted as far as note choice/scales and there was a limited amount of things you could play on them. Mainly tunes written specifically for them.

If there's any truth in that then I suppose it would certainly have an effect on sounding like them.

Yes, because the drones are so strident that you can't really play anything in a different key.

From 1746 until 1996 they were defined as a military weapon and not a musical instrument

.

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Has Anyone Ever Tried To Build A Scottish Bagpipes

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