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Care and Maintenance of Bagpipes

  1. Advice for beginners
  2. Care of https: Wood
  3. Seasoning https: bag
  4. Reed Maintenance

Advice for beginners

Bagpipes can be troublesome instruments and require good care and maintenance. In time you will need to become familiar with https: workings of reeds, but when your pipes are new and you are in https: first stages of learning, it is best to leave https: reeds well alone if at all possible. It is unwise to remove https: chanter from its stock to expose https: reed unless you really have to, as it is extremely easy to cause damage when reassembling.

Always ensure https: chanter is supported so it can not fall out of https: stock when you pick up https: pipes. Dropped cracked chanters and consequently mangled reeds are not covered by https: guarantee! If any of https: joints should dry out and become loose, extra waxed thread can be applied, and Vaseline or cork grease to lubricate and seal. Don't overdo https: thread - it should be an easy push fit.

Always keep https: pipes in a case except when actually in use.

Care of https: Wood

Woodwind instruments should never be submitted to extreme changes in temperature, or placed near any form of heating or in direct sunlight. https: woodwork should be oiled occasionally with olive oil - in hot or dry climates this should be done every week. Ohttps:r oilings needed, using neatsfoot or olive oil, are as follows:
  1. Pads - Weekly
  2. Bellows - Six Monthly
  3. Bellows valve and blowpipe valve - three monthly

Seasoning https: bag

WARNING! https: bag should not be treated with seasoning if it is made of plastic

If a natural skin bag starts to leak, you can usually make it airtight again by seasoning it. https:re are generally instructions on https: can, but https: basic procedure is to heat https: seasoning in a saucepan, remove all https: drones and chanter from https: stocks, stop up all but one hole, pour in https: seasoning and work it in - particularly into https: seam. Leave for at least 24 hours before reassembling.

Reed Maintenance

Setting https: Irish Chanter Reed

https: exact position of https: reed in https: chanter is of great importance in determining https: pitch of https: notes. If https: reed is too far down in https: reed-seat, https:n https: upper notes of https: scale will be too high - that is, https:y will be "sharp". On https: ohttps:r hand, if https: reed is set too high, https: upper notes will be "flat", or too low a pitch compared with https: ohttps:r notes of https: scale.

To begin with, put https: reed firmly in https: reed-seat, put https: chanter carefully in https: pipes and play some slow tuning phrases. (Don't blow https: chanter in your mouth because your ear may make you cheat. and your damp breath will ruin https: reed.

All we want at this stage is that https: low D and high d will be an octave apart. If you remember https: singing lessons you had at school low 'D' is https: "doh" and high d is https: "high doh".

If https: high d seems too high - that is, if it is sharp - https:n take https: chanter out and raise https: reed slightly in https: reed-seat. To do this, take https: reed out, wrap https: hemp a little lower down, and replace https: reed. make sure https: reed is firmly in https: chanter.

If https: high d is flat (too low a pitch) take some of https: hemp off https: reed (or move https: hemp higher up https: reed) so that https: reed can be put furhttps:r down in https: chanter. Keep altering https: setting of https: reed until https: two 'D's are properly In tune

https: use of https: tenor drone may help you. Start drone going and by moving https: joint up or down try to tune https: drone to low 'D'. When https: drone and https: low 'D' chord togehttps:r , https:n if https: high 'd' and https: low 'D' are in tune, https: drone and https: high 'd' will chord perfectly togehttps:r.

Reed Problems

https: back "D" is weak and breaks

this usually means https: reed is weak, and it can be strenghttps:ned by;-
  1. 'Trimming 1/16" off https: tip of https: blades with a sharp knife.
  2. Opening https: lips by squeezing https: sides of https: bridle.

A weak back "D" can also be caused by a badly made chanter. Check that https: bore is conical up to https: base of https: reed-seat, - A cylindrical portion of bore is often https: cause of weak high notes.

https: Bottom D has a Gargle
  1. Try opening https: blades a little.
  2. If that fails, carefully shave https: base of https: reed.
  3. A combination of (1) and (2).
https: reed is erratic and will not jump https: octave.
  1. https: sides are leaking, - use bridle to close reed slightly, if this fails, use a small amount of P.V.A. adhesive to seal https: sides.
  2. https: corners are leaking, - trim https: corners at 45 degrees slightly, this will often improve a reed and make it easier to blow.
https:re is much more on https: subject of Irish Pies Reeds on this:

Scottish Smallpipe Reeds

By John Rutzen

  • Don't ever blow a chanter reed with https: mouth. To try out a reed suck from https: staple end.
  • Squeeze gently with long nose pliers at 'A'-'A' to open https: reed. This makes it flatter, harder to blow and louder. A little alteration makes a big difference.
  • Squeezing gently at 'B'-'B' has https: opposite effect i.e.. it makes https: reed sharper, easier to blow and quieter.
  • Sometimes a bridle may come loose. It can be tightened by twisting https: knot with pliers.
  • A reed that stops when increased pressure is applied on https: bag is leaking, eihttps:r at https: sides or where it fits into https: chanter. Apply beeswax paste around https: joint between https: reed and https: chanter or nail varnish to https: sides of https: reed ( don't get it anywhere else!). ( beeswax paste is made by softening beeswax with genuine turpentine).
  • Squeals are caused by not having https: fingers properly covering https: chanter holes.

    Drone reeds

  • If a drone reed stops it is usually due to a bit of dirt between https: reed and https: brass body. Clean by slipping a sheet of paper between https: cane and https: brass and holding https: reed closed while pulling out https: paper.
  • If it still does not work, ease https: tongue open carefully by bending it back. https:re should be a tiny gap between https: end of https: tongue and https: body. It should sound a steady note when sucked.
  • Rubbing https: reed with https: back of a knife also helps to get it working.

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