SCOTTISH LOWLAND SMALLPIPES
Introduction to the Scottish smallpipe
While there exist many examples in museum collections of small bagpipes, these tend to have narrow bores and are generally mouthblown, whereas the modern smallpipes are more often blown by a small bellows held under the right arm.
This arrangement, which has obvious similarities to that which is familiar from the Northumbrian small pipe, permits the use of 'dry' reeds which play at a lower pressure than the mouthblown sets and means a much longer life for the bags which are not subject to constant changes of moisture content. The photo below shows a partially dismantled 'C' set with three drones C, G and C, these being set in a common stock. The bag is traditional hide, hand stitched with waxed hemp thread. The lowest item is the blowpipe with its simple non-return valve. Most of the parts have either wooden ferrules made from boxwood, or metal ones made from brass. The mounts and tops are made from boxwood and the ferrules on the drones are made from artificial horn. Notice that the chanter has two keys; this is an optional extra. There are stoppers in the drone ends which are retained with linen cords.
With / without keys
The usual pitches for the smallpipes are A (the lowest), Bb, C (useful to accompany singing) and D (good for playing with other instruments).
While these are actual pitches, all the smallpipes transpose, so that, with the music written in A, the A chanter transposes by an octave (downwards),and the other chanters transpose so that the music will sound in Bb, C or D.
A / D combination sets with 4 drones are available. These have interchangeable chanter stocks which permit either an A or a D chanter to be played in the set.
Originally it was intended that the drones should sound in pairs, either two 'A's or two 'D's, but it quickly became apparent that for the D chanter the drone accompaniment
D A d was available, and eventually a tuning bead was added to the small D drone to provide an A a e drone (bass, tenor and high fifth) for the 'A' chanter. For a time, the drone ends became more Northumbrian, with characteristic end valves instead of stoppers, and the chanter bores were enlarged to 6 mm (this has necessitated a new reed design with a wider staple). More recent drones have returned to open ends with stoppers, and the drone bores have become slightly larger.
Currently Blackwood is standard for the Scottish smallpipes, and brass and boxwood is used for the fittings, but other materials such as lignum vitae or rosewood can be available, with a variety of materials for the decorative parts.