As written elsewhere, the bag is the foundation of your instrument. It’s job is to act as a reservoir, accepting air from your lungs and supplying air to the various reeds.
Bag – Goatskin with Grommets
Its number 1 job is to be air-tight. If it’s not air-tight your instrument will be more difficult to play. Of course, how your reeds are set-up and adjusted will also play a role however let’s just stick with the bag for the time being. Another priority is to assist in maintaining the proper temperature and moisture levels, necessary for your reeds to be sounding and behaving optimally. Lastly, the bag plays a role in the sound your bagpipe produces.
There are many, many bag choices out there and each has its strengths and limitations. I’m going to talk about these in general terms only.
Synthetic bags arrived on the scene in the 1980’s. They were made of Gore-Tex, a waterproof, breathable Teflon fabric invented in 1969. Gore-Tex repels liquid water while allowing water vapor to pass through. There are various bags with a Gore-Tex lining that require no seasoning and are otherwise considered low-maintenance. They have rubber grommets fused to the material that provide an alternative to the traditional method of tying-in stocks. There are options regarding zipper access which provides entry into the bag for moisture-management options.
Hide bags have been around since the very beginning, although they have evolved over the years. Today you can find bags made of various animal hides, with options that include straight or curved necks, zippers to allow entry into the bag, and grommets similar to those found on synthetic bags.
Both hide and synthetic bags come in various sides to suit every personal preference.
Hide bags require periodic “seasoning” in order for the bag to remain air-tight and to otherwise do what it’s supposed to do. Synthetic bags require no seasoning. Both bags have a similar life expectancy although a synthetic bag may last longer. Much has to do with how both are maintained and cared for.
There are several considerations to be taken into account when choosing a bag. I’ll try to rattle off a few here with explanations:
- Comfort – Hide bags are heavier than synthetic bags. They also tend to “form” to your body over time making them quite comfortable. Synthetic bags don’t change shape.
- Moisture Control – Big topic here. We’re blowing air into the bag that’s about 98.6 °F and close to 100% relative humidity. Our breath exhaled is saturated with moisture. If this “lands” on the reeds unabated, it can negatively impact sound and behavior. There are a number of devices that can be put inside the bag to manage moisture, either in general (throughout the bag equally) or specifically (separately for each individual reed). Synthetic bags provide no “natural” moisture management where hide bags (most notably sheepskin) provide a certain amount of absorption by virtue of natural properties and bag seasoning. Many pipers need no additional moisture management when using a hide bag. Others may require “some” additional help. It all becomes quite complicated.
- Overall Sound of Your Bagpipe – Perhaps only critical at the highest of competitive levels or with the most discerning pipers, bagpipes (stocks) tied directly into a hide bag deliver the best resonance.
Much is determined by the experience and expertise of the piper or the person leading a particular band. As a Pipe Major, the first thing I insist on is that (within reason) everything is the same. I also insist that we “do” everything the same. We show up with our reeds properly hydrated. We start playing at the same time and we rest our pipes all in the same place. This makes managing several pipers much easier. I just came from four years in Tucson Arizona, where it gets very hot and is very dry. We would also travel to high elevations for piping competitions. I converted everyone over to a goatskin bag and tied stocks directly into the bag. We would pay attention to the weather and might even add a “small mouthful” of water into the bottom of the bag in order to keep things properly hydrated. We stayed in the shade until the final minutes of preparation and we didn’t “overplay” the pipes. A 20 minute tune-up was sufficient to set and settle the pipes. Now this was all my personal preference. Somebody else might use a different approach and achieve equal or better results.
