Over the years, makers have used a wide range of woods as well as other materials in the manufacture of drones. There are sets of metal (nickle) bagpipes that are held around the world that may wrongly be attributed to David Glen. According to the late Andrew Ross, he (Andrew) was an apprentice in Thomas Glen’s shop during WWI when 12 sets of these pipes were made for the 9th Highland Light Infantry’s desert campaigns. Andrew had worked continuously for Thomas and later for his sons, John and Robert, since 1911. David Glen what Thomas’ nephew and inherited father Alexander Glen’s business in 1880, and may or may not have collaborated with the other Glen’s in the manufacture of these bagpipes.
The R.G. Lawrie company made a bagpipe entirely out of elephant ivory. Decades later Fred Sandeman of South Africa did likewise.
Unknown #11 exhibit displays a bagpipe that surfaced in Chicago what was made of a composite material, similar to that which was used by some drone reed makers. From the pictures
Jack Dunbar made a few sets using maple that had been impregnated with epoxy. The sound was somewhat muted and the wood was susceptible to rot when exposed to moisture over long periods of time. Jack’s search for an alternative material led him to a thermoplastic product that is generically referred to as Polypenco.
Jack told me the story of his first order of African Blackwood to Canada. Logs were dropped off at the end of his very long driveway. They were in wretched condition and did not resemble the ABW that he had received while working for Henderson Bagpipes prior to WWII. Much of the wood was unusable, which sent Jack on a mission to find an alternative.
Dunbar’s famous and now widely accepted “Poly” bagpipe was met with considerable resistance. Some considered the sound too loud and unrefined. The truth was that when properly reeded, Dunbar’s poly bagpipe was virtually indistinguishable in sound from most ABW bagpipes. We played sets in Clan MacFarlane and later in Niagara Police with great success. Lee Harlan’s poly bagpipe (Braemar) produced as fine a sound as any classic Henderson I’ve every heard.
Delrin Bagpipes, because of their lower cost, excellent sound and behavior, and lifelong durability, (they are virtually indestructible) have gained wide acceptance in North America and elsewhere. They are excellent in harsh weather.
MacLellan Bagpipes has recently introduced The Revelation Bagpipe. Roddy has lined the bores of a delrin instrument with a composite material. This has resulted in an instrument with the durability of delrin that produces a warm, wood-like sound.
There is currently a company by the name of Carbony that is making a range of musical instruments out of carbon fiber.
