Piper's Dojo Audio Experience

457 - Where Did Bagpipes Come From? (Dojo Conversations Episode 127)


Listen Later

Ever wondered why we play grace notes in a certain order? Or how we started playing with drones or a bag in the first place?

All the traditions, “rules” and musical techniques that we take for granted today evolved over many hundreds of years of innovation to create the sound and distinctive style of pipe music that we all know and love today.

In this episode, Andrew and Jim dive deep into the evolution of bagpipe techniques, exploring how reed tubes, finger movements, and drones came to be. They discuss the natural creativity and trial-and-error process that led to the development of gracenotes and embellishments. They illustrate how competition, play, and simple curiosity have shaped the bagpipe music we know today. They also cover the role of termites in all of this in quite some detail for some reason...

Got a topic you’d like covered on a future episode? Leave a comment or email us: [email protected]

Here’s what we cover this week:

  • 00:00 Introduction and Name Confusion
  • 00:24 Nicknames and Accents
  • 01:34 Grace Notes and Embellishments
  • 02:08 Recorder and Fingering Systems
  • 05:32 Evolution of Musical Instruments
  • 05:51 The Advent of Reeds and Tubes
  • 18:24 The Birth of Bagpipes
  • 27:18 Introduction to the Articulation Problem
  • 28:04 Western Music Theory vs. Bagpipe Theory
  • 29:49 Solving the Articulation Problem 32:03 The Evolution of Grace Notes
  • 44:04 The Role of Competition in Bagpipe Music
  • 50:23 Future of Bagpipe Music and Final Thoughts
  • ...more
    View all episodesView all episodes
    Download on the App Store

    Piper's Dojo Audio ExperienceBy Andrew Douglas and the Piper's Dojo Team

    • 4.9
    • 4.9
    • 4.9
    • 4.9
    • 4.9

    4.9

    40 ratings


    More shows like Piper's Dojo Audio Experience

    View all
    This American Life by This American Life

    This American Life

    91,086 Listeners

    Stuff You Should Know by iHeartPodcasts

    Stuff You Should Know

    78,293 Listeners

    The Joe Rogan Experience by Joe Rogan

    The Joe Rogan Experience

    227,887 Listeners

    Hidden Brain by Hidden Brain, Shankar Vedantam

    Hidden Brain

    43,576 Listeners

    Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me! by NPR

    Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me!

    38,739 Listeners

    The Moth by The Moth

    The Moth

    27,226 Listeners

    99% Invisible by Roman Mars

    99% Invisible

    26,175 Listeners

    The Gray Area with Sean Illing by Vox

    The Gray Area with Sean Illing

    10,732 Listeners

    The Adam and Dr. Drew Show by PodcastOne / Carolla Digital

    The Adam and Dr. Drew Show

    8,755 Listeners

    Wetootwaag's Bagpipe and History Podcast by Jeremy Kingsbury

    Wetootwaag's Bagpipe and History Podcast

    24 Listeners

    The Big Rab Show Podcast by Big Rab

    The Big Rab Show Podcast

    48 Listeners

    Shawn Ryan Show by Shawn Ryan

    Shawn Ryan Show

    44,001 Listeners

    Droning On by Heritage Bagpipes

    Droning On

    19 Listeners

    The Ezra Klein Show by New York Times Opinion

    The Ezra Klein Show

    16,152 Listeners

    Enjoy Your Piping! With Gary West by Gary West

    Enjoy Your Piping! With Gary West

    45 Listeners