GB1582404A

GB1582404A - Bagpipes

Info

Publication number: GB1582404A
Application number: GB89478A
Authority: GB
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1978-05-26
Filing date: 1978-05-26
Publication date: 1981-01-07

Description

(54) BAGPIPES (71) I, GEORGE ALEXANDER, a British subject of 1 la High Street, Shanklin, Isle of Wight, do hereby declare the invention, for which I pray that a patent may be granted to me, and the method by which it is to be performed, to be particularly described in and by the following statement:- This invention relates to bagpipes and related instruments having an inflatable bag which supplies air for a chanter and at least one drone. The invention is particularly applicable to miniature bagpipes, suitable for children.

Conventional bagpipes are expensive to produce, both on account of the need to use specialized materials and the consequent special techniques which require skilled labour. In producing miniature bagpipes, there is also the problem of producing a sound similar to that of a full sized bagpipes (albeit at reduced volume), it being insufficient just to scale down the components of the bagpipes. In U.K. Patent Specifications 1,176,987 and 1,217,228, there are disclosed sets of-bagpipes in which the same air passes through the drone reed as the chanter reed, the drone reed being located at one end of the housing for the chanter reed. The present invention is generally concerned with improvements in the drone arrangement, in particular the siting of the drone reed.

According to the present invention there is provided a bagpipes or related instrument, having an inflatable bag, a chanter and its associated reed, a plurality of first tubes mounted on the bag in the manner of a set of drone pipes and at least one drone reed which is connected to a second tube so that air actuating the drone reed passes into said second tube, the second tube extending within one of said first tubes along at least part of the length thereof.

The bagpipes of the present invention can have the advantages inter alia that a simpler chanter construction can be employed, and that a drone noise can be produced within a small amount of space. Also the drone noise can emanate from the conventional part of the bagpipes.

The second tube which contains the vibrating air column of the drone reed, is suitably a flexible plastics material tube, and in miniaturized bagpipes is preferably of less than i" inside diameter e.g. g.".

In one preferred arrangement, the drone reed is located within one of said first tubes and the said second tube passes out of that first tube into the bag and from there into another of said first tubes, where it opens.

In a second preferred arrangement, the drone reed is located inside one of said first tubes and the second tube extends along the same first tube towards the end thereof remote from the bag.

In a third preferred arrangement, the drone reed is mounted in a protective housing which is located within the bag itself, the second tube extending from the reed into one of said first tubes. The second tube may be the only attachment between the drone reed and the bag wall.

The first tubes which are mounted in the manner of drone pipes can conveniently be mounted in or through a block of foam rubber or other suitable material, with one or more of the first tubes mating with suitable connectors fixed through the bag wall as required. Around the topside of the block there may be a band of suitable non-stretchable material which extends around the bag and is of a length such that when the bag is inflated, the block is compressed between the band and the bag, thus maintaining a good seal between the connector or connectors and the tubes and holding the tubes in the desired orientation in relation to the bag.

Embodiments of the invention will now be described by way of example with reference to the drawings accompanying the Provisional Specification, in which: Figure 1 is a perspective view of a first miniature bagpipe embodying the invention; and Figure 2 is a part sectional view of the bag and the drone pipe assembly of the bagpipes of Figure 1, Figure 3 is a part sectional view of the bag and drone pipe assembly in a second embodiment, and Figure 4 is a part sectional view of the bag and drone pipe assembly in a third embodiment.

In Figure 1 there can be seen the chanter 2 of the bagpipes with finger holes. In the embodiments, the chanter is a child's size practice chanter with a parallel bore, rather than a conical one, though an ordinary practice chanter may be used. The reed of the chanter is located in a stock 4 which is sealed into the bag 24. A mouthpiece 6 in the form of a tube provided with a non-return valve 8 is connected into the bag, by which means the bag may be inflated. A number of tubes 10, 12, 14, in this case the conventional number of three are affixed in the manner of drone pipes, being mounted in bores in a block 28 of foam rubber or other suitable material, which is held under compression when the bag is inflated by a band 26, which like the bag 24 is made of a suitable non-stretchable material.The band 26 passes around the bag 24 and over the block 28, there being holes in the band through which the tubes 10, 12, 14 pass in the complete bagpipes, the bag 24 is enclosed in a covering of material of conventional pattern, and as shown the tubes 10, 12, 14 are linked at their outer end by a conventional piece of decoration. As can be seen in Figure 2, the tube 10 is connected to the bag 24 by a connector 36. The interior 44 of the tube 10 is isolated from the bag, and a tube 20 of flexible plastics tubing passes through the centre of the connector 36 to reach the interior 44 which communicates with the outside atmosphere through a hole in a cap 16 at the outer end of the tube 10. The tube 12, with its open cap 36 is non-functional, there being no opening in the bag at its inner end.The tube 14 is sealed at its outer end by a closed cap 18 and communicates with the interior of the bag through holes 34 in a connector 40. Conveniently there can be a plastics washer secured on each side of the bag wall at the point where the connectors 36, 40 pass through the bag, in order to provide reinforcement and sealing at this point. The tubes 20 has a 180O bend inside the bag 24 and passes through the centre of the connector 40, terminating at the non vibrating end of a drone reed 30, which is of a double reed type and is made of plastics material. A collar 32, of a smaller diameter than the inside diameter of the tube 14 prevents the reed 30 from touching the side of the tube 14, unless the tube 14 is bent.

All of the parts illustrated in the drawings can be easily constructed from readily available plastics materials.

In operation, air is blown into the bag through the mouthpiece 6, and passes from the bag 24 through the holes 34 into the tube 14, where it passes through and actuates the drone reed 30. Having actuated the reed 30 it passes along the tubing 20 into the tube 10 and thence to the outside atmosphere through the cap 16. A constant drone note is thus produced, the pitch of which is determined primarily by the length of the tubing 20. The pitch can be varied by altering the length of the tubing 20. Meanwhile air from the bag operates the chanter reed, and the player plays the melody on the chanter.

In Figures 3 and 4, the same reference numerals as are used in Figure 1 are employed for corresponding parts, which need not be described again.

In the alternative embodiment of the invention illustrated in Figure 3 the drone reed 46 is contained within the tube 14, the non vibrating end of the drone reed being connected to a piece of tubing 42 which communicates with the outside atmosphere through a hole in the cap 18. The tube 42 is is affixed to the tube 18 by means of a disc 50 which also prevents communication between the cavity 52 and the outside atmosphere other than through the drone reed.

The vibrating end of the drone reed is prevented from touching the side of the tube by means of a collar 40. This can either be of foam material located toward the vibrating end of the reed, or else of more rigid material located nearer collar 50. Air passes to the drone reed from the bag 24 through the perforated cap 48. In this embodiment, the tube 42 is shorter than the tube 20 of Figures 1 and 2, so that the pitch of the drone is higher.

In another alternative embodiment of the invention, illustrated in Figure 4, the drone reed 68 is attached within a housing formed by a length of tube 64 by a collar 60 of foam rubber and a collar 62 of plastics foam.

Alternatively the collar 62 can be of more rigid material, and positioned nearer collar 60. The drone reed 68 in its protective tube 64 is located within the cavity of the bag 24 and is attached to the wall of the bag only by the flexible plastics tube 66 into which the air which has actuated the drone reed passes. The tube 66 is sealed to the bag by a connector 36 where it passes into the drone tube 10, and extends the full length of the drone tube 10, being connected into the cap 16 so that the air passes directly to the atmosphere.

In each of the illustrated embodiments, the tube 20, 42, 66 connected to the reed is of 1/8" inside diameter.

Miniature bagpipes having more than one drone note can be made by combining the drone arrangement of any one of the three embodiments illustrated here with the bass drone reed arrangement of specifications 1,176,987 and 1,217,228. Alternatively, two drone arrangements of Figure 3 and or of Figure 4, or one each of Figure 3 and Figure 4, may be present in one instrument to give a bagpipes with two drone notes which can be carefully tuned to each other.

WHAT I CLAIM IS 1. A bagpipes or related instrument, having an inflatable bag, a chanter and its associated reed, a plurality of first tubes mounted on the bag in the manner of a set of drone pipes and at least one drone reed which is connected to a second tube so that air actuating the drone reed passes into said second tube, the second tube extending within one of said first tubes along at least part of the length thereof.

2. A bagpipes or related instrument according to claim 1 wherein the drone reed is located within one of said first tubes and the said second tube passes out of that first tube into the bag and from there into another of said first tubes, where it opens.

3. A bagpipes or related instrument according to claim 1 wherein the drone reed is located inside one of said first tubes and the second tube extends along the same first tube towards the end thereof remote from the bag.

4. A bagpipes or related instrument according to claim 3 wherein the end of the second tube remote from the reed is located within said first tube within which the reed is located, and air exiting from that end of the second tube passes to the atmosphere through the end of the first tube remote from the bag, the first tube being open to the bag to allow access of pressurized air from the bag to the tube and there being a spacer member beyond the reed which holds the reed in position and seals the first tube.

5. A bagpipes or related instrument according to claim 1 wherein the drone reed is mounted in a protective housing which is located within the bag itself, the second tube extending from the reed into one of said first tubes.

6. A bagpipes or related instrument according to any one of the preceding cleaims wherein there is provided a plurality of drone reeds.

7. A bagpipes or related instrument according to any one of the preceding claims wherein the second tube of is less than i" inside diameter.

8. A bagpipes substantially as herein described with reference to Figs. 1 and 2, Fig. 3 or Fig. 4 of the drawings accompanying the Provisional Specification.

**WARNING** end of DESC field may overlap start of CLMS **.

Claims

**WARNING** start of CLMS field may overlap end of DESC **. bagpipes with two drone notes which can be carefully tuned to each other. WHAT I CLAIM IS

1. A bagpipes or related instrument, having an inflatable bag, a chanter and its associated reed, a plurality of first tubes mounted on the bag in the manner of a set of drone pipes and at least one drone reed which is connected to a second tube so that air actuating the drone reed passes into said second tube, the second tube extending within one of said first tubes along at least part of the length thereof.