The highland pipes are the best known of several types of Scottish bagpipe, and are very loud and powerful instruments. The chanter is usually pitched in Bb, but the music is written in A. Bagpipes from Pakistan have earned a previously deserved reputation for being unplayable, but the Glenluce bagpipes are from a maker who understands the meaning of quality control and they really do work.

The practice chanter has a narrower bore than a pipe chanter, and is cheap and quiet enough for use in the home. A practice chanter is the best way for a beginner to learn tunes as it is difficult to master the steady blowing of the pipes at the same time as learning the chanter.

Northumbrian smallpipes are probably the quietest of the bagpipes, and have a closed chanter that basically plays one octave. The keys are used to extend the range. Smallpipes pitch is nearer F than G. David Burleigh makes our Smallpipes. with a two octave chanter and keyed drones called regulators. Uilleann pipes are generally pitched in D. Ours are hand made in Galway by Michael Vignoles.

The drones and Scottish chanter reeds generally don't give much trouble, but Northumbrian and particularly Irish chanter reweds can be a real pain. You should take great care with a good reed to make it last. You must also expect to do work on a new Irish reed to get good results in your chanter.