#Midipipe message factory manual
#Midipipe message factory professional

The original version consisted of a chanter (the melody pipe) utilizing gold-plated metal contacts, which in turn were connected to a motherboard, transistors and a speaker, powered by a 6 volt lantern battery, all housed in an extruded plastic 'bag' the size and shape of a regular bagpipe bag.Įventually, with the advance of technology, he was able to downsize it, till by the early 1990s, it consisted of a chanter topped with a 6 x 4 inch plastic box which housed all the components, including a 2-inch speaker, all powered by a 9 volt battery. Cowan (in an interview in 1993), the project had originally been in response to a bet with another piper at a wedding. In the late 1970s, the late Bazzell Ray Cowan of Austin, Texas, an electronics engineer and piper, developed the first practical electronic bagpipe with an authentic pipe sound, which he called the Bazpipe.

#Midipipe message factory manual

Hevia and his electronic Asturian bagpipeĮlectronic bagpipes have been attested as early as 1962, when The Electronic Musical Instrument Manual noted the existence of electronic bagpipes using transistors, caveating: ' but there is only one commercial musical instrument on the market and it would seem reasonable to wait for the elimination of some of the less desirable features of transistors.'

#Midipipe message factory professional

They have gone from being a rare curiosity to a widely used instrument used for practice, and even performance, by both amateur and professional players. Some electronic bagpipes are MIDI controllers that can be plugged into a synth module to create synthesized or sampled bagpipe sounds.Įlectronic bagpipes are produced to replicate various types of bagpipes from around the world, including the Scottish Great Highland bagpipe (also known as piob mhor), Irish uilleann pipes, Galician gaita, French cornemuse, Italian zampogna and Swedish säckpipa. As with other electronic musical instruments, they must be plugged into an instrument amplifier and loudspeaker (or headphones) to hear the sound. Some variants employ a simulated bag, wherein the player's pressure on the bag activates a switch maintaining a constant tone.

Some models also produce a harmonizing drone(s). Most electronic bagpipe emulators feature a simulated chanter, which is used to play the melody. The electronic bagpipes is an electronic musical instrument emulating the tone and/or playing style of the bagpipes.