Come ride with US

Highlanders
Hello Nobles!
On March 24, the Highlanders traveled
to Orak Temple in Michigan City to
participate in their 30th annual Tartan Ball.
Also performing were the Pipes and
Drums of Orak, the Michigan City Sheriff’s
Pipe Band, the Northwest Indiana Pipe
Band, and some wonderful Highland
dancers.
In commemoration of the 30th
anniversary, the Highlanders presented a
beautiful Masonic sword to the band. (See
photo) It was a great evening of piping,
food, fun and fellowship.
Bagpipe Basics – How Does It
Work?
This is the first in a series of articles
to reveal some of the mysteries of pipes
and drums. We’ll start out with the basics
of the bagpipe.
The bagpipe we play is called “The
Great Highland Bagpipe.” There are
many other types and variations of bagpipes
throughout the world, but the GHB
is the most recognized.
A bagpipe consists of a bag, blowpipe,
drones and chanter. The bag is an
air reservoir and is made of hide or synthetic
material. It does not contain bellows
or any other air pumping device. Air
is blown through the blowpipe into the
bag, and the air pressure within the bag is
maintained by squeezing it with the left
arm. A check valve within the blowpipe
prevents air from escaping back through
the blowpipe. There are three drones tied
into the bag – two tenor drones and one
bass drone. These produce the ‘hum’
behind the melody. The melody is produced
by the chanter, the little pipe in
front. The chanter is simply a cylindrical
tube with holes drilled into it. Fingers are
placed over the holes in various configurations
to produce musical notes. There
are only nine notes in the musical scale of
a bagpipe. Tens of thousands of tunes
have been composed on variations of
these nine notes!
Bagpipes are traditionally made of a
hard, heavy wood called African
Blackwood. There are several other hardwoods
also used, as well as a hard plastic
called polypenco. Wooden parts are
hand crafted on lathes, although some
manufactures now use CAD techniques.
Bagpipes are a reed instrument, but
unlike any other reeded instrument, there
are four separate reeds contained in the
set. The chanter has a reed similar to the
‘double reed’ of an oboe. The chanter
reed is made of cane. Each drone also
has a reed. The two tenor drones are set
at the same pitch, tuned one octave lower
than the ‘low A’ on the chanter. The bass
drone (the longer one next to the piper’s
head) is set one octave lower than the
Joe “Wee Piper” Ketterman
Andrew Nowaczyk (President Orak Pipes and Drums) looks on as Tom Houts
(P/M Orak and M.C. Sheriff’s bands) proudly displays the sword presented by the
Murat Highlanders in recognition of their 30th Anniversary Tartan Ball. (Photo by
Lee Langlotz)
tenors. These reeds were traditionally
made of cane, but now most pipers use a
synthetic reed of plastic, glass fiber, or
even carbon fiber.
Well, that is a basic description of
the bagpipe. Later articles will discuss
such issues as tuning (yes you can tune
bagpipes) and learning to play. Stay
tuned for more.
BECOMING A HIGHLANDER
The band is always looking for new
members. Musical experience is helpful.
We supply instruction for piping and
drumming. If you are interested, please
visit one of our meetings or practices.
Our business meetings are the first
Monday of each month at 7 p.m. in the
Nile Room, which is in the lower level of
the Shrine Club. Practices are the second
and fourth Mondays at the Gatling Gun
Club. Rookie practice and instruction
begins at 6:30 p.m. and the entire band
rehearsal begins at 7 p.m. For additional
information, contact Joe “Wee Piper”
Ketterman at (317) 849-1807 or jmketterman@aol.com.
MAY 2007 27