In my experience, most people have never seen a bagpiper outside of a highland festival or street parade. They’ve never seen the case that pipes come in, nor have they heard someone strike up a set that has been sitting idle for an hour or more. If you ask any piper they’ll be happy to tell you that bagpipes are the most finicky instrument ever made.

I’d like to give some information on what to expect from a piper if you’ve never dealt with one before. I don’t mean to sound ominous but knowing ahead of time that the piper needs space to tune, or how long it may take, can save you some stress on the day of your event. I’ll break it down from the morning the piper wakes up.

1. Before travelling to the event, I would normally play my pipes for about 15 to 20 minutes just to make sure everything is working well. If I notice any issues here, I can easily correct them from the comfort of my home. Foregoing this step could result in not being able to play at the actual venue! Also, this ensures I have all the pieces I need to assemble my bagpipes. More than once I’ve seen someone arrive only to realize they’ve left a part back at home!
2. I will need to arrive about an hour before I need to play, and find my contact person to introduce myself. I get all the details I’ll need, including the layout of the venue. I never want to have a quick change of plans and not know how to accommodate. Where’s the gift table again?!?
3. I will then ask for a space to tune up. This usually gets weird looks or uncertain answers. I will need to play the full set of pipes, and it usually takes about 20 to 30 minutes before I’m happy they have warmed up to my standards. If this is cut short, the pipes may not sound very good!
4. If the tune up space is different from the actual playing space (temperature/humidity) I would ask to get a minute or two to play in the actual environment or a close representation. Maybe a room in the building if you’ve had me play outside. Or somewhere sunny if I’ve been in the shade. This would take 5 minutes maximum.
5. Now I’m ready to pipe for you. If I have to stop playing for about 30 minutes or more, I may sneak away to tune up again, as idle pipes go out of tune very easily. As I mentioned earlier, they are a very finicky instrument.

And that is what’s involved when you hire a bagpiper. It seems like a lot, but if you have a space where we can be loud, and you pick a time and place for us to be, we are pretty self-sufficient after that!