Editing Border pipes (section)

== Description ==
The instrument consists of a ''chanter'' which plays the melody, ''drones'' which play a constant unchanging harmony, a bag which holds the air to blow drones and chanter, and a set of bellows to supply air to the bag.
An early photograph from Northumberland, c. 1859, shows the instrument well.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.experiencewoodhorn.com/archive.MOR~MU~215~134|title=Collection Detail|date=October 12, 2016|url-status=usurped|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161012140855/http://www.experiencewoodhorn.com/archive.MOR~MU~215~134|archive-date=2016-10-12}}</ref>

===Chanter===
The instrument has a [[cone (geometry)|conical]]-bored chanter, in contrast to the cylindrically-bored [[Scottish smallpipe]]. The modern instruments are louder than the [[Scottish smallpipe]], though not as loud as the [[Great Highland Bagpipe]]; they blend well with stringed instruments.

The chanter has a thumb hole and seven finger-holes.  The compass of the chanter is nine notes, from G to a, though a few higher notes, typically b, c',and c#', are obtainable on some chanters by 'pinching' and overblowing. As with the Highland pipes, the basic scale is a [[mixolydian]] scale on A. Some chanters can play chromatic notes however, and some old tunes, for instance ''Bold Wilkinson'' or ''Wat ye what I got late yestreen'', suggest a [[Dorian mode|dorian]] scale may also sometimes have been used, requiring a minor third instead of the major third of the mixolydian scale. This could be achieved by cross-fingering or half-holing. Pete Stewart has further argued<ref>"Out of the Flames", compiler Roderick D. Cannon, Lowland and Border Pipers'Society, 2004, {{ISBN|9780952271116}}.</ref> that the existence of some G major tunes with a nine-note compass from G to a suggests that Border pipes formerly sounded a c natural, rather than c sharp; cross-fingering would then have been needed to sound a c sharp.

Some instruments are made in other pitches, typically B flat or G, rather than A.

===Drones===
The instrument has three cylindrically bored drones inserted into the pipebag by a common stock, typically tuned A, a, e', or A, a, a.  In contrast, the [[Great Highland Bagpipe]] has each drone in a separate stock. The drone tuning A, e, a was used in half-long pipes in the early 20th century, and though still rare, sets are now beginning to be made with this drone tuning again.

===Bag and bellows===
The bag is not filled with breath from the player's mouth, but instead is supplied with dry air, from a set of bellows strapped under the player's right arm.  This keeps the reeds drier, which helps keep the instrument in tune, as well as greatly extending the life of a reed.