AIRPLANE PASSENGER SHARES HIS EXPERIENCE WITH A MAN PLAYING ELECTRONIC BAGPIPES

Modern instruments include synthesisers, electronic drums, and electric guitars. But it turns out that another instrument has a modern equivalent. A video posted by user @Vamos_DCU on his Twitter introduced thousands of people to a unique invention: the electronic bagpipe, and caused a stir online. Users first discovered the device when a colleague on a plane was holding it.

"The guy on my plane was apparently playing the bagpipes," they wrote. "He has a little electric bagpipe, and when he plugs his headphones into it, only he can hear it. He ripped the bagpipes in silence (to everyone but himself)  for five hours.  The device looks like a black baton with a wide section attached to the end, but there is nothing at first glance to indicate its nature. In the bagpipe world, these devices are known as “digital chanters” or “practice chanters.”

The chanter is the black recorder-like part of the bagpipe, with finger holes for the player to play the melody. Digital chanters allow artists to practice on the ground or in the air without disturbing their neighbours. Blair Bagpipes, one of the manufacturers of such equipment, shares that it's digital his channel can record and play up to nine different bagpipe sounds.

Many people associate bagpipes with a more celebratory atmosphere when they are played by older men in kilts in the Scottish Highlands, but it is always important to remember how versatile this instrument is. It is important. Additionally, it's exciting to see new and more accessible alternatives for those who want to delve deeper into the world of their favourite instruments.