The Bagpipe Society

Guide to the Border Smallpipes

A newly invented pipe by Mike York, Border Smallpipes work with identical, half-closed fingering to English Border Pipes, thus making them an ideal practice set or suitable for EBP players looking for that smallpipe sound.

Mouth or bellows blown in D, with a set of drones across the chest, BSPs have a range of one octave plus a leading note, while a second thumbhole allows the dorian mode. Ideal for Early Music, the Scottish Smallpipe repertoire, or tunes from the William Dixon manuscript.