Bagpipes!? - The best bagpipe samples compared

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Happy New Year! A time of celebration, hope for the future and .....bagpipes. There's always a sting in the tail isn't there? Recently a friend of mine asked me what I thought were the most useable sampled bagpipes available so I went to find out.
The two libraries I looked at were
Celtic Era 2 from Best Service
www.bestservice.com/celtic_er...
East West Ra (included in Composer Cloud)
www.soundsonline.com/world-an...
I also found a bagpipe recording on Splice
splice.com/
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[@IanWaugh]

Only you, Guy, could make a video about bagpipes that kept me watching - and listening 😱 - to the end 😊 A Very Happy Musical New Year to you and your team.

[@charlesgaskell5899]

Greetings from Edinburgh! It's amusing to hear you talk about legato - because of the way the instrument works, legato is the *only* way of playing bagpipes, to the extent that the only way of playing repeated notes is to insert grace notes in between. That's what the library you used was trying to imitate (very badly!) It's a style called piobaireachd (pibroch) and can be very emotive and skillful, when done right. Oh, and it's really only used with solo pipes, rather than massed pipes (and no, two pipes played together isn't really "massed pipes" 😀 ). You forgot to mention HZ's bagpipe music to Dune (part 1) 🙁 Other than that, HNY2U... 😉

[@LeeGee]

Thank you to you in Edinburgh! Well said!

[@jmacd8817]

I'll agree with your first assertion that we need more pipes.

[@MHlovesz]

Happy New Year! Thank you Guy for showing that sampled bagpipes can sound convincingly good!

[@LindaMissad]

Happy New Year, Guy. Hope you have a wonderful year as well. Thank you for all of the great content and entertainment.

[@bonuebonue]

Happy New Year Guy!!! And thank you for all the marvelous content both on KZbin and on Thinkspace! Every video of yours is a joy!!

[@jeremiahlyleseditor437]

Happy New Year to you. Thanks for all your help.

[@govindoburdwan]

Starting my new year with your video. Love you so much. Wishing you a very happy new year.

[@chambre466]

happy new year to you & everyone else, and thanks for all your videos

[@PADR]

Happy New Year Guy for 2023. Thx for all your 2022 tuts!

[@donstevenson3960]

Happy New Year Guy - thanks for all the content this year!

[@mradisic11]

Thank you Mr. Michelmore for all the wisdom you give us. I always have a great time with your posts. This time, minute 5:00 made my day. 😅 Happy New Year 2023.

[@Mkshoffmeister]

Happy New Year, Guy! I always enjoy your vids from the shed (even when it's bagpipes :D), keep them coming.

[@MikeSmith-or4il]

Thanks for another great video and have a happy New Year!

[@andyp4673]

Happy New Year! 🍷🌟 I like the Boldersounds Bagpipes. I love Bagpipes!!!!

[@CinematicSoundMaestro]

I wish you the best for the new year Guy. Much Love.

[@6705Smerf]

The Best Wishes and Happy New Year !!!

[@dainty1dainty]

Guy, very cool, actually. All the very best to you and thank you for your support!

[@MartinJG100]

My favourite sound on the bagpipes is when they gradually expire and the last drop of air escapes in a sort of depressing down tuned drone...and then silence.... Happy New Year, Guy :).

[@qomplex]

Happy New Year! Love this channel.

[@charlesshingles3910]

Happy New Year Guy. I personally feel it's the reverb that make bagpipes sound great. I use the Roland guitar Synth for bagpipes, and insert Inspirata from Inspired Accoustics ( best sampled reverb in my opinion) and they sound completely authentic. Have a good year!

[@N-JKoordt]

The right theme at the right time - good show!

[@DarrenCurtisMusic]

Eduardo Tarilonte always comes up with great libraries. There are also bagpipes in his Era II Medieval Legends, if I remember correctly. Also, maybe a slightly lesser known library is Dicky Deegan's Uilleann Pipes. Not bagpipes, I know, but they sound pretty good and have a slide control for the "legato" and separate volume knobs for the chanter, drones and regulators. Don't know what they retail at, but they were on sale at Audio Plugin Deals for like $15 or $20 awhile back. Happy New Year, Guy. Best wishes to you and everyone! Let's own this year, my doods!

[@raymike]

Happy New Year!!

[@ronnyb5890]

happy newyear Guy,i wish you lots of new libraries

[@milenadeltorto7158]

Great timing great delivery. Always entertaining! Thanks very much. Now add those marching snares....or whatever.

[@AnnexationMusic]

Unlockinging the secrets of bagpipes with Guy Michelmore is a great way to spend some of the New Year! Drones in B flat feels like secret sauce for us non-bagpipe society folk.

[@chrisdempsey5170]

Happy New Year Guy, you genius you.

[@nicolasdemetri5834]

Happy new year Guy 🥳, my best wishes !

[@randallharp7010]

Your external dialog always makes me feel better about my internal dialog -- like the ad lib "reverb jingle". Maybe I'm not so strange after all. FWIW when the RA pipes are mixed with a touch of distortion guitar and doused in reverb, the impression is pretty decent for a brief passage in a spirited Braveheart-esque track. Thanks for the fun and the Bb-ish tip!

[@valentinachavez7655]

We love you Guy :)

[@saedsounds493]

Providing the most wholesome content on the internet

[@HewWagner]

Happy new year, Guy! Your Jackboots on Whitehall score is fantastic btw, would love to hear more behind the scenes info on it!

[@jrholmes79]

Love it Guy! You make music fun!

[@DC_Rom]

Happy new year, Guy, from France ! 🤗

[@MarcShake]

I hope you are in a vacation. Have a great new year.

[@brentwitten3237]

Happy New Year, Guy!

[@MarcusGPG]

Happy new year! There's also CineWinds Pro, which has a few different bagpipes

[@charliemcgrain]

haha! Happy New Year Guy, I love your work. Many thanks.

[@charliemcgrain]

@Guy_Michelmore595 Whoever you are, if you committed your conniving energy to running a business of some sort you could probably make good money. Look, buy a pair of socks for 50 cents and sell them for a dollar, repeat that a few times and you are making thousands. Really, stop trying to rob people, it is going to end badly and you will look like a fecking idiot. Grow up and take responsibility for where you are stepping, become a 'man.'

[@lindabrittain4392]

Happy NewYear!!!

[@DJLing]

HAPPY NEW YEAR GUY! 🥳🥳🥳

[@Marco-bj7ct]

Cheers Guy ! Best wishes ...

[@ossymusic]

Happy new year Guy🎉

[@DaveDickens]

Happy New Year Guy 😂, cheers Dave

[@kayceparkinson9018]

Happy New Year Guy! Thank you for putting together all the content for this channel. I almost joined the society of pipers but considering the 2k outlay for a decent set of pipes passed on it. I use Dicky Deegan’s Uilleann pipes (Irish not Scottish) from XTant audio but really only the professional version will do. Fun video. Again, Happy New Year.

[@TheShadoeryder]

those are pretty decent Irish pipes

[@KenMyrheim]

Happy New Year, Guy, and everyone else! I'm one of those weirdos who actually enjoy the sound of bagpipes. Don't know why, I just do. I know people like to make fun of bagpipes, but let's not forget Hans Zimmer won an Oscar for a score that featured (among other things) 30 bagpipes.

[@theturtleproject]

happy new year Guy

[@beverlyvanwingerdenmusic4334]

I've written some Celtic music and the bagpipes I use are the Great Highland Pipes from Celtic Instruments. They are for Kontakt and sound great.

[@lawnsmusicandrollercoaster9233]

The second bagpipe sound actually sounds awesome. Here's a tip for you though, bagpipes only go to a low g, in this case a low a flat. So try to stay within that range of the bagpipes, other than that it's a great sounding bagpipe sample. The bagpipe notes are as follows from lowest to highest. Low-g, low b, c, d, e, f, ig, and hi a. In this case, it would be the b-flat mixolydian scale. Low a flat, low b flat, c, d, e flat, f, g, hi a flat, and high b flat. By the way, I meant to say low a, I accidentally skipped a. On the lower notes on the bagpipes. But that is actually the range of the bagpipes. I actually play keyboard, and whenever I play the bagpipe on the keyboard, I actually try to stay within the range of the bagpipe. If I play any lower, you can say that I might as well be playing a set of uilleann bagpipes.

[@nigelworwood8530]

HAPPY NEW YEAR to you and all your subscribers and students. 🎹

[@TheFjMartinmusic]

Happy new Gear!

[@ScreamieBirds]

I did a bagpipe EDM track last year and tracking down a sample was quite a challenge. So, yeah, thanks for the lead, especially since I am no bagpipe expert - lol!

[@richardburnett8595]

All the very best guy

[@toyokenstudio]

Happy new year, Guy! 🎆🎉

[@toyokenstudio]

@ThinkSpaceEducation are you?

[@joegrint6280]

Happy New Year Guy! I always want more bagpipes - check out Skerryvore and Skippinish for great pipers. Also of course there is the Red Hot Chilli Pipers who are great fun!

[@richardnias9644]

Bagpipes; Tuneless cat strangling. Happy New Year to you Guy.

[@Gedagnors]

Happy New Year! Thank you for your videos full of great humor, important knowledge and huge inspiration! Thank you for the demonstration of a bagpipe sound! I didn't realize how great Celtic Era sounds! P. S.: I wish there would be celtic rhythm guitar, but for now it's mainly pop and jazz patterns and no DADGAD tuning. I have NI strummer, but it doesn't sound Irish enough. If anyone knows what guitar VST sounds close to Lunasa sound - please, leave a comment!)

[@chsrikanth4509]

Happy new year Guy sri

[@CopenhagenCollabo]

And a happy new year to you.. Copenhagen supports

[@FLH3official]

I actualy love bagpipes! Bagpipes are great things but don't forget the uilleann pipes, in some instances it can be easier to work. (BTW you can have a free one in the Kontakt factory library)

[@andythompson2009]

And who could forget that ACDC track... err, sorry, thingy... err... Happy new year mate... 😉

[@racl1954]

Hello Guy. Thanks for sharing. A little surprised that you didn't include the Bagpipe software from "Studio Piper" and "Universal Piper" that really are the top of the tree when it comes to authentic bagpipe VST's.

[@juanclaudio_cs]

Happy new year Guy !!! i´ve been wondering if you could give us a little advice on how to mix an orchestra, or a fill scoring

[@francoisBonin-phils]

Ther is also very descent Bagpipes in the Kontakt Factory library , HAppy new year Guy , check your recorded midi , it Must be all notes legato , the only interruptions are by grace notes.

[@PeterTMusic]

The ones from CineWinds Pro are my favorite!

[@nightfrightshow]

Happy New Year G-d Bless to all

[@SaintElsewheres]

I like Bolder Sounds' Kontakt library the most. The have a triple bagpipe patch where you can detune the 3 pipes against eachother. You open about three or four of these patches and you'll have a whole battalion of these noisy buggers in no time, albeit very impressive sounding if that's what floats your boat.

[@ThinkSpaceEducation]

I didnt know about that one!

[@THPicturesgaming]

I don't know if anyone mentioned it yet, but the Bagpipes from the Kontakt Factory Library are actually quite good when comparing them to some other bagpipe plugins. They're part of the World instruments and can definitely work as a quick and cheap solution for the few times you need bagpipes even though I think they're not completely satisfying.

[@martijnvanbeek4387]

Haha, 0.00 a.m. and what does Guy do? Publish a video. Happy New Year Guy and I wish you all the best and I wish your followers on KZbin many of your blogs. Cheers!

[@JeanLoupRSmith]

Thanks for that, I was hoping for something a little more in-depth as there's more to bagpipes than just Highland pipes. In fact I'd be quite keen to hear your thoughts on Universal Piper (I'd post a link but KZbin will just kick me out if I do) as it came up on my research about whether there were more to choose from in terms of bagpipes samples (Breton and Galician pipes have a distinct sound of their own for instance). I personally love the Uileann Pipes library from PianoBook. It's not Highland but it's great for writing folk tunes with (and it's free... well as long as you have Kontakt anyway). Happy new year :)

[@ThinkSpaceEducation]

My friend was looking specifically for highland pipes but you are so righht there is a lot more to it than just the highland pipes

[@pjdahmen]

Thank you ,too.

[@randallnielson2011]

Hey Guy(s), also check out Dicky Deegan’s Uilleann Pipes at Xtant Audio. Love em.

[@kayceparkinson9018]

I like Deegan’s Pipes a lot but really only the untamed ones. It’s too clean for Irish or Scottish ornamentation without the untamed ones. I can usually make the ornamentation work with the legatos.

[@janus8159]

Guy, the tunes of the great highland bagpipe are written in D Major. The instrument itself sounds slightly higher pitched than b flat mixolydian with tendency to b. Concert players can tune their pipe to b flat down. So an E flat Major Tune is perfect for example with brass. And of course the chanter notes of the pipes are not triggered separately, that’s why you are having grace notes

[@kenvives]

Check out Ilya Efimov Uilleann Pipies. This one is the best one out there.

[@Mansardian]

+1. This library is fantastic. The articulations are incredibly realistic.

[@tkmasala]

I’d love to see you do some dubstep Guy. Get your crazy dance moves in.

[@BILLY-px3hw]

1st Happy New Year!!!

[@joshgiesbrecht]

I personally preferred eastwests sound, shame they don't have the articulations. And I may be alone here, but I find the bagpipes to be an absolutely hauntingly beautiful instrument. When you played Amazing Grace, ahh, chefs kiss

[@music_creator_capable]

Cool!

[@tomhick5372]

Happy New Year Everyone!

[@bensokol-composer1859]

You've ever hear of Dicky Deegan's Bagpipes? It's a pretty good bagpipe VST that occasionally goes on sale. I got it for 10 bucks and includes 5 patches (one for FX, and 4 for Uillieann Pipes in C# and D).

[@zelly8163]

Happy new year Guy. Often wondered which is the best sample library for uilleann pipes.

[@BossLevelAudio24]

Definition of a gentleman: someone who can play the bagpipes but wouldn't! Joking aside there's so many ways to incorporate the sound into music for screen.

[@draugormr8957]

"No, nobody says that." - I say that! I say that all the time! Although you really should go for a fast medieval romp. If you want some great bagpipes, Corvus Corax is a great start to the huge world of bagpipe driven medieval party music.

[@joegrint6280]

Ooh thanks for that - never heard of them and I'm a big bagpipe (and other pipe) fan

[@pierremrbazin]

Universal Piper is the best sounding bagpipe library available IMO as a piper of over 20 years. Works best when paired with electronic pipes, such as Redpipes.

[@ThirteenthOfFour]

Warmest of fortunes to you all.

[@smartyheadysyoutube3399]

the Kontakt library that comes with Kontakt 7 (the 40GB one) has some not bad bagpipes in the acoustic category. Obviously both of these are much, but it has three options, they're just called Pipes and there's three different versions of them

[@LordComradeAnarchoCapitalus]

Cinewinds Pro also has some nice ones!

[@bigpiper2103]

They sound pretty good, but I'd say for the pipe band effect we'd need more than just two tracks. I'd go for at least 5, each instrument slightly detuned. However, as a piper (though not a very good one) I must say the biggest giveaway are the embellishments. The GHB has a very specific set of embellishments and if they are just "fudged" rather than imitated properly, than it just sounds a bit off regardless if how realistic the samples are...

[@parboilrice]

This year started with bag pipes… huh, didn’t see that coming

[@blindazabat9527]

My son plays the bagpipe. It is an wonderful instrument. But to be played outdoors only because it is LOUD!!!! :)

[@vanillarpgsoundtracks]

I use the Uillean Pipes from Ra. But apparently the cream of the crop is the U-pipes by Ilya Efimov.

[@michaelironstone]

CineWinds Pro has some nice bagpipes.

[@azz972]

J'aime le bouton STOP

[@Po1itica11yNcorrect]

What would AC/DC's song "It's a Long Way to the Top (If You Wanna Rock and Roll)" be without the bagpipes included?

[@ConfuzenWorks]

Mac Studio? Where's the follow up on your new hardware? :D I mean for me it's too late since i've already bought it, but maybe someone else is on the fence? Me? Happy as a clam. :D

[@mrdali67]

Gotta say I didn't even think you could find just one decent bag pipe library. Still havn't found a keyboard that have a usefull drone sample, but even with Guy's lousy playing that chanting line actually sounded quite good when doubled (sorry Guy) 😆😘. But it actually sound like you know a little of those cow belly's or whatever their made of 😊 You should make an educational video of the different types. Guess I'm one the few people that think you should have more bagpipes in your videos ... /hides 😂

[@user-df5vz3vq5j]

Hey, realy great sound. Can you give me the sample for an Yamaha MODX+ or Nord Electro 6D?

[@peterlepahin]

Hey Guy, I hope you are doing OK. We are missing you!

[@joeullman2122]

UVI has good pipes in their World Instruments.

[@simonjohansson248]

Don't forget that Hans Zimmer used bagpipes on Dune and it got him an Oscar!!