Full of Hot Air: The Physics of the Bagpipe
The bagpipe is an instrument that dates back to ancient times and is found all over the world in many different shapes and sizes. Despite being a fairly primitive instrument, it produces a complicated sound that is often considered weird or off-putting to some people. This talk examines the workings of the bagpipes using aspects of thermodynamics, waves and classical mechanics and ultimately tries to understand what makes their sound ‘unique’.