Airplane Passenger Plays Electronic Bagpipe in Viral Video

Airplane Passenger Sits Next to Man Playing Electronic Bagpipes and Shares This Discovery With the Internet

By Regina Sienra on November 23, 2023

A guy in my flight apparently plays the bagpipes. He has a little electric bagpipe he plugs his headphones into and only he can hear. He has been silently (to everyone but himself) ripping his bagpipe for 5 straight hours. I have no choice but to respect this. pic.twitter.com/2Vqn2kK0Hv

— DC Unhilist (@Vamos_DCU) September 7, 2023

Among contemporary musical instruments, there are synthesizers, electronic drum kits, and electric guitars. But it turns out another instrument also has a modern counterpart. A video posted to Twitter by user @Vamos_DCU has been making waves online by introducing thousands of people to a unique invention—the electronic bagpipe.

The user first spotted this gadget when his seatmate took it out on a flight. “A guy in my flight apparently plays the bagpipes,” they write. “He has a little electric bagpipe he plugs his headphones into and only he can hear. He has been silently (to everyone but himself) ripping his bagpipe for five straight hours. I have no choice but to respect this.” The device looks like a black baton with a wider part at the top, but there's nothing in it that could give away its nature at first glance.

For those 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 create the melody. As such, a digital chanter allows the performer to practice without disturbing neighbors—whether on the ground or on a plane. Blair Bagpipes, one of the producers of such devices, shares that their digital chanters can also record and reproduce the sounds of up to nine different bagpipes.

While many associate bagpipes with a more solemn setting, being played by older men in kilts on the Scottish highlands, it's always important to remember how versatile an instrument can be. On top of that, it's inspiring to see new and more accessible alternatives for those hoping to take a deep dive into their favorite instrument.