These pipes can be played either with a  single bass drone over the shoulder, or with the addition of a tenor drone and common stock a two forward facing drones Flemish “Bruegal” set.

The over the shoulder single bass drone option is more suited to playing with other instruments.

The Bruegal or Flemish two drone set up is perfectly suited for solo or wandering performance. The addition of a tenor harmonic above the large bore bass drone adds an extra depth to the chanter.

The chanter is tuned to a six hole on the front G with a leading F /F# two thumb holes and a range of an octave an one fifth. The tenor and bass drones are tuned one and two octaves below the chanter key note.

The drones are a wide bore to give a full rich tone for louder music. For a less strident volume I also make a “Central French” style bagpipe with narrower bored drones, creating a more subtle voice. The chanters on both instruments are identical.

The convertible pipes with their wider bored drones require more air and so a larger bag is required, this is a large chest bag held more between the forearm and body than under the arm as with other styles.

The Central French style use a more standard oval shaped bag held under the arm.

The convertible pipes have two drone stocks, One towards the front adjacent to the blow pipe for playing single bass drone over the shoulder, a second towards the back of the back to take the two drone common stock to place the drones forward facing.

When playing with the two drone forward setup you need to tie the common stock to the bags neck.

The bass drone is set in a “false” stock and can easily be removed without exposing the reed. The chanter reed is plastic blades on a brass staple , the drone reeds are a plastic blade and either a brass or plastic barrel. The blow valve is  non return plastic.

Given the size of the drones the bass drone is made in a lighter less dense wood than the chanter to save on weight, given the wide bore of this drone it does not make any significant difference to it’s deep resonant tone.