Quote Originally Posted by WildThistles View Post
Perhaps the pipes have travelled less easily than the fiddle due to the large amount of reeds required for the instrument? I had a friend who wanted to get into piping with an old one his family had, but his largest barrier was the price of the reeds.
In the old days I think it was more common for pipers to make their own reeds.

In the 1980s we had a pipe band here in Los Angeles that had three reedmakers in it! That's quite rare nowadays. I did play for a couple years in a pipe band that was led by a super piper who is also an excellent reedmaker. It made a huge difference in the quality of the band's sound.

For sure a Scottish piper immigrating to Cape Breton Island or North Carolina a couple hundred years ago would have to make his own reeds, and make his own bags too.

Would a fiddler be able to make his own strings? I never thought about it.

The flute travels better than either pipes or fiddle! No reeds, no bags, no strings.