Just noticed for a long time now that after I stop playin the pipes for a while after a few tunes or whatever the bag slowly deflates…even though drones are off and chanter is still in the bag.
Does this mean there is a leak in the bag or is it normal for this to happen?
It could be…
But that doesn’t necessarily mean that’s the case. Usually, it’s just the air going through the reed ever so slowly. You can test this yourself, take the reed out of the chanter, put the staple in your lips, and very gently suck, you’ll see that even though the blades aren’t sounding, air is still going through, which makes sense, since there’s a slight gap where the blades meet at the top of the reed, or the aparture, and so air can obviously go through that.
Which means you can even practice while having everything set up, all you do is not press on the bag in such a way that the reed sounds, you may have to turn your drones off if you have them in order to do this, but I haven’t played with drones yet so I guess it depends on how easy the drones are to play if they’ll sound or not while doing this.
To see if your bag is leaking, take the chanter out of it’s stock, put your finger over the chanter stock, turn your drones off if you have them, fill the bag up tight, and press on the bag, the bag should remain equally tight if there are no leaks.
Are you still holding your fingers on the holes with the chanter on your knee? If not, the air will slowly leak out.
If you are blocking all of the chanter holes and the air is escaping, you have a leak somewhere, but not necessarily in the bag itself. It could be in the chanter stock, or between the reed cap and the chanter, around the mainstock, etc. To test the bag, remove the chanter and put a stopper in its place. You should be able to inflate the bag and hold it inflated without losing pressure. If losing air, it could be the bag or where the mainstock is tied in.
So work your way through all the joints, add some more thread if you suspect a leak, and eliminate the other possibilities before you start messing with the bag.
HTH
Joe
I think WannabePiper was referring more to when he’s not playing, and how the air escapes anyways, this is quite normal, as the air goes through the reed, then obviously out the tone holes… This happens all the time when I take breaks from practicing and I’ll pick up the whistle, my arm will be resting on the bag and it will slowly deflate just as I previously described in my original post.
Of course if you do have drones and/or regs, this isn’t to say they’re not leaking either, so it’s still a good idea to check everything, including your bag, bellows, valves and all. I’m just saying that currently I’m playing a practice set, and what WannabePiper described sounds exactly what happens when I haven’t played for a few minutes or whatever, and I know my set is air tight. If it’s quiet, and depending on how fast the bag is deflating, you can usually hear the hissing sound of the air going through the reed and then out the tone holes.
Remember the pipes are a wind instrument, so the air has to blow through something right? The trick is making sure it’s blowing through all the right places. 
[quote=“Key_of_D”]I think WannabePiper was referring more to when he’s not playing, and how the air escapes anyways, this is quite normal, as the air goes through the reed, then obviously out the tone holes… This happens all the time when I take breaks from practicing and I’ll pick up the whistle, my arm will be resting on the bag and it will slowly deflate just as I previously described in my original post.
quote]
Brilliant.
Thats answered my qestion. My set is air-tight.
THanks Key Of D
A little soapy water will tell you if there’s a leak. Bags sometimes leak along the fold so check that. Also, if you have to fold the neck of the bag to fit it in a pipecase, check that too.