Skip to content
Artwork for Science for Kids / Science's Not Boring: The Kids Science Podcast
Science for Kids / Science's Not Boring: The Kids Science Podcast · Yesterday · 12 min

What is a bagpipe?

Have you ever wondered how blowing into a simple tube can make loud, beautiful music? Join Mira and Finn as they uncover the wild science behind wind instruments! You'll discover how blowing air across an empty bottle sets an invisible column of air shaking to create sound waves. Did you know a tiny jet of air from a flute player's mouth can travel at 135 miles per hour—the speed of a Category 4 hurricane?! Or that if you completely unrolled a tuba, it would be as tall as a fully grown adult giraffe?! But there is one giant problem every wind instrument player faces: you can't breathe in and blow out at the same time! That is, unless you have a bagpipe! Discover the genius ancient invention that acts like a magical extra lung for musicians. We'll travel back in time to the Middle East where bagpipes were first created, learn about the frantically buzzing reeds that make them one of the loudest acoustic instruments in the world, and find out how a bagpiper can play a song that never, ever stops for a single breath!

0:00-12:33

transcript

No transcript — this publisher did not publish one.

show notes

Have you ever wondered how blowing into a simple tube can make loud, beautiful music? Join Mira and Finn as they uncover the wild science behind wind instruments! You'll discover how blowing air across an empty bottle sets an invisible column of air shaking to create sound waves. Did you know a tiny jet of air from a flute player's mouth can travel at 135 miles per hour—the speed of a Category 4 hurricane?! Or that if you completely unrolled a tuba, it would be as tall as a fully grown adult giraffe?!

But there is one giant problem every wind instrument player faces: you can't breathe in and blow out at the same time! That is, unless you have a bagpipe! Discover the genius ancient invention that acts like a magical extra lung for musicians. We'll travel back in time to the Middle East where bagpipes were first created, learn about the frantically buzzing reeds that make them one of the loudest acoustic instruments in the world, and find out how a bagpiper can play a song that never, ever stops for a single breath!

more episodes

All episodes