Generally, we divide bagpipe instruments into two main groups: Eastern European and Western European. In Eastern European bagpipes all pipes have a cylindrical channel profile and single reeds. Western European bagpipes are characterized by conical, double-reed chanter pipes and single-reed, cylindrical drone pipes. The first group includes bagpipes from the central part of our continent, i.e., Polish, Slovakian, Czech and East German bagpipes. There are exceptions to this rule (e.g., Bulgarian enclave conical chanter pipe or Scottish cylindrical chanter pipe).
Western European bagpipes are characterized by an air reservoir made of leather cut according to a template that was already widespread in the Middle Ages, folded in half and stitched. The shape of the bag, especially in its upper part, resembles the body of a swan with a characteristic slender neck, hence it is sometimes called a “swan”. While Eastern European bagpipes usually have a bag made of whole animal skin.
In addition to folk types of bagpipes, associated with the unwritten stream of musical culture, which are characterized by a particularly high variance of construction, there are also improved professional bagpipes, enriched in design, material and performance, which have greater musical capabilities, used in the written stream of musical culture.
In terms of tonality, in general, modal scales are not uncommon in the more traditional, folk types of Eastern European bagpipes, while major-minor tonality is more common in Western European bagpipes (especially in professional instruments).