Swedish bagpipes, also called säckpipa, svensk säckpipa, dråmba, koppe, posu, or bälgpipa, are a type of bagpipes from Sweden. The word "säckpipa" means "bagpipes" in Swedish. In English, it refers to the specific kind of bagpipes that come from the Dalarna region of Sweden.

History

Medieval paintings in churches show that the instrument was used throughout Sweden. By the middle of the 20th century, the instrument had almost disappeared. The version of the instrument now called Swedish bagpipes was created using designs from the western part of an area known as Dalarna, the only region in Sweden where the bagpipe tradition continued into the 20th century.

Revival

In the late 1930s, a researcher named Mats Rehnberg discovered some bagpipes in the collections of the Nordiska museet. He wrote a paper about them. Rehnberg found the last person in Sweden who knew how to play the bagpipes, a man named Gudmunds Nils Larsson, who lived in the village of Dala-Järna. Rehnberg visited Larsson with a music teacher named Ture Gudmundsson. Together, they rebuilt an instrument. Ture later played and recorded two songs for Sveriges Radio, the national publicly funded radio station.

For many years after that, only a few bagpipes were made. In 1981, a woodworker named Leif Eriksson (who also made bagpipes) began creating a new model he designed. A folk musician named Per Gudmundson learned to play this instrument. Eriksson’s bagpipes combined features from about ten different bagpipes stored in museums. He made small changes to make the instrument easier to play with others, like the fiddle.

Today, several Swedish folk music groups include bagpipes in their performances. These groups include Hedningarna, Svanevit, and Dråm (the last two involving Erik Ask-Upmark and Anna Rynefors). People who play the Swedish bagpipes can now compete in contests judged by experts to earn the title of riksspelman.

Construction

The bag is much smaller than many other bagpipes. This is not a problem because the pipes need only a little air to work. The chanter has one cane reed and a round shape inside, allowing it to play notes within one octave. It mostly follows a specific musical pattern (a scale that starts on E and includes notes like A, B, C, and D) because pressing fingers in certain ways has little effect on the sound.

• A hole for the note C can be made with two openings. Covering one with beeswax creates the note C, while leaving it open creates C#. This allows the instrument to play in the key of A major.
• A hole called the "tuning hole," usually on the bottom of the chanter and used to adjust the lowest note, can be moved to the top. This change lets the player use it as a fingerhole, adding the note low D to the scale.
• A key can be added above the usual fingerholes to create the note high F#, giving the piper more options.

The chanter’s round shape and single reed make it less affected by how fingers are pressed. The drone, which plays the same note and octave as the lowest note on the chanter, allows the player to quickly play the bottom note between other notes. This blends with the drone’s sound, creating a quiet effect and making it possible to play short, separate notes.

The instrument’s sound is soft, similar to a harmonica or accordion.

Today, only a few professional or semi-professional bagpipe makers exist. Leif Eriksson (pipemaker) focuses on traditional designs, while Alban Faust, Börs Anders Öhman, Max Persson, and Seth Hamon work to create modern versions of the instrument.