# ePipes Drones — Tunable Bagpipes Drones > Tunable bagpipe drones for practice and learning Scottish bagpipes. (iPhone/iPad app by Michael Eskin.) - Source: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/epipes-drones/id379221325 (this page in markdown: same URL + `.md`) - Developer: [Michael Eskin](https://appshunter.io/developer/342739369) - Category: Music, Education - Price: Free - Rating: 2.00/5 from 4 App Store ratings · 16 written reviews indexed - Age rating: 4+ - Requires: iOS 10.0 · 5 MB - Languages: American English - Released: 2010-07-01 - Data updated: 2026-09-03 - Monetization: free - User reviews in markdown: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/epipes-drones/id379221325/reviews.md ## What is ePipes Drones? ePipes Drones is a tunable, authentic sounding set of Scottish Highland, Border Pipes, and Smallpipes drones. This app is for musicians who are learning to play the Scottish bagpipes and want high-quality sets of tunable drones to play along with on their practice chanters. The sounds are provided by ePipes.co.uk in Glasgow, Scotland, from extremely high-fidelity studio recordings of three very fine instruments. Touch the ePipes logo to switch the drones on and off. Select the drone type using the drone selector. Available drone types are Great Highland, Border, and Smallpipes. Set the volume using the Drone Volume slider. The pitch may be transposed in semitone increments +/- one octave in using the Tranpose slider. Additionally, the Tuning slider may be used to fine-tune the drone +/- 50 cents in one-cent increments The Reverb slider sets how much reverb effect is added to the sound. All settings are saved when the app exits and restored the next time it is run. MIDI Chanter Test Features: Test your MIDI Chanter by setting the MIDI channels for the chanter and drones channels. Any MIDI Note-On message note numbers received on those channels will be displayed at the bottom of the screen. This value can be used to determine the MIDI offset value from 67 for the chanter in my other MIDI-enabled apps that default to the Fagerstrom Technopipes standard of the bottom note being MIDI note 67 (G3) as a zero offset. ## Key features - Authentic drone sounds - Tunable pitch and tuning - Adjustable volume and reverb - Multiple pipe types (Highland, Border, Smallpipes) - MIDI chanter testing - Settings saved on exit ## Recent user reviews (10 of 16) All indexed reviews: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/epipes-drones/id379221325/reviews.md ### 1/5 — Yikes *2026-07-04* Uploaded and turned it on. What is that horrible buzzing noise? Got rid of it immediately. Cygnet ### 5/5 — Excellent *2023-06-08* A great accompaniment to play along with your practice chanter. The practice chanter needs to have all the notes in tune, but the app can assist in achieving this. ### 3/5 — Bagpipe app *2013-07-28* I've played real bagpipes for 2 years. These drones sound nothing like real drones. Sounds electric and fake. At least try to make the drones sound different. Like real pipes. Please. ### 5/5 — Excellent *2011-11-25* Love it 😃 ### 1/5 — Don't bother *2011-07-23* Waste of money. So lacking on features it's not funny ### 4/5 — Great but needs a higher octave *2010-12-12* Great app..but It would be even more great if there was a higher octave. Def.worth the money ### 4/5 — Good App But.. *2010-11-29* Would like to see a "double tap" feature on the keys as an update. ### 4/5 — Exactly as expected *2010-11-23* Good app for playing with Scottish highland sounds, no crashes or bugs. New keyboard layout is exactly as expected from Scottish notation. Playing with easy mode off is also quite fun, since you can play a nice minor third interval (not available on real pipes - fun to have a different scale to play with). Overall really fun app to help work out real melodies with a good highland pipe sound. Developer was very receptive and quick to improve this app, keep these apps coming Micheal. ### 5/5 — epipes scottish bagpipes and drones *2010-11-15* Great app with high quality sound, easy to play - with fast, friendly support! hard to stop playing once you start! looking forward to update with keyboard in G - what a blast!! MH ### 4/5 — Lone piper! *2010-11-06* About as good a sound and as accurate as it gets with the limitations of a keyboard style operation and the iPhone itself. Doublings are out but gracenotes and birls can be simulated. Great fun - pocket pipes! ## Frequently asked questions about ePipes Drones ### What types of bagpipes does ePipes Drones support? ePipes Drones supports Great Highland bagpipes, Border pipes, and Smallpipes. You can select the drone type using the dedicated drone selector within the app. ### Can I adjust the sound of the drones in ePipes Drones? Yes, you can adjust the volume using the Drone Volume slider. The pitch can be transposed +/- one octave in semitone increments with the Transpose slider, and fine-tuned +/- 50 cents with the Tuning slider. ### Does ePipes Drones have ads? ePipes Drones does not contain advertisements. The app is free to download and use without any ad interruptions. ### What is the age rating for ePipes Drones? ePipes Drones has an age rating of 4+. This indicates it is suitable for users of all ages. ### On which devices can I use ePipes Drones? ePipes Drones is supported on iPhone and iPod devices. It is designed for iOS platforms. ### How often is ePipes Drones updated? The latest version of ePipes Drones is 3.0.4, which was last updated on May 28, 2018. Updates are not frequent, with the last update being several years ago. ### What is the user feedback on ePipes Drones? ePipes Drones has a rating of 2.3 stars from 3 ratings. This suggests a mixed to negative user reception based on the limited available feedback. ### Does ePipes Drones save my settings? Yes, all settings you adjust in ePipes Drones, such as volume, pitch, tuning, and reverb, are saved when the app exits. They will be restored the next time you run the app. ## Version history (last 5 releases) ### 3.0.4 — 2018-05-28 This app has been updated by Apple to display the Apple Watch app icon. Fixed wavering GHB drone. Fixed issue with missing slider when running the app on smaller iPads. Re-released as ePipes Drones. Provides three tuneable Scottish piping drones, plus test features for MIDI chanters like the Fagerstrom Technopipes. ### 3.0 — 2018-05-28 Re-released as ePipes Free. Provides three tuneable Scottish piping drones, plus test features for MIDI chanters like the Fagerstrom Technopipes. ### 2.0 — 2012-07-16 Completely new version 2.0 adds a reverb option for a huge, full sound! (iOS 5.0 or later required for reverb features). Note about the use of headphones on iOS 6 devices: Unfortunately, because of a bug Apple introduced in iOS 6 to the reverb system in iOS, the reverb is broken in headphones and results in the sound being panned far to the right. Apple has been made aware of the issue and hopefully will fix the issue in a future iOS 6 update. For now, please turn the reverb off when using headphones on iOS 6 devices to center the sound. ### 1.2 — 2010-11-18 Switched the graphics from a C-scale to a G-scale to match standard Scottish bagpipes notation practice. The notes are the same, only the graphics have changed. This change will make it much easier to play along with the thousands of notated bagpipes tunes available on the internet. Thank you to users for the suggestion! ### 1.1 — 2010-07-16 Found and fixed root cause of possible iOS4 crash. Also reduced memory requirements. ## Apps similar to ePipes Drones | App | Rating | Price | Category | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | [GSDSP MMM](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/gsdsp-mmm/id6443846329) | 4.8 (34) | Free | Music | | [Dojo University](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/dojo-university/id6501969159) | 5.0 (2) | Free | Music | | [skippodisk](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/skippodisk/id6449685454) | 4.9 (11) | Free | Music | | [StrandOrgan](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/strandorgan/id488756266) | 4.6 (32) | Free | Music | | [GSDSP MMMm](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/gsdsp-mmmm/id6450306205) | 4.9 (14) | Free | Music | | [Piper's Metronome](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/pipers-metronome/id1445858200) | 4.8 (437) | Free | Music | ## More apps by Michael Eskin - [Concertina - Anglo Concertina](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/concertina-anglo-concertina/id343270484) - [Regulators for Uilleann Pipes](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/regulators-for-uilleann-pipes/id348529289) - [JustDrones - Tunable Just Intonation Drones](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/justdrones-tunable-just-intonation-drones/id348861427) - [Englitina - English Concertina](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/englitina-english-concertina/id349451473) - [Uilleann - Pocket Irish Pipes](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/uilleann-pocket-irish-pipes/id353684178) - [Canntina - MacCann Concertina](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/canntina-maccann-concertina/id360579654) All apps by Michael Eskin: https://appshunter.io/developer/342739369 ## Related topics [epipal](https://appshunter.io/ios/topics/epipal) · [senpiper](https://appshunter.io/ios/topics/senpiper) --- *Data collected daily from the US App Store and indexed by [AppsHunter](https://appshunter.io/). User reviews are verbatim App Store reviews. Ratings, prices and chart positions refresh continuously; this snapshot is from 2026-09-03.*