pipes|drums exclusive: BagpipeLessons.com launches Perfect Angle Blowpipe Positioner

He’s proven himself to be one of the greatest innovators of products designed to make Highland piping easier, and now Jori Chisholm of Seattle has launched the Perfect Angle™ Blowpipe Positioner, a straightforward product designed to solve blowpipe problems that have plagued pipers since the instrument itself was invented.

As with most of his products, the Perfect Angle is simple, comprising three rings that attach to the bass drone, middle tenor and blowpipe stocks, with two straps that can be adjusted to tip the blowstick at the preferred angle when the bag is inflated.

The US$39.99 device lets pipers keep the blowpipe that matches their drones, rather than opting for a ball and socket angled blowstick, first developed by the late Colin Winstanley of England.

The Blowpipe Positioner joins an ever-expanding range of products brought out by Chisholm’s BagpipeLessons.com over the last decade. Other items include the Tone Protector, a digital reed the helps to maintain the humidity level of a chanter reeds in between playing sessions; the Bagpipe Gauge, a tool for helping pipers learn to blow their pipes steadily; the Piper’s Ultimate Reed Poker, a tool to extend the life of chanter reeds; the Piper’s Advantage Bagpipe Phone Mount to position smartphones and metronomes on the blowpipe; and the Piper’s Metronome, an iOS and Android app.

I don’t think we’re going to run out of ways to make piping easier, to have the instrument sound better, stay in tune longer and be more comfortable. – Jori Chisholm

Chisholm has seen a surge in his own prominence since he resurrected online solo competitions in the spring of 2020 after launching the concept in 2011. His Online World Solo Championships series of events has seen huge uptake by players around the globe, with more than 1,600 pipers and drummers entering for the Spring 2021 Online World Solo Championships.

We connected with Jori Chisholm by video for a conversation about the Perfect Angle Blowpipe Positioner, his solo competitions and the potential for new innovations in the future.

“I don’t think we’re going to run out of ways to make piping easier, to have the instrument sound better, stay in tune longer and be more comfortable,” he said.

The Perfect Angle Blowpipe Positioner launches today, coinciding with pipes|drums’ exclusive about the product.

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