---
title: "Uilleann pipes"
slug: uilleann-pipes
type: concept
definition: "The uilleann pipes are Ireland's national bagpipe, an elbow-bellows-blown bagpipe with three drones and regulators that allow it to produce chords. It has a two-octave chromatic range and an inward, melancholic timbre, conceived for the small room."
synonyms: ["Irish pipes", "union pipes"]
publishedAt: 2026-07-11
---
The uilleann pipes —whose name comes from the Irish *uille* ("elbow")—
are Ireland's national instrument and the most complex bagpipe of its
Atlantic family. Unlike the [Asturian gaita](/concepto/gaita-asturiana),
they aren't blown by mouth: the player uses an elbow bellows, pressed with
the arm, to inflate the bag, which frees the hands to sing while playing.

They have three standard drones and **regulators**: additional keyed
pipes that allow the player to sound chords with the palm or wrist of the
right hand, a possibility the Asturian gaita doesn't have in its original
design. Their range reaches two full chromatic octaves.

Their timbre is more contained and slightly nasal than the Asturian
gaita's: conceived for the small-room session, not the outdoors. That's
why their sound so often appears in film scores looking for that inward,
melancholic colour.