How did the guitarist in Big Country get that bagpipe guitar sound in the song Big COuntry? I've argued with a friend who thinks it is a guitar synth, I don't

I kind of faked it with an ADA - MP -1 set to high gain and a lot of chorus .I'm not sure how he did it ... great track though . I was also using a very 80's Strat - an Elite with active pick ups .

He used an E-Bow.

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Originally posted by mentoneman:
He used an E-Bow.

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Actually he used an Eventide Haromonizer....

I saw Big Country live on their first American tour when "In A Big Country" was a hit. The guitarists were both using Yamaha guitars. I don't remember the model number, but they looked like a cross between an SG and a Les Paul; double cutaways like an SG but a heavy body with a maple top like a Les Paul. They were a two guitar band. They got that "bagpipe sound" by having two guitarists play basically the same riff together. One of the guitars was running through a chorus unit (I think a Boss) and the other one was E-bowed. They also used gigantic Marshall amps at the time. Hope this helps!

There are lots of ways to get guitar to sound kind of like bagpipes. The most important, one, however, is to choose an appropriate melody. That solo could have been played on a piano, and it would still make you think instantly of bagpipes because the melody and phrasing are bagpipe-inspired.

when my girlfriend blows me it sounds like a bag pipe. but she has a big mouth...

I hope that helps..

Actually, Stuart was probably the most notable user of the old rack-mounted MXR Pitch Transposer (analog pitch shifter). Set for one octave up, one octave down and a 5th down (or a 5th up, can't remember). That and the second guitar/overdubbing was the key to Big Country's bagpipe sounds.

Bagpipes are Scottish dulcimers- you have a drone tone so you can't really change chords- a big minus IMHO.