About Us

About Lindstruments

Lindstruments is the musical instrument workshop of Donald WG Lindsay – Scottish piper, singer and instrument designer, originator of the Lindsay System for Scottish smallpipes.

Donald began designing instruments to realise ideas that would have demanded too much research and development time from traditional smallpipe makers, who often work alone and have to be cautious about high-risk projects. The Lindsay System chanter, with its extended range and keyless design, was far enough “outside the box” that it needed a working model before most people could assess it.

The arrival of affordable desktop 3D printing made that possible. A successful Kickstarter campaign (Dreaming Pipes) funded two printers and materials, and from there the Lindsay System chanter design moved quickly through prototypes to a stable, playable form. Throughout development, the design parameters were controlled with an eye to keeping it practical to render in hardwood in future, should pipe makers choose to do so.

Since then, Lindstruments has continued to focus on new designs for bellows pipes and whistles, including the Lindsay System smallpipes, Qwistle whistle family and related 3D-printable instruments, balancing experimental design with the practical needs of working musicians.