Quote Originally Posted by highlander_Daz
they certainly do not !

there are some very bad pipers around , to start do they strike in clean or are the drones howling at the start?
are the pipes in tune and is the chanter scale in tune?
are doublings and grace note played cleanly? does the tune stop dead or again are the drones howling.
a properly played set of in tune pipes will sound good to most people, the people who say "I cant stand bagpipes" have normally been the victim of a hack piper!

all pipers should remeber they are ambassadors for the pipes.
I've heard enough piping that I can recognize all the things you've mentioned. No offense was intended.