...the bottom of the chanter can be closed at will either with a leather 'popping strap',or directly against the leg of your trousers, or with an automatic 'popping valve'. Unusually for bagpipes, this allows you to play legato or staccato as you wish. The chanter may have up to about 5 keys to give you a full range of accidental notes, although the commonest 3 accidentals (D#, C and F) can be played using cross-fingering.