Things look increasingly bleak for hopes of a return to a normal competition season this year, whether in the pipe band world or in solo piping. It’s only mid-January yet several major non-piping outdoor music events have already been cancelled, including, yesterday, the massive pop music festival held at Glastonbury […]
By Niall Graham-Campbell Many of the famous and successful pipers have much written about them. As a change, I thought that I would like to try to create a favourable impression about a lesser figure in the piping world, Willie MacDonald or Black Will. In part, the reason behind this […]
By David V Kennedy Yes, indeed: to watertrap or not to watertrap, that is the question! Some say that the trap is necessary in all climates. In an eight month 100˚F average summer? With less than an average 20% relative humidity? Sounds dreadful, doesn’t it? Logical? Well, not at first […]
By Niall Graham-Campbell Many of the famous and successful pipers have much written about them. As a change, I thought that I would like to try to create a favourable impression about a lesser figure in the piping world, Willie MacDonald or Black Will. In part, the reason behind this […]
This year’s Scottish Schools Pipe Band Championships will go ahead. However, the competition will be smaller and will take place online. Organiser, the Scottish Schools Pipes and Drums Trust (SSPDT), said the competition is going ahead in March – even if the country’s state schools remain closed. Currently, schools are […]
Stuart Samson MBE has released his second book of original music. The book – digital only – comes a decade after his acclaimed Lands of Bens and Glens and Heroes collection and has been compiled and produced during the lockdown caused by the coronavirus pandemic. The former Pipe Major of […]
By Bridget MacKenzie This article is based to a large extent on material kindly supplied by George Moss’s nephew, Jim (Hamish) Hamilton, Aberdeen, to whom I give my thanks George Moss (1903-1990) was an important figure in Highland piping who has not received the recognition due to him. Such men […]
After three decades at the University of Edinburgh, Professor Gary West is leaving at the end of this month. Gary, who is probably best known to pipers as the voice of ‘Pipeline’, BBC Radio Scotland’s popular weekly piping programme, is the Director of the European Ethnological Research Centre at the university’s […]
By Jo Miller I was extremely sad to hear of the recent death of colleague and friend, Peter Cooke. His contributions to the field of ethnomusicology have been many, and he championed the subject across the United Kingdom (UK) in his academic posts at Edinburgh, Birmingham and at the University […]
By David V. Kennedy The question a piper may ask is: “Why on earth would one want to squeeze the blades or the staple of a chanter reed?”’ And this is certainly a valid question. After all, didn’t the reedmaker assemble the reed correctly? Didn‘t he tie the blades onto […]
The Celtic Connections online festival begins this Friday (15). Running until February 2, the festival will feature over 30 performances. Due to the pandemic, digital content from specially commissioned projects and performances have been created. These have been filmed across many of Glasgow’s venues, including the National Piping Centre. International […]
Bruce Hitchings MBE BEM has spoken of his fond memories of his fellow Queen’s Own Highlanders piper, Iain Morrison, who died a few weeks ago. The recently married judge and proprietor of Highland Reeds told Bagpipe.News: “I was fortunate to have served with Iain when I joined the 1st Battalion, […]
By David V. Kennedy In an early issue of The International Piper, Mr. Roger Gould-King wrote an informative, and useful, article on the chanter reed. He included a drawing of the reed, dimensioned. From the top of the lips, going downwards to the staple- bindings, he drew in a conception […]
By Jaco Koster It was a rainy Sunday afternoon in Scotland last summer [2018] when my girlfriend and I decided to pay a visit to Blair Castle near Pitlochry. We had visited the ruins of Caisteal Dubh – the Black Castle of Moulin – that morning, where I played my […]
