I’m a loser baby, so why don’t you kill me? or The highland pipe and mid-20th century American collegiate basketball Please follow this link to Spotify to enjoy the playlist I have put together for you to enjoy while reading this article. (You will obviously need to have a Spotify […]
News
CLASP profile: Anthony Kelly
Anthony Kelly from Ireland is the latest member of the Competition League for Amateur Solo Pipers (CLASP) to be profiled: • Where are you from and how did you get into piping?I’m, originally from Dublin but now living in Roscommon ireland with my wife, Nicola, son Gavin and two daughters, […]
The tonal colours of the tune
In part 2 of his discussion on drone tuning and harmonics, John Dally uses Scotish smallpipes to explain how pipers can understand drones and the intricacies of tuning. By John Dally Now that we have established that the drones provide a harmonic background, it is easy to understand why different […]
Harmonics and drone tuning
Do your pipes sound alive with rich harmonics or are you content to have your drones simply ‘in tune’? As someone once put it, the drones ARE the instrument; the chanter an add on. In part 1 of this two-part article, John Dally discusses how your drones, in providing a […]
Riddle solved / More on NM ceilidh photo / Willie Ross and Army School / Donald Drone
We received, surprisingly, quite a few correct answers to yesterday’s April Fool’s Day riddle, pictured above. Thomas MacKenzie of Halifax in Nova Scotia, Canada, was first with the correct answer to Tim Cummings’ clever musical cyrptogram. The answer is: Cabbage, Aged Beef, a Bad Egg – Egad!(Dad added decaf café) […]
Can you solve this April Fool’s Day riddle?
Here’s an April Fool’s Day riddle for you all, courtesy of Timothy Cummings of Vermont, USA [pictured]. It’s in the form of a tune. We won’t give you too many clues other than to say it is a sort of musical cryptogram. Can anyone solve the tune title? Contact us […]
Duke’s letter to pipers for the online Atholl Gathering / Drum Major required / Balmoral School
This year’s Atholl Gathering will be held online – as we predicted here a couple of weeks ago. Bruce Murray, the 12th Duke of Atholl, has personally prepared an invitation [pictured] to competiting pipers. He writes: “My family and the Atholl Highlanders have great pleasure in extending an invitation to […]
The Worlds: too early for decision / Gesto: publication expected soon / Sean Somers’ new collection / The Scottish variant
With the Scottish Government planning to help major events return in the summer months – as long as infection rates are kept down – this could mean that the World Pipe Band Championships may be in a position to take place “in some form,” a source at the City of […]
CLASP profile: Hector Thomson
Hector Thomson is the latest member of the Competition League for Amateur Solo Pipers (CLASP) to be profiled. • Where are you from and how did you get into piping?I was born in Selkirk on the night of the Common Riding* so I was born with pipe bands ringing in […]
LBPS annual competition results
The annual competition held by the Lowland & Border Pipers’ Society (LBPS) took place yesterday online. Competitors from all over the world played live via video conference software. Founder member, Gordon Mooney, who adjudicated from his home in Florida, USA, remarked that it had been nearly 40 years since the […]