A bagpipe is an investment. If you are lucky then you’ll get a return out of that investment either for yourself or for whomever gets the pipe after you. The mystique of the antique bagpipe is much like the sword ‘Excalibur’ in Thomas Mallory’s epic, Le Morte d’Arthur: the object […]
Bravado is cheap and flimsy. Like that wrench set you bought for £5 that sheared away on the second nut when you were replacing that toilet seat you broke trying to replace that tiny light bulb in the bathroom. Piping has always had a bad attitude when it comes to […]
Fhuair mi Pòg by Margaret Stewart and Allan MacDonald (Greentrax Recordings Limited CDTRAX 132). By Roderick D. Cannon. The title track begins with Allan MacDonald playing the song version of the famous piobaireachd (I Got a Kiss of the King’s Hand) on the full Highland bagpipe; then as the sound […]
One of the most hotly tipped competitive solo pipers making their way through the B grade, multiple pipe band championship-winning John Dew (a recent graduate of the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland) presents his first solo recording effort, The High Bridge Walk. Let’s get real. John is someone I know. I […]
This new edition of Binneas is Boreraig reincarnates the most innovative written piobaireachd collection of the 20th century. It is the only one showing tunes precisely as they were played by a master. And it shows them exceptionally well. ‘Binneas is Boreraig’ means ‘Melody and Boreraig’. The original edition, published […]
By Dugald B. MacNeill Pipers will talk endlessly about their pipe chanters and go to great lengths to get them just right, or what they believe is right. They will spend money on reeds and buy new pipe chanters to increase the chance of getting both the correct scale and […]
The present Piobaireachd Society Collection started with Book 1 in 1925. The most recent book in the collection was Book 15, published a quarter of a century ago in 1990, so the arrival of this new one is a bit of a publishing event for the Big Music. Although I […]
By Mark Stewart and Stuart Letford. In the decades ahead we will reflect on the last few years as being one of the most creative periods in modern bagpipe composition, albeit music that’s suited mainly to pipe bands and folk ensembles. Whether some of this new music will be played […]
Iain MacInnes reviews Chris Gray’s debut recording. As Scotland’s pipers explore ever wider musical horizons, this beautifully-made debut CD from Chris Gray points the way to what can be achieved. Gray comes with an impressive piping pedigree (he was a pupil of Tony MacDonald’s in his native Lockerbie), as well […]
By Roger Gould-King Figure 2 shows a typical chanter reed design suitable for most chanters and the average piper’s blowing habits. This design follows the principle that all dimensions of the blades are based on a simple ‘rule of 3’. For example, the staple is 4mm in diameter, which multiplied […]
