A set of smallpipes that belonged to the late virtuoso piper, Gordon Duncan is being offered for sale. The proceeds raised will go to the Gordon Duncan Memorial Trust, the registered charity that funds and supports young traditional musicians. The pipes, pictured, are in the key of D and were […]
• Where are you from and how did you get into piping?I’m from Columbus, Ohio, USA. I was five years old in a park when I first heard a piper. I sat and listened to him for what seamed like forever. When my mother found me I told her I […]
I wonder if you have ever heard the old joke – “Why is the Free Kirk so opposed to sex before marriage?” Answer – “Because it might lead to dancing.” I am first going to make the assumption that everyone reading this regards the pipes as a musical instrument and […]
Our third member of the Competition League for Amateur Solo Pipers (CLASP) to be profiled is Mariko Arimoto. Where are you from and how did you get into piping?I am from Japan and I started learning the pipes when I was 20 while I was studying at the University of Stirling […]
1. How are you these days?I’m pretty well. I didn’t think I’d be missing the business of university but with restrictions in place I’m going a little mad. Other than that, I’m grand. I spent four years studying on the BMus (Traditional Music – Piping) Degree course at the Royal […]
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 […]
Alex Duncan, son of Ian and Chris Duncan, died today in hospital in Edinburgh. He was 26 years old. Alex had been in hospital for a week. Alex Duncan was a first class piper. Taught as a child by Dougie Reid, Perth and father Ian, Alex’ two biggest piping influences […]
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 […]
Ross Ainslie and Ali Hutton are two of the most talented all-round musicians on the planet. To know that it was the bagpipes that brought them together makes what they do even more remarkable. They started their life-long musical journey as kids in the late Gordon Duncan’s Pitlochry-based Vale of […]
By John Mulhearn “Do you ever listen to pipe music?” “… Em, not really… I sometimes hear a busker when I’m in the town…”. So began conversations I had a with a number of students recently. In my day-to-day role as an instructor at The National Piping Centre I often […]
