Gone Piping emagazine schoolofpiping.com August 2017
2 Fáilte: A friend of mine mentioned this week that he returned to piping after some years hiatus and was given a recording of the World Pipe Band Championships to listen to. This sparked his interest and he embarked on a journey that resulted in him playing in a Grade 1 band at the Worlds. This was a great effort on his part, and a worthwhile journey. There is no finish line with what we do. We all strive to be better technically or creatively and the only way to do that is to absorb everything we can. Listen to recordings, learn about sound, practice to improve, attend seminars. Don t accept mediocrity, but fight the good fight. Along the way you will meet wonderful people and enjoy the journey all the more. Our website, www.schoolofpiping.com is an Internet based resource for pipers. It contains an archive of technical articles, reviews, historical information, photographic albums, sound files and video files that are freely available to pipers everywhere. Please feel free to pass this magazine on to any that might benefit or enjoy reading it with our compliments. Brett Tidswell ADVERTISING To advertise your business or product in this magazine contact: schoolofpiping@gmail.com Unbeatable new rates Copyright 2017 School of Piping/Brett Tidswell All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted, in any form or by any means, without prior written permission of the editor
3 Contents: World Pipe Band Championships 2017. Page 5 The most significant event on the band calendar and how it panned out. Medley Construction. Page 11 How to put together a winning medley. Robert Reid s Drones. Page 17 A well-worn question answered. Scansion. Page 20 The essentials of expression in Piobaireachd variations. What s at the School of Piping Shop? Page 27 The latest products on offer. The Rising Pitch of Pipe Bands. Page 34 A discussion on this much debated topic. R U Brown events for 2017. Page 41 An update on the 2017 event. Classifieds. Page 44 Adverts for anything piping related!
4 Quality ~ Integrity ~ Personal Attention Like a great set of drones our core values help you stand out. We stock excellent products for pipers, drummers and pipe bands, plus a full range of gift items for all occasions. office@mccarthyhighland.com www.mccarthyhighland.com
5 WORLD PIPE BAND CHAMPIONSHIPS 2017 Once again we saw the World Pipe Band Championship play out on Glasgow Green on the 11 th and 12 th August 2017. The qualifiers on Friday the 11 th saw 20 bands playing both an MSR and Medley in an effort to gain one of the 12 spots in the final, where they would again get to play an MSR and then a Medley again in the competition for the title of World Pipe Band Champions. I am sure this is not for the benefit of the crowd, nor the bands for that matter. It obviously makes it easier to judge. I am not complaining, I quite enjoyed watching both days, but it is something of a spoiler having seen all the bands just the day before. Shotts and Dykehead Caledonia managed the role of kicking the competition off on both days for all events. Credible performances on each occasion and then followed by Inveraray and District who also were in fine form. The qualifiers unfortunately provided few solid MSR performances with many bands losing composure with both sound and integration as the progressed through the performances. A common feature seemed to be clawing at the beat and dragging it in early but Bob Worrall s favourite issue of the weekend was the square phrasing where bands fail to show the ends of the phrase in the correct place but stick strictly to bar positioning. I assume it is the bands settling in, or if they focus more on their medleys, but it seems that there was a lot more confidence when bands came out and did their medley performances. One notable feature among quite a few bands was the overbearing mid sections. One comment was made about tenor drum ping-pong, (def: the disruptive ping ponging of tenor drums through an entire performance). If they are not in balance or well tuned the mid sections can be quite a distraction rather than adding musically to the performance. Hands up all those that feel an overbearing mid section can be distracting!
6 The poll continues. A number of bands, such as, Vale of Atholl, Glasgow Police, Boghall & Bathgate and Simon Fraser University showed some significant improvement on last year and the Police Service of Northern Ireland did a tremendous job qualifying in their first year back up in Grade 1. The bands that made it through to the final were: Shotts and Dykehead Caledonia Inveraray and District Glasgow Police Police Scotland Fife Dowco Triumph Street Police Service of Northern Ireland St Laurence O'Toole Vale of Atholl Boghall and Bathgate Caledonia Field Marshal Montgomery Simon Fraser University Scottish Power I thought that Field Marshall Montgomery were well ahead in piping in the MSR event, their medley was pushed along quite hard and was a predominantly rhythm based medley in the main. They still held a first place in piping with very tight playing and awesome sound, but were penalised quite harshly in drumming and ensemble. Inveraray drew the Hector the Hero medley that they had played a couple of years ago, a very musical arrangement indeed.
7 Shotts and Dykehead and Scottish Power I think deserve mention for fine MSR playing often not under ideal conditions and SLOT and Boghall & Bathgate for their excellent medley performances. I particularly enjoyed Boghall s jigs that I thought were a highlight of the day, not just piping-wise but how they were handled as an ensemble. Again in the medleys some of the mid sections dominated with less than attractive tuning and overbearing playing. Boghall is one band that can be held up as an example of a balanced mid section. RESULTS Thoughts of flying home early. Grade 1 Overall 1st Inveraray & District (Scotland) 2nd Field Marshal Montgomery (Northern Ireland) 3rd St. Laurence O Toole (Ireland) 4th ScottishPower (Scotland) 5th Simon Fraser University (Canada) 6th Shotts & Dykehead Caledonia (Scotland) Drumming overall: Inveraray & District Drumming MSR: Inveraray & District Drumming Medley: St. Laurence O Toole Medley 1st Inverary & District (1,3,2,1) 2nd St. Laurence O Toole (3,4,1,4) 3rd ScottishPower (ensepref) (4,2,6,2) 4th Field Marshal Montgomery (2,1,5,6) 5th Simon Fraser University (5,5,3,3) 6th Shotts & Dykehead Caledonia (6,7,10,5)
8 MSR 1st Inveraray & District (2,2,1,1) 2nd Field Marshal Montgomery (1,1,2,2) 3rd St. Laurence O Toole (6,5,3,4) 4th ScottishPower (3,4,6,7) 5th Shotts & Dykehead Caledonia (4,3,10,5) 6th Peoples Ford Boghall and Bathgate Caledonia (5,7,8,3) Grade 2 Overall 1st Glasgow Skye Association (Scotland) 2nd Lomond & Clyde (Scotland) 3rd St. Thomas Alumni (USA) 4th City of Dunedin (USA) 5th MacKenzie Caldonian (Scotland) 6th Manorcunningham (Ireland) Drumming: Lomond & Clyde Grade 3A 1st Royal Burgh of Stirling (Scotland) 2nd New Ross & District (Ireland) 3rd Marlacoo & District (Northern Ireland) 4th Coalburn IOR (Scotland) 5th St. Joseph s (Ireland) 6th Deeside Caledonian (Scotland) Drumming: Royal Burgh of Stirling Grade 3B 1st Royal Burgh of Annan (Scotland) 2nd Bothwell Castle (Scotland) 3rd Quinn Memorial (Northern Ireland) 4th The Highlanders (4 Scots) (Scotland) 5th Major Sinclair Memorial 6th Kevin R. Blandford Memorial (USA) Drumming: Royal Burgh of Annan Juvenile 1st Dollar Academy (Scotland) 2nd George Watson s College (Scotland) 3rd George Heriot s School (Scotland) 4th West Lothian Schools (Scotland) 5th Peoples Ford Boghall & Bathgate Caledonia (Scotland) 6th Robert Malcolm Memorial (Canada) Drumming: George Heriot s School Grade 4A 1st 3rd Battalion The Royal Regiment of Scotland (Scotland) 2nd Tullylagan (Northern Ireland)
9 3rd McNeillstown (Northern Ireland) 4th Denny & Dunnipace Gleneagles (Scotland) 5th Cullybackey (Northern Ireland) 6th Dunbar Royal British Legion (Scotland) Drumming: Tullylagan Grade 4B 1st College of Piping, Summerside (Canada) 2nd Kildoag 3rd Lisnamulligan 4th Culter & District 5th Cullen (Ireland) 6th Davidson s Mains & District Drumming: Kilmarnock Novice Juvenile A 1st Ross & Cromarty Pipes and Drums School 2nd Dollar Academy 3rd Oban High School 4th George Watson s College 5th George Heriot s School 6th Peoples Ford Boghall & Bathgate Drumming: George Watsons College Novice Juvenile B 1st Lochalsh Junior 2nd Oban High School 3rd Bucksburn & District Junior 4th MacKenzie Caledonian 5th North Lanarkshire Schools 6th Sgoil Lionacleit Drumming: Bucksburn & District Junior
10 At the end of the day someone is always left to clean up!
11 CONSTRUCTING A PIPE BAND MEDLEY By Brett Tidswell, National Principal Piping and Ensemble HISTORY Pipe Bands used to perform March, Strathspey and Reel sets only in competition. In the 1950 s the Edinburgh Police under PM Donald Shaw Ramsay started to incorporate hornpipes and jigs into their repertoire and shortly after, the medley was introduced into competition to allow bands a wider variety of music and to give play to some of the smaller tunes that bands seemed to be overlooking. The medley has now developed into a complex structure rather than a few nice tunes thrown together. The intention of this article is to highlight some of the methods used to construct an entertaining and musical medley. The guidelines in no way are meant to inhibit the compiler/composer, however, good musical taste and some adherence to tradition are still called for when compiling a medley for competition. LENGTH Scottish Power There are obviously constraints when compiling a competition medley as distinct from a concert medley. The first of these is the length. Generally in higher grades the rules require a 5 7 minute medley and a lesser time in the lower grades. Ensure that you check the
12 rules and test the length of the medley from the first roll until the end of the performance, at tempo. INTRODUCTION Again there is often a rule constraint here. Most call for two three pace rolls with the band stepping off on the first beat of the roll. If you are trying to be inventive and vary from this, it is best to check the rules of the Associations who have jurisdiction in the places you intend to compete. FEATURE TUNES There are some important factors when considering writing a medley. The first of these are tunes that create an impact. The first tune that takes the band into the circle is of extreme importance. This is the tune that creates the first impression. It should make an impact on the listener, settle the band for a good performance and make the audience want to listen to the performance. Do not be swayed by current trends. So many bands play the round hornpipe intro which has become so common in recent years. It is not rare to hear comments in the judging tent complaining of the monotonous entry tunes. I always think that the Air is another important punctuation in a medley. It gives the opportunity to show off the tonal quality of the band and demonstrates the quality of the construction and use of harmonies. The next major feature is the closing tune. This must create an impact and obviously is the last thing the audience and judges will remember. Current trend is to have a hornpipe/reel with passages of harmonies. Jigs are also impressive. What is important is that the medley comes to some sort of exciting conclusion. The use of reprises, tunes which change time signature or idiom etc. can make another tune a feature of the medley.
13 FORMAT There seem to be two common formats used in the modern medley. These are the march in tune, strathspeys, reels, air, jigs and hornpipes/reels. The alternate is the march in tune, jigs, air, strathspeys and reels/hornpipes. There are of course many variations, but these tend to be the basic structural format of most medleys. Try not to be too predictable, as this can make for a boring medley for judges or the audience who have to listen to many in a day, but also try to adhere to some of the traditional changes in idiom. NEW MATERIAL It is always good to have some new material in a medley. There is nothing worse than all old material that everyone has heard elsewhere. However, there is also a problem going the other way. Some medleys are full of new material, sometimes with limited musical appeal and the entire journey becomes a muddle and very forgettable. A good medley will have some familiar music. A few of the top bands use familiar music to surround new material and give some breathing space. It breaks the predictability and nicely showcases the new material. KEY CHANGES St Laurence O Toole When moving from one idiom to another it is important to change keys. This can also be
14 used when changing from one tune to another in the same idiom. A medley where the use of key changes is not properly utilised becomes uninteresting to listen to. A simple way to gauge the key of a tune is to use the last note as a guide. If the tune finishes on a D chances are it is in the key of D. Try the key changes and ensure they are tasteful. With practice you will soon work out which keys fit best in progression. Tunes also transpose keys within their phrase structure, so pick tunes that contrast the previous keys. BUILD UP AND RELEASE OF TENSION Building up tension in a medley can be done with the use of tempo, harmony, or volume of drumming. Tension can be built up and then released to add interest and colour to the medley. Do not forget the impact of silence for a short time from the drum corps. This can be very effective. HARMONIES Harmonies provide musical colour and contrast. This is ineffective if there are too many or not enough passages throughout the medley. Keep them tasteful and interesting. Try not to be predictable and look at using counterpoint rather than traditional thirds. There are basic rules for counterpoint in most music theory books. Strathclyde Police
15 TEMPO The various tempos that tunes are played at can be utilised to create impact and increase or decrease suspense or tension in a medley. Most top level bands will play the smaller tunes in a medley a little faster than a similar larger tune of the same idiom as played for example in an MSR. You should however select tunes and tempos that are within the capabilities of your band. There is nothing worse than listening to low grade bands fumble their way through medleys and tunes at tempos that they cannot manage. I think to a man most judges would prefer to listen to well controlled, cleanly played tunes from the lower graded bands. TRANSITIONS Listen to what the top bands are doing. They often have unique and inventive ways to move from one tune to another. Sometimes it is a clean and simple break, often now it is a variety of time signature changes, a few notes of harmony, a reprise or a catchy little phrase of drumming. Put some time and thought into these transitions, try not to be predictable, and also try not to be cheesy, but be inventive. LISTEN Always take the opportunity to stand out of the band and listen to a new medley. Also try to get an experienced Pipe Major or judge to have a listen as some stage as well. Listen to ensure that the medley is interesting and in good musical taste, that it is not overloaded with harmonies or confusing bridging passages. See that the drum scores match what you are trying to portray, and ensure that obvious things like an over bearing mid section or poor positioning of pipers playing harmonies are addressed. REMEMBER The points we have mentioned apply equally if not more so to a band in the bottom grade as they do to one at the top. It does not take any special talent and there are always experienced people willing to help
16
17 Robert Reid s Drones For the few pipers who may be aware of the name Robert Reid, he was one of the all time great pipers and one of the most dominant players in Scotland during the 1920 1940 period. From the age of twelve he was a pupil of John McDougall Gillies and he became synonymous with the Cameron style of playing. Reid was Pipe Major of the 7 th HLI after the Great War and he continued to obtain instruction from MacDougall Gillies in Glasgow and Alexander Cameron in Inverness. Reid worked for a short time for R G Lawrie Bagpipe Makers and then started his own business in 1932 in George Street, Glasgow. Reid won the Gold medal at the Northern Meeting in 1921 and at the Argyllshire Gathering in 1922. His list of achievements is far too long to list here. P/M Robert Reid The above photograph of Robert Reid always seems to spark the same questions. There is something funny about his drones. No, it s his stocks, Why would he do that?. Yes, the answer is, he has three bass stocks on his instrument. So that always leads to why?
18 Well, I have seen a number of pipers do this over the years. It actually solves a number of problems that the piper can experience with tenor drones. It improves the strike in rate of tenors that are difficult and also improves the double tone issues that can be experienced. It also moves the reeds further away from the bag and provides an added length of stock that moisture can collect on, and therefore keeps the reeds drier for longer when playing. I have heard comment on the quality of Reid s pipe and how long it remained in tune. I would imagine this is a contributing factor of significance. Robert Reid and his long stocks. Regarded as a player with a very strong technique, but also of extreme confidence. It obviously would not hurt to be extremely confident in the performance of one s own instrument as well as your own playing ability. I have heard it said that Reid had commented on a number of occasions, once the tunes were drawn for him in competition, that everyone else was playing for second! That sort of confidence does the master player no harm.
19 At the School of Piping Shop we can take care of all of your Piping and Highland Dress needs and desires! Contact us at schoolofpiping@gmail.com for everything from reeds to tweeds!
20 Scansion The art of expressing Ceol Mor The term Scansion is often used in poetry and is a method of determining or depicting the metrical pattern of a line of verse. The same applies in Ceol Mor. We could refer to it as accenting or expression. It tends to be the pupils of the John Macdonald School that refer to it as scansion, but every advanced level piper that plays Ceol Mor uses a rhythmical accent to some extent and it is generally something that is discussed at length and a required consideration when judging a competition. Ceol Mor should be carefully studied to determine where phrases begin and end, as phrasing is a very important aspect of the music. The line ends must be shown to give the music a comprehensible structure and then the rhythmical meter should be determined. Careful analysis of the phrase and part endings of Urlar and Singling variations should be undertaken to determine which notes get value and which are linking notes and should be short. Often these take the form of three note cadences and the final note is a linking note. A two-pulse meter is generally expressed as Medium, Strong, with an additional strength to the end of phrase and end of part. This gives a two pulse rhythmical structure to the part, which will not interfere with the musical momentum. Expressing as Strong, Medium for example would mean that phrase and part endings would be Strong, Very Strong for want of a better description and would slow the momentum of the part.
21 A three-pulse meter is generally expressed as Medium, Medium, Strong, again with an additional strength to the end of phrase and end of part. I have seen some three-pulse variations expressed as Strong, Medium, Strong, but again this can interfere with the musical momentum and should be carefully considered in the context of the piece overall or the variation. The four-pulse meter is expressed as Strong, Medium, Medium, Strong. The final Strong meter at the end of a phrase or line is again extended. Quite often in Ceol Mor, parts written with two pulse bars, might be better structured as a four pulse rhythm, so it is not unusual to hear a SMMS accent being more appropriate, where theory would tell us that a MSMS pattern was more appropriate. Analysis of note groupings should give some hint, but usually the experience of a good tutor will highlight what traditionally has been more appropriate. The novice performer often needs to familiarize themselves with a piece to be able to hear what the master performer is trying to express. Without the scansion, the part is generally flat and uninteresting. To a more experienced performer, a part without some form of scansion will just sound wrong. Too often we hear that Ceol Mor is uninteresting to the advocate of Ceol Beag, however some small effort to familiarize oneself with a piece will highlight the complexities and beauty of this type of music. We also hear the novice piper comment to a judge that they had the piece mastered from a recording and wonder why they receive a bemused look. Hopefully this will give some enhanced understanding of the subtleties of expression Ceol Mor. The book Ceol Mor by James McIntosh and also the General Principals of Piobaireachd by Andrew Wright are excellent publications that also delve in to this topic.
22 Bagpipes, chanters, practice chanters by David Naill and Co now available from the School of Piping Shop, contact us at: schoolofpiping@gmail.com to order.
23 Folk Pipes and Fred Morrison Scottish Small Pipes now available from the School of Piping Shop
24 Now available from the School of Piping Shop: http://www.schoolofpiping.com/shop/advanced_publications.html
25
26 SCHOOL OF PIPING PRODUCTS http://www.schoolofpiping.com/shop.html
27 What s at the School of Piping Shop? ebay Store For the convenience of our customers we have opened an ebay store. Many of our products can be purchased there and some specials will be announced in the coming months. You can visit us here: http://stores.ebay.com.au/schoolofpiping Chanter Reeds. In addition to our normal range we have now added G1 Platinum. These are excellent band and solo reeds. Donald McPhee chanter reeds are straight cut solo reeds with a broad tone and good Piobaireachd High G. We also have a large stock of Shepherd, Megarrity and Sigma ridge cuts and Gilmour and Melvin reeds at all times which are very stable, bright and excellent band reeds. From $18 ea. Reed cases also available for $15. Drone Reeds. We are now stocking Ezeedrone Increased Absorbent Reeds ($139), Selbie Drone Reeds ($110), and the new Kinnaird Evolution Reeds ($150) As always we have a large stock of Reeds from, Kinnaird, Canning, Ezeedrone, Crozier, MG. We can often mix and match bass drones with sets of tenor reeds.
28 Practice Chanters. We have increased our range of Practice Chanters to include the McCallum P2 ($69) and P4 ($99), which are the standard and long length Chanters with no mounts. These are inexpensive, nice sounding and excellent for new learners. We retain a large stock of the imitation ivory mounted Chanters which look excellent and sound great ($99 and $129). We always stock the College of Piping Green Book and the Logan s Tutor and we are happy to put together some packages for learners. Pipe Chanters. We have a large stock of Colin Kyo Pipe Chanters in poly. These are excellent solo chanters with a close finger spacing making them one of the most comfortable chanters on the market today. They also have an excellent and very stable Piobaireachd High G. We have the new David Naill and Co wood solo chanters in stock. These are very full, vibrant and well pitched. The Mk3 McCallum and MC2 are both excellent solo chanters. Enquire about our special prices for matching band sets of chanters. We also have the Mk3 Shepherd Chanters as played by Shotts and Dykehead and Field Marshall Montgomery. Pipe Chanter Caps. We currently stock chanter caps by McCallum, Moose and also the new Bagpipe Skin chanter caps. These are multi-coloured with a removable stopper to increase ventilation to the reed.
29 Pipe Bags and MCS. We are now stocking the New Ross Leather Bag ($335), Willie McCallum Bag ($295) from Bannatyne, as well as our usual stock of their composite zipper bags ($275). We now also stock the Bannatyne Moisture Control System ($105). This is an excellent system that provides a longer playing time, is easy to manage, dust free and completely airtight. We can tie on and set up the system for you, or you can do that for yourself. We also have the silica beads available separately if you would like to replace your existing desiccant with a cleaner, more effective, hassle free product. We now also stock Gannaway Bags, Bennett and Ross. TrapDri Moisture Control Systems are now in stock at $40 ea and the full system with bottle for $57. Tuners. We stock the Murray Blair HBT3 digital tuners. These will also tune the chanters to a correctly calibrated scale. The new Blair Professional HBT C1 is now in stock. They are on their way and will be kept in stock. Humifiers and Hygrometers. We are now stocking the Humistat adjustable Humidifiers that fit in your pipe case and maintain your instrument at a stable humidity level. Along with a hygrometer this is an excellent way to help prevent cracking, warping and shrinkage. At just $40 for the pair this is excellent insurance to protect your investment. This is an excellent accompaniment to our highly rated Makers Choice Range of oils and waxes. This includes, joint lube, exterior wax, bore oil and oiling rods.
30 Piping Music Books. We now have a number of books in stock including Blockbuster by Ryan Canning, The Gathering by Don Bradford, The Fred Morrison Collection and more. Prices from $35
31 All of Your Piping Needs. We stock all piping accessories and are able to supply bagpipes from most of the Worlds premier makers. We always stock McCallum, McRae, Naill and Doug MacPherson Bagpipes. We currently have a number of vintage bagpipes available. We can also quote and supply any uniform or Drumming items and have access to a wide range of premium silver buckles, sgian dubhs and kilt pins at very reasonable prices.
32 Our full price list and catalogues can be viewed at www.schoolofpiping.com. Feel free to contact is anytime for advice or a quotation and any specific needs. schoolofpiping@gmail.com. THE COLLECTION a compilation album by Brett Tidswell is now available for only $9.99 https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/the-collection/id398480644
33
34 Now in stock at the School of Piping Shop.
35
36 The Rising Pitch of Pipe Bands When I started playing in bands in the 1970 s, we were using Hardie chanters. They were pitched at around 466Hz on low A and we often tuned to Brass Bands or an Orchestra and we rarely had to make any alteration at all. A very convenient situation indeed. In the 1980s we rose a little in pitch and we were aware that bands overseas were creeping up to a higher pitch By the late eighties the magic number had risen to 475Hz. Some soloists had pushed the envelope and numbers close to 480HZ were not uncommon. In the 1990 s we saw a number of overseas bands pushing the limits again, but for us a number around 475Hz seemed desirable. At that pitch we would have to reset the band to perform with any other musicians as the gap was too wide to be able to get away with ignoring the difference. Most of the top soloists had risen above this level and some were playing well into the 485Hz +. Now we have bands playing above the level that soloists were criticized for playing and most of the top soloists are playing at or below the pitch of bands. Comment has been made that we should be setting a standard pitch. Orchestras and conventional musicians did this with A= 440Hz as being a standard. That would bring our tonic note to 466Hz. I can only imagine what the comments would be and how much of a fiasco we would have to cope with on a hot day as pitched rise well above the set standard without touching pipes.
37 Comment has also been made that it is the fault of makers ensuring that pipers have to keep buying new chanters. Personally I don t buy new chanters and have made to conscious effort to lift my pitch, but I think both makers and reed makers have met market pressure and I find my instrument has risen in pitch just due to the change in reeds. Significantly lifting the pitch has made the instruments more bright and clear sounding and a need for them to be more accurate in tuning. I think there is no doubt that it has created difficult obtaining a good sounding piobaireachd high G and some makers have had to rethink the design of chanters to accommodate this. Often it is a balance between a stable piobaireachd G and a stable F. In warmer conditions bands struggle as the top hand can rise above the level of balance or become thin and dry sounding. At a higher pitch lower grade bands can really struggle as a lower pitch is much more conducive to them obtaining an accurate bagpipe sound with the added clarity, and the habit of pipers over blowing on contest day. At the higher pitches the bagpipe loses harmonic overtones and tonal depth of drones. They can be harder to set up and drones can often tune too low, demanding shorter higher pitched reeds. Personally I think the Worlds top bands have never sounded so good. A few times you hear them and think they could tone it down a little, but often that is when the weather is hot. I often hear lesser bands and think they could turn the pitch down a lot. That is a matter of knowing the instrument and your own band and working out where it sounds best. In solo piping there is an acceptable pitch range and accuracy of tuning is essential. If you play for a few minutes in front of a judge on a nice sounding bagpipe, they become accustomed to the pitch fairly early in the performance. I don t think there is a huge WOW factor in a high pitch, but rather from an accurate bagpipe with a nice harmonic blend.
38 The best plan is to use your ears and get an accurate balance. Do not try to aim for a mark on a tuner, but rather pick a reed that suits the chanter you play and balance that up so that you get the best sound from it. The number it reads on the tuner will vary with playing, temperature and humidity. Go for balance and sound, not numbers.
39 To purchase go to: http://www.schoolofpiping.com/shop/beginners_publications.html
40 ALLAN HAMILTON has been hard at work and there are numerous new interviews to be seen at the Pipers Persuasion website. Recent interviews include, Jim MacIntosh, Jack Lee, Jim Banks, Ken Eller, Ian Duncan, Colin McLellan, Allan MacDonald, David Murray, Brett Tidswell and many more. Combined with the existing interviews the site is becoming a significant contribution to the history of modern piping. We highly recommend a visit to: www.piperspersuasion.com
41 Upcoming events run by the R U Brown Piobaireachd Society of SA Inc. Whilst in Adelaide in 1972, Bob Brown repeatedly expressed a wish that we should regularly come together and play, not in the spirit of competition, but just to listen and enjoy all types and levels of pipe music. The Society now regularly meets to fulfil his wish. The Society welcomes all with an interest in Piobaireachd and the betterment of piping in general. The Gold Medal Competition normally held in May, will not be conducted in 2017. This is not unusual; we have had a break in past years. It allows the organisers a well-earned break and helps the Society re-build the coffers, as the competition is extremely costly to run. We will return in 2018. Meetings The Society holds regular meetings on the first Friday of the month. Meetings are held at the Prospect RSL, Wilcox Ave, Prospect SA. At meeting nights, pipers are able to play both piobaireachd and light music to those in attendance, or alternatively come along for a listen. However, participation is encouraged. Any person is free to play (including visitors), and they are free to play all styles of music. Entrance is a gold coin donation towards the supplied supper. Everyone is welcome to attend and take advantage of some excellent piping and the friendly atmosphere. Coming Events Tutorial Nights 1 September 2017 Recital night Tutorials for those wishing to learn piobaireachd are given throughout the year (generally the first Friday of every second month). Tutorial nights are completely free. Experienced pipers will be there to provide tuition on specific tunes to groups of varying levels. Coming Tutorials TBA Full details for events and tutorials to be found at www.rubrown.org.au
42 Purchase The Reed Book DVD-Rom at: http://www.schoolofpiping.com/shop/advanced_publications.html Also available direct from stockists and various reed makers. What others have to say about the Reed Book DVD-Rom! I highly recommend this book to anyone who wants to know more about reeds, how they are made, how they work and how to adjust them for whatever result you require. Shawn Husk- Reedmaker I doubt that there is another product that covers so well what this DVD covers highly recommended. P/M Bill Robertson - ex The Royal Scots I have gone through the DVD-Rom thoroughly and find its layout superb...user friendly and a timely addition to your text. This should be a recommended referral for all pipers, especially the experienced who are often in need of true and tried methods... many thanks and all the best. Ken Eller Canada
43 Drone Reeds by Ryan Canning 2015 World Pipe Band Champion available from the school of Piping Shop. Carbon Bass Inverted Poly Bass
44 CLASSIFIED ADS To make use of this service contact us at: schoolofpiping@gmail.com Gold Medallist vintage bagpipes always in stock. Ask about what we currently have being refurbished. FOR SALE: Grainger and Campbell Bagpipes. Hallmarked Sterling Silver, 1968 Ivory projecting mounts Original chanter Canmore Bag Bagpiper Case No cracks Good tone Designed by Donald MacKinnon and Donald MacLeod in consultation Seller seeks AUD $5000 Located in Queensland Australia. Contact us at schoolofpiping@gmail.com to be referred to seller.
45
46 PAST EDITIONS: Past editions of Gone Piping Magazine can be downloaded from: http://www.schoolofpiping.com/shop/advanced_publications.html