Archive
Three years after applying in 2004, Randall May International Inc. was granted worldwide patents for a “Percussion Instrument Carrier Assembly.” Twenty years on, the major patents have expired, opening the drum harness concept to changes and new commercial products. Garth Newlands’ GANAAN company is hoping to make and launch the […]
For some, the camaraderie and good “chunes” are enough. For others, it may very well be something quantifiably deeper. Something mysterious, ancient, and spiritual. Are the pipes just a bag, a bunch of reeds and hollow sticks, or are they a connection to something we’ve lost and are about to rediscover?
Pipe bands most often fail not because they don’t win prizes, but because they lack effective leadership.
Every bit as much as luminaries like Eller and Livingstone, John Elliott is a crucial link to Ontario piping and drumming’s most formative years. His story is important, and we were pleased to work with him to let him tell it in a full-length pipes|drums Interview, which we will publish in five parts.
The 10 pipers for the fourth annual Ardmore Cup on Saturday, February 21, at St Declan’s Village Hall, Ardmore, County Waterford, Ireland, have been decided: Callum Beaumont, Guardbridge, Scotland Reece Doherty, Donegal, Ireland James Frazer, Rathfriland, Northern Ireland Finlay Johnston, Glasgow Anna Kummerlöw, Kladrum, Germany Angus D. MacColl, Benderloch, Scotland […]
As the piping and drumming world emerged from the pandemic, one of the most successful developments was the RSPBA’s Solo Drumming Champion of Champions League, which was launched in 2024 as a global effort to stoke interest in the art and allow more top-flight drummers from around the world to […]
Cameron MacDougall of Orange, New Jersey, was the aggregate winner of the top solo piping events at the 22nd running of the Winter Storm solo piping and drumming competitions, held at the Marriott Hotel, Country Club Plaza.
In his latest piece, Jones explores the use of “Off-Beat Lift,” an ensemble effect in MSR music that he argues can be a powerful and positive differentiator for pipe bands at any level.
The worldwide focus on the education and regeneration of new pipers and drummers is intensifying in New Zealand right in the middle of the Royal New Zealand Pipe Bands Association competition season, with a call for applicants to the National Youth Pipe Band of New Zealand. Pipers and drummers younger […]
In addition to their regularly scheduled first meeting of the year on January 11th, the Royal Scottish Pipe Band Association held a full-day training session for its Board of Directors, covering duties when attending competitions and legal responsibilities as a Charity Trustee and Company Director. RSPBA Vice Chair Stewart Orr […]
The Competition League for Adult Solo Pipers (CLASP) held its first contest of the year, an in-person event at the National Piping Centre’s Otago Street premises, in which Owain Woodman Carr, Anthony Kelly and Arthur Bass had the overall best days in Grade 1, Grade 2 and Grade 3 events.
In an effort to expedite Royal Scottish Pipe Band Association accreditation for non-UK pipers and drummers who are on the judging panels of the world’s recognized associations but still actively competing, the RSPBA has created an “Overseas Attached Adjudicator” category. Accepted applicants for the program will have to complete the […]
He was a leader who set an example. Much could be learned in 1993 from simply watching him work and listening carefully to his words, and much can still be learned today and in years to come from our interview.
Following a failed two-year search for a suitable leading-drummer, the Grade 1 78th Highlanders (Halifax Citadel) have decided not to compete in 2026, unless “something miraculous” happens in the next few weeks. One of only three Grade 1 bands in Canada, the Nova Scotia-based group is likely on competition hiatus […]
We revisit our exclusive conversation conducted with the legendary piper and pipe-major in his first year after retiring from competition.
The accomplished Scottish-American piper Iain Macey passed away at the age of 70 on December 22, 2025, following an illness.