Archive
We uncover yet another previously unpublished gem by the genius composer John “Jock” McLellan, DCM. Here, the manuscript of “Hands Across the Water,” transcribed in McLellan’s hand, is a four-part reel, an idiom for which McLellan composed only five previously published pieces. True to the inimitable composing style that created […]
Recruitment, retention and improvement of bass drummers in pipe bands can only come through teaching, respecting and nurturing
Pipe bands have played at and to great heights: Estes Park in Colorado at 7,522 feet above sea level; impromptu (and definitely entirely sober) 35,000-foot performances on jet planes; and of course, the Grade 1 events at this year’s World Championships. But the 42 piping and drumming students from Sydney, […]
The 2026 Pipe-Major Alasdair Gillies Memorial Challenge Recital was another spectacular night of incredible musical creativity and technical brilliance by five of the world’s greatest Highland pipers. Callum Beaumont, Alasdair Henderson, Finlay Johnston, Angus D. MacColl and Connor Sinclair each performed for 15-20 minutes, every second of which had the packed Strathclyde Suite at […]
Next in our exclusive 2026 Set Tunes Series by Willie Donaldson is “The Sister’s Lament,” a relatively popular tune among more seasoned piobaireachd competitors. About “The Sister’s Lament,” Willie Donaldson writes: “It is unusual that the tune should appear in so many manuscripts after being published by Donald MacDonald, which […]
In Part 1 of his “Building Leaders” series, exclusively for pipes|drums subscribers, James Laughlin stressed the vital need for pipe-majors, lead-drummers, pipe-sergeants, and anyone in a pipe band or association with a management role to have a “possibilitarian” perspective. In Part 2, he delves into the essential aspect of effective recruitment for building and sustaining […]
After the thousands of entries were assessed, Shawn Tobin of Nepean, Ontario, was the ONLY one to get the top six Grade 1 at the World Pipe Band Championships absolutely bang-on, making Shawn our 2026 pipes|drums Pick the Six winner! For his canny prognostication, Shawn will receive $7,000+/£ 3700+ in […]
Harry McNulty, one of the pipe band world’s most accomplished and widely respected figures, died on September 8, 2026, at the age of 93. A successful pipe-major with both the Lothian & Borders Police and British Caledonian Airways, McNulty was one of only a few in history to lead more […]
The singular Raasay Restitution solo piping competition once again put the accent on Hebridean culture and fun, this year moving from the Raasay Community Hall to the Raasay House Hotel, and it was Rachel Gray who won the “Pìobaireachd Song” event and Gary West who took the Dance Music contest, each coming away with terrific prizes.
Roybridge, Scotland’s Sandy Cameron was the aggregate winner across the top Senior events at the popular annual Blairgowrie & Rattray Highland Games, where a total of 60 pipers competed in the various events.
Winning three firsts and two seconds in the five events, Stuart Liddell of Inveraray, Scotland, gained the Chatsworth Champion Piper trophy at the annual Chatsworth Country Fair, held on the sprawling manicured grounds of Chatsworth House.
Braemar, Scotland – August 5, 2026 – The annual Braemar Gathering was held in the rolling Royal Deeside landscape in good weather, and it was Ben McClamrock of Washington, DC, who won the traditional Piobaireachd Gold Medal, while Zephan Knichel, Lynnwood, Washington, gained the overall trophy by winning both light […]
Results from the second and final day of competitions at Eden Court Theatre in Inverness
Results from the world’s top non-invitational solo piping competition
The 2026 Pipe-Major Alasdair Gillies Memorial Challenge Recital was another spectacular night of incredible musical creativity and technical brilliance by five of the world’s greatest Highland pipers. Callum Beaumont, Alasdair Henderson, Finlay Johnston, Angus D. MacColl and Connor Sinclair each performed for 15-20 minutes, every second of which had the packed Strathclyde Suite at […]
Oswald “Ozzie” Reid, whose decades as a pipe-major, teacher, judge, and administrator made him one of the more influential figures in the development of piping and pipe bands in the western United States, has died at age 90. Born in Northern Ireland in 1936, Reid immigrated to the United States […]