Archive
The Grade 1 St. Laurence O’Toole of Dublin has officially confirmed that it will headline the annual show at the Royal Glasgow Concert Hall in Glasgow, this year on August 15th, returning to the pipe band world’s biggest stage for the first time in eight years. pipes|drums broke the news […]
Today is the piping and drumming solstice – exactly six month since the last World Pipe Championships and exactly six months until the next. Seems like just yesterday when Inveraray & District and all the other winners were jumping for joy on Glasgow Green, and it will seem like […]
Raumati, New Zealand – February 17, 2018 – The Grade 1 New Zealand Police wrapped up a fine 2017-’18 season with wins at provincial contests, Wellington Hawkes Bay Centre at Weka Park, Raumati, on February 17th, and Turakina on January 28th, in the process nailing down the New Zealand Champion […]
The 25th anniversary of the ScotsFestival held on and around the Queen Mary ocean-liner hotel in Long Beach, California, will see the Juvenile band from George Watson’s College travel from Edinburgh to vie for the Grade 3 title. A total of 10 bands and more than 150 soloists are entered […]
Comunn Uibhiust agus Bharraigh Ghlaschu, known to non-Gaelic-speakers as the Glasgow Uist & Barra Association, is bringing its Annual Invitational Solo Piping Competition to the College of Piping in Glasgow on March 3rd, featuring a mix of first-time younger contestant matched against several familiar names. The list of invitees is […]
Toronto – February 10, 2018 – The annual Gaelic Society of Toronto junior piping competitions took place at the Sergeants’ Mess at Moss Park Armoury, with events for players ages 21 and younger. Ian K. MacDonald was the judge of two events, each separated by designated amateur grade-levels. The goal […]
After the passing of Ontario’s Reay Mackay already nearly a year ago, we thought back to our exclusive interview of 1990. We have brought many interviews over the 30 years of publishing. This was one of the early ones, restricted by printed pages and tapes, and perhaps, at the time, a lack of confidence in […]
Mackenzie Caledonian Pipe Band Centennial Concert Friday 9th February 2018 Gardyne Theatre, Dundee, Scotland Reviewed by Keith Bowes Nineteen-eighteen, exactly 100 years ago: the end of the First World War, the year that women were given the right to vote, and the year MacKenzie Caledonian Pipe Band was founded. The night was an occasion to […]
During his too-short life, the great George Stewart “G.S.” McLennan was an innovator of music and an agent of change for piping, and now a new website that is nothing short of gorgeous pays modern homage to his life, legacy and times. The site was painstakingly developed by McLennan’s estate, […]
Despite an apparent record 36% of bands competing in the Grade 1 qualifying rounds at the 2018 World Pipe Band Championships not being from Great Britain or Ireland, only one judge not from the UK or Ireland has been assigned to the events to be held on August 17th at […]
The Grade 1 78th Highlanders (Halifax Citadel) of Nova Scotia, Canada, have commenced a search for a new lead-drummer after Jeremy Keddy resigned. Keddy had been with the band for five years, and, according to the band, cited “family obligations and work commitments” as reasons for his decision. + 78th […]
The Royal Scottish Pipe Band Association has decided that scoresheets / crit sheets will not be provided to competitors in the final and semi-final rounds of the World Solo Drumming Championship. According to a source within the organization, the decision was made in response to feedback from competitors in a […]
Piper Jim Johnson takes us through his 1988 arrangement of Pachelbel’s “Canon,” made famous for pipers and drummers by SFU . . .
The Wall Street Journal, with a daily circulation of 2,277,000 making it the biggest newspaper in North America, has cast a strong light on the piping and drumming community with a feature article by veteran reporter Michael Phillips on, among other topics, the expansion of pipe band size and its […]
Blair Digital Chanter Murray Blair Pty Ltd. Melbourne, Australia AUD$849 – $982 Reviewed by Matt MacIsaac Electronic bagpipes have been around at least since the 1970s, when the Bazpipe was introduced in Texas. Since then, there have been many different iterations of the electronic bagpipe instrument, and the newest offering […]
It’s hard to believe that the 2018 World Pipe Band Championships are only about six months away. Because it’s the non-UK bands that put the “world” in the World’s, pipes|drums thought we’d ask the leaders of each of those Grade 1 bands about their plans.