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The Northern Meeting at Inverness, Scotland ¨C considered by most to be the crucible of solo piping ¨C is opening its doors to solo pipers younger than 18, with a new slate . . .
By Bill Livingstone. I was poring over pipes|drums the other day, looking for news, gossip, the general down-low on piping, drumming and pipe bands. If you’re like me, you do this once or twice a day, so starved are we for regular scoopage. Sadly, our art produces little in the way of truly juicy scandals. We don’t seem to generate much in the way of the Kardashians, Brangelina, Newt Gingrich, or to be a bit parochial the scandalous machinations of the Stephen Harper government in Ottawa. My glance, however, hit upon a recent poll, where readers were asked to respond to questions about the age of the members of their various bands. The results of the poll were, at the very least, remarkable in the true sense of that word, and perhaps more accurately described as being akin to a smack in the gob. Or so it seemed to me. So here’s what was disclosed . . .
One piper’s trash is another piper’s treasure, or so the famed piper Bruce Gandy believes, as he has come up with a novel concept . . .
Graham Brown of Milton, Ontario, won his sixth Agnew-Harrison Invitational Drumming Championship in the snare category, an event put on annually by the Niagara-Hamilton Branch of the Pipers & Pipe Band Society of Ontario.
After more than 400 years as part of the British Commonwealth country, the idyllic island nation of Bermuda will make a foray into the wonderful world of outdoor Scottish culture for . . .
The nineteenth annual Donald MacLeod Memorial Invitational Piping Competition was won by Willie McCallum of Bearsden, Scotland. McCallum enjoyed the best overall success through the Piobaireachd and MSR events, and rounded out the day with another solid showing in the Hornpipe & Jig, which does not factor . . .
With an audience of more than 5-million viewers on any given day, the Grade 1 Alberta Caledonia Pipe Band of Calgary and Edmonton will bring quality piping and drumming to the “Live! with Kelly” morning . . .
pipes|drums asks the competitors at last year’s Argyllshire Gathering and Northern Meeting to list what type of drones, chanter, reeds, pipe bag and moisture system they used, and the results are fascinating. A total of 70 of the world’s elite solo pipers provide their input, allowing us to look at the preferences between those competing in the Premier, A-Grade and B-Grade categories. We compare the information with our much smaller 2009 study, and let you consider your own options for achieving your own ideal sound. With more manufacturers and choices than ever, there has never been a better ¨C but perhaps more confusing ¨C time to be a Highland piper and, our investigation gives pipes|drums subscribers a look “der the hood” of the instruments played by the world’s best pipers.00
For a group that practices once a year, the Atholl Highlanders Pipes & Drums have quite a bit of fun, the latest adventure a two-week trip to Massachusetts and Bermuda, along . . .
Bob Worrall reviews the annual Piping Concert at Celtic Connections, this year with Lothian & Borders Police and Spirit of Scotland on a double-bill at the Glasgow Royal Concert Hall on January 28th.
Alexander “Sandy” Keith, the popular and accomplished piper, teacher and leader, died on the evening of February 1, 2012 at the age of 74. A native of Paisley, Scotland and a pupil of the great Peter MacLeod Sr., Keith made his mark in piping after he immigrated to Canada in […]
We continue our wide-ranging discussion with Mark Saul, one of the world’s most popular composers of music for the Highland pipes. In this third instalment, Saul talks about the Victoria Police, the prospects for another Australian pipe band winning a Grade 1 World Championship, and the challenges of leading a Grade 2 band whose reason-to-be is not all winning all the time. Mark Saul touches on the allure of the World’s, and the trend towards amalgamating players for flash-in-the-pan attempts to make a mark in Scotland, and the big picture of camaraderie, music and simply having fun.
The PPBSO Toronto Branch’s annual Amateur Knockout competitions continued at Mosspark Armoury in downtown Toronto. The events group Grade 1 and Grade 2 pipers in a combined A-Grade, and Grade 3 and Grade 4 in a B-Grade . . .
When Carsen Campbell’s parents pulled him out of ice hockey at age 12 because it was too dangerous, they gave him a rifle instead. He already was involved with . . .
pipes|drums brings northern hemisphere readers more “hot stove league” content to warm them through the dreary and cold off-season, with video highlights from the performance of Pipe-Major John Cairns and Leading-Drummer Graham Brown of the Grade 1 Peel Regional Police Pipe Band at our Pipes+Drums Recital at Piping Live! last August. John Cairns is also famous for being only the eleventh person in piping history to win the pure “Double” – both the Argylshire Gathering and the Northern Meeting Highland Society of London Gold Medals in one year (1999). Graham Brown is one of the world’s top pipe band snare drummers, gaining . . .
Kylie MacHattie reviews “The Silver Pipes of Tir nan Og” by Kenton Adler, a novel with a piping twist aimed at adolescents and teenagers and the youngster in all of us.