Patron tickets for the 2010 Pipes of Christmas concerts are now available for purchase. Any remaining general admission tickets will go on sale later this fall. Our Patrons program not only ensures your ticket to the concert, it also entitles ticket buyers to several classes of recognition via our Friends of the Pipes of Christmas program. Help support our music scholarship program by becoming a Friend of the Pipes of Christmas.

Patrons tickets for all three concerts can be purchased via mail order by completing the ticket order form found on our website at www.pipesofchristmas.com. Credit card purchases for our NYC concert only can be purchased by phone or online with our exclusive credit card ticketing service provider, SmartTix via phone at (212) 868-4444 or by visiting www.smarttix.com.

*Come to a Pre-Christmas Concert aend Ceilidh this September:

Join “Pipes of Christmas” favorites Local Hero, as they perform some of Scotland’s loveliest music in an evening of music, dance, spirits and fun. After the concert, take to the floor with some Scottish country dancing! The pre-Christmas party takes place on Friday, September 24 in the atrium of the Westy self storage facility located at 15 River Road in Chatham NJ. Admission is $20 per person and tickets will be available at the door. RSVP by calling (908) 273-3509.

Concertgoers will also be treated to a complimentary whisky tasting featuring Oban and Cardhu single malt scotch whiskies. As an added bonus there will be a silent auction to help our guests get a jump start on their holiday shopping. Items up for bid include a scotch tasting event at your home hosted by one of the brand ambassadors from the Classic Malts of Scotland, an autographed copy of Sir Sean Connery’s autobiography “Being a Scot,” and your personal bagpiper for a one hour performance at the event of your choice (wedding, religious service, party, etc.). If you have an item you’d care to contribute to add to our silent auction (sporting event or theatre tickets, gift baskets, etc.), please let us know.

Throughout the evening, tickets will be on sale for the 2010 Pipes of Christmas concerts as well. As an added bonus, all guests will be automatically entered into a raffle to win four (4) front row center tickets to one of the three concerts. The popular holiday concert returns to Summit on Saturday, December 18 with performances at 2 and 8PM and to NYC on Sunday, December 19 at 2:30 PM. The 2010 edition of the Pipes of Christmas is made possible by a generous gift from Oban single malt scotch whisky. Visit our website for complete details.

Irish Arts Center:

“Pipes and Piping in Ireland with Bill Ochs
Sunday, June 6 | 3 PM

Join us for a fabulous multi-media presentation that traces the 
development of piping in Ireland from the Middle Ages to the present. 
Master piper Bill Ochs has assembled a fascinating collection of 
woodcuts, lithographs, photos, and rare archival recordings that tell 
the story of the emergence of the uilleann pipes, the world’s most 
sophisticated bagpipe. To be followed by a solo piping concert in 
which Ochs demonstrates the full range and scope of this uniquely 
Irish instrument.

‘A most stimulating, informative, and entertaining presentation.’
—Professor Mick Moloney, NYU

Admission:  $15 general sale/ $12 members and students
To buy click here or call 212 868-4444″

(Via – Read Full Article.)

“vPipes-Uilleann is a unique electronic uilleann bagpipes emulator that uses revolutionary technology resulting in a hyper-realistic experience in terms of sound quality, fingering and ornamentations. It thus affords the possibility of practising accurately in a variety of situations that would prove impractical or impossible with a real set of pipes.”

ORDERING CLOSES JAN 15 for FIRST RUN

We are pleased to announce that the vPipes-Uilleann is now available to order.

Many thanks to all for having demonstrated a ‘saintly’ patience.

You are finally able to enter the realm of hyper-realism with the vPipes-Uilleann.

The market price for the vPipes-Uilleann is 1,290 Euros (net of local taxes and delivery).

The special launch price has been maintained at 980 Euros (net of local taxes and delivery).

In order to be included in this launch, orders must placed before the 15th January 2010. Limited to 1 unit per person.

The period during which the vPipes can be reserved opens on 21/12/2009 and closes on 15/01/2010.

The vPipes Project Team

(Via www.vpipes.com – Read Full Article.)

Bagpipe Plugin:

The Soundbytes BagPipes is a sample based VST plugin instrument for the windows platform. Its elaborately crafted control engine makes it easy to play authentic sounding bagpipe styles and techniques.

This can be done using nothing but a simple MIDI keyboard with just basic modulator input through pitch bender and modulation wheel.

Use the BagPipes to play authentic parts with convincingly sounding ornaments, cuts, taps and staccato runs. A specially designed pipe filter adds yet another layer of realism to vibrato, fades and pitch slides.

Hurdy Gurdy Plugins:

The Soundbytes HurdyGurdy is a sample based VST synthesizer for the windows platform.
It recreates the sound and playing technique of the Hurdy Gurdy.

The very special character of the ancient Hurdy Gurdy sound was until now very difficult to emulate. Many of the instruments peculiarities are not well known and using a sampler it is rather difficult to reproduce the Hurdy Gurdy in a convincing way even to those who are familiar with the instrument.

(Via Soundbytes – Read Full Article.)

It is hosted by John Mulhearn and features tracks from Fred Morrison, Stuart Liddell and WAPOL pipe band and much more.

So make sure you tune in by going to http://www.planetpipe.com

The HBT1 Highland Bagpipe tuner is the most comprehensive bagpipe tuner available. Featuring 5 modes, including a metronome, the HBT1 tuner correctly displays the pitch of the chanter notes to harmonise with the drones while also displaying the note, frequency, calibration frequency and pitch position on a large LCD screen. It’s easy to use and fit’s in your sporran!

This is a short excerpt from the 8th century epic tale of BEOWULF. The instrument I am using to accompany myself is called a hurdy-gurdy , a popular instrument of medieval Europe. The hurdy-gurdy in this video was made for me by Alden and Cali Hackmann of Olympic Musical Instruments in Indianola, Washington, and is a fully equipped electro-acoustic instrument with a built-in sound console.

Hurdy-gurdy players, like bagpipe players, cannot control the volume of their instruments which makes it difficult to use for accompanying the human voice but the intensity and sheer volume of the instrument also made it ideal for great halls and public places in ancient times. One advantage that it has is that it is a complete instrument, able to play melody, harmony and rhythm.

The hurdy-gurdy in this video is plugged into an RSP Technologies Intelliverb processor which I control with a MIDI Ground Control foot switch. The only other instrument used in this video is a Moog Ethervox theremin.

The original Beowulf epic was written in Old English which is no longer spoken and cannot be understood by English speakers today. I used a modern adaptation of the words for this video. For anyone who is interested, I have posted the text to my website, along with some closeup photos of the hurdy-gurdy. You can also hear a stereo mp3 of the song just as it was performed, without the YouTube distortion.

SEAN FOLSOM-Cornemuse Bourbonais, French Bagpipes from BB Simmons on Vimeo.