James Rivers Does His Thing
There are plenty of bagpipers out there, but how many jazz musicians make the bagpipe a part of their repertoire? James Rivers was playing his heart out at the WWOZ Jazz Tent this afternoon. WWOZ is with you for all seven days of Jazz Fest 2008.
Bagpipe players must pipe down
Bands have been ordered to tone down or wear earplugs to limit the noise exposure.
Typically, a pipe band played at full volume peaks at 122 decibels outdoors, noisier than the sound of either a nightclub or a chainsaw, which rises to 116 decibels.
Master Gaita – Bagpipe fingering MIDI controller
Introduction:
Far from being a simple practice chanter, Master Gaita ® is a simple but powerful tool that lets to use the bagpipe fingering to get into and control the MIDI universe, and also to open new ways faced to the learning of bagpipe technique and music. When connected to a computer with its own program, you can, not only to play with any instrument’s sound but also perform with traditional bagpipes’ sound. This is done by using recorded and prepared samples to get a quite near reality sound. The control of the sound volume lets the performance at any time during the day without worring about posible disturbs that the bagpipe loud sound might produce.
The instrument is strongly made on a PVC tube with nine extremely sensitive tactile devices, so only the smooth contact of a finger resting on any of them is needed to activate them. A semi-rigid cable and a little plastic box make the chanter to get firm in a fixed and confortable position as if it were in its stock. A 2.5 meter long cable leaving the plastic box carries the MIDI singnals to the computer or sound module the Master Gaita is connected to.
WEBSITE
Bagpipe Players struggling with noise regulation
Bagpipers are being persecuted once again, here comes Culloden 2008 – Read the Article
Stay Tuned – Get Online
Get a website with a Vanity Domain for your Pipe Band or Personal
Bagpiping Site for only $30 a year.
Visit http://www.bagpiper.com/info/n-87/Web-Hosting.html for more
information
Bagpipe serenade tells Mom you love her
For $50, members of the Ogden Legion Pipe Band, dressed in full highland regalia, will visit a lucky Mom’s house on May 10 or 11 for a personal performance. They will also leave behind a rose and some chocolates for her to enjoy on her special day.
The Mother’s Day event is one of the main fundraisers for the decorated band, which was formed in 1972 as a Calgary area youth pipe band with members ages eight to 18 years. Sponsored by the Royal Canadian Legion, Ogden Branch No. 154 in southeast Calgary, the Ogden Legion Pipe Band has become a top-calibre band that competes nationally and internationally. It has been the Grade IV provincial champions for the past five consecutive years and has also won major awards and honours in Canada and Scotland.
Proceeds from the Mother’s Day Pipes and Roses event will help to send the Ogden Legion Pipe Band to Glasgow, Scotland, in August 2008 to compete in the World Pipe Band Championships.
To book a Mother’s Day piper, call 686-4488 or 464-7212. For more information about the Ogden Legion Pipe Band, visit its website at www.olpb.ab.ca.
April 16-Order of Play for Knockout Final
Piping
- Andrew Bonar
- Alastair Lee
- Jori Chisholm
- Colin Lee
Drumming
- Sarah McLatchy
- Grant Maxwell
CeltFest 2008 Events
Celtworld Dance! Spectacular
ROYAL THEATRE, Victoria July 5th
CeltFest SUMMER SCHOOL:
Piping, Drumming, Fiddling, all Celtic Music and Song:
July 6-11
Highland Dancing, Irish Dancing and Celtic Step Dance:
July 7-11
Sunset & Stars Gala Concert
PORT THEATRE, Nanaimo, July 12th
***Summer School***
REGISTRATION IS OPEN NOW!!!
Early bird discount deadline: April 16
Registration deadline: June 16 or until programs full
1-866-301-2358
UCR’s unique bagpipes and drum degree program beckons with top-notch directors
The bagpipe, that Rodney Dangerfield of the woodwinds, is finally getting some respect.
Since UC Riverside inaugurated its degree programs in bagpipes and Scottish drums last fall, the spindly, awkward, noisy instrument and its Highland cousin have been elevated to the highest academic status possible alongside the piano, cello and clarinet within its music department.
Three pipers and one drummer have enrolled in what may be the only program of its kind in the world where students can major in pipes or drums.
That’s a long way to come for an instrument that few appreciate and even fewer can play well.
Ian Whitelaw, arguably the best piper in the Western Hemisphere, wants to change that.
Whitelaw, the new pipe director at UCR, brings a lifelong love of piping and a passion for its history and culture to the position. Ditto drumming director Ed Best, who has been playing Scottish drums since he was 8.
Walter Clark, music department chairman, is convinced that once word is out that UCR has Whitelaw teaching bagpipes and Best teaching Scottish drums, people will flock to the fledgling program…
Reach Elaine Regus at 951-368-9478 or eregus@PE.com
Pipe band plans for an evening of Scottish song, dance
The Niagara Regional Police Pipe Band will host an evening of Scottish music and dance at the Royal Canadian Legion Branch 479 on Spring Street in Niagara Falls on April 12.
The show will run from 8 p.m. until midnight and will include two pipe band performances along with Scottish and Irish dancers. Food and refreshments will be on sale.
A deejay will round out the night’s entertainment with a performance.
Tickets are $20 a couple and are available at the legion or by calling Peter MacKenzie at 905-353-8771.T
Sovereign’s piper for a day
KILSYTH soldier Corporal Alastair Tripney (26) had the honour of playing in front of Her Majesty The Queen.
Pipers from the five regular battalions of the Royal Regiment of Scotland (SCOTS) played at the State Banquet during the visit of French President Nicolas Sarkozy to Windsor Castle. It is the first time that the Royal Regiment of Scotland has been given the honour to be the Sovereign’s Pipers at a state banquet.
The pipers had been rehearsing at the headquarters of the Army’s School of Bagpipe Music and Highland Drumming at Redford Infantry Barracks in Edinburgh where they marched in and around the headquarters to try and recreate the Windsor Castle setting prior to playing at the state banquet before Her Majesty The Queen and the French President.
Uilleann Workshop at the Music Room Sat April 12, 2008
TRADITIONAL sounds of the Emerald Isle will come to Cleckheaton tomorrow.
The Music Room will host a series of workshops with Becky Taylor, one of the few female exponents of the Uilleann, or Irish pipes, in England today.
Becky is a respected performer and teacher who has appeared at folk festivals in the UK and Europe for 20 years.
She will conduct workshops, perform her material and launch her second CD Ireland Bridge.
Becky is known for her ability to give a distinctive interpretation to traditional tunes on a variety of instruments: whistle, Uilleann pipes, fiddle, Northumbrian pipes and duet concertina.
The shop will be open all day as usual and there will be special offers including a book and CD sale.
Tony Dixon, whistle and flute maker, will arrive around noon with a full range of his instruments and
There will be a beginners’ workshop with Becky from 2pm to 3pm. Those who don’t have their own whistle can buy one at discounted price.
From 3.30pm to 4.30pm there is a Technique Toolbox workshop for more advanced players.
Workshops cost £10 each, with numbers limited to 10 participants for each session.
The workshop cost includes a free ticket to the launch party at 5pm.
This will feature a performance by members of Heretique, with the Music Room’s own Murray Grainger.
The Becky Taylor Band plays at 5.30pm and at 6.15pm there will be wine and food.
To book workshop places visit the shop or go to the Music Room website at www.themusicroom-online.co.uk and search for Whistle Workshop.
Alternatively contact Mark or Terry on 01274 852020.
The Music Room
St.John’s Works
St. John’s Place
Cleckheaton BD19 3RR
Tel +44 (0) 1274 879768
Duncan Johnstone Memorial Piping competition
The ninth Duncan Johnstone Memorial Piping competition was held at The National Piping Centre on 22 March 2008. The event which is run in partnership between the National Piping Centre and the Competing Pipers Association attracted a record entry of 57 competitors. Several of the adjudicators commented on the exceptionally high standard of playing. For full results see below.
Piobaireachd
MSR
- 1st. John Mulhearn
- 2nd. Jonathan Graham
- 3rd. Alen Tully
- 4th. Alasdair Henderson
- 5th. Gordon Bruce
- 6th. Keith Bowes
Jig
- 1st. Alasdair Henderson
- 2nd. Emma Buchan
- 3rd. Iain Ruari Finlayson
- 4th. Gavin Ferguson
- 5th. Jonathan Graham
- 6th. Michael Fitzhenry
Field Marshall Montgomery Quartet Recital
On Thursday 17th April we are pleased to welcome a quartet of pipers from world champions Field Marshall Montgomery to play at the National Piping Centre Recital Series.
This will be avery exciting evening of piping with them playing together and individually. So come along to hear the reigning world champions perform!
The event starts at 7.30pm and tickets ar £8 adults/ £6 concession. They are available from the shop at the National Piping Centre or by calling 0141 353 0220.
NPC Summer Schools
This year the National Piping Centre have added a third Summer School in Atlanta, Georgia to our USA programme.So the dates of the USA summer Schools are:
- Atlanta, Georgia – 15th – 20th June 2008
- Winchester,Virginia – 22nd – 27th June 2008
- Monterey, California – 28th June – 4th July 2008
Early Bird Booking Discounts are Available!!For more information go to: http://www.thepipingcentre.co.uk/schools/ We also are running the Summer School programme here at the National Piping Centre.The dates for these schools are Spring School: 7th -11th April (you can still sign up for this!)
- Summer School 1: 30th June – 4th July
- Summer School 2: 21st -25th July
- Summer School 3: 28th July – 1st August
- Autumn School: 13th – 17th October
More information about these schools is available from: http://www.thepipingcentre.co.uk/tuition/courses/seasonal-piping-schools/
Check out the 1940’s Henderson For Sale
For sale on the Bagpiper.Com Classifieds by a long time site member, Dan Greene
Peter Henderson pipes form mid 1940’s. Superior, robust Henderson tone. Fully refurbished, no cracks, warping, etc of any kind. Genuine ivory and silver of superior craftsmanship in Celtic pattern. Available as sticks only or with Moose bag, Kinnaird drone reeds (brand new), gold drone cords. No pipe chanter. Will ship in original wooden pipe box. Pics available on request – serious inquiries only please at phpipes@bellsouth.net
Morpeth Gathering – Chantry Bagpipe Museum
Highlights, reflecting this year’s special ‘Crossing Borders’ theme, include Friday evening’s gala concert with music from the Scottish and Welsh borders including Ceri Rhys Matthews, player of the intriguing Welsh bagpipe, and local Border ballads from Mike Tickell; Saturday’s pageant with Ellington Band, miners’ banners created by local schoolchildren, morris and rapper dance teams and the return of the Dodgy Clutch Theatre giant figure of much-travelled roguish Northumbrian piper Jamie Allan; a special film show on Bohemian bagpiping by American producer Jefe Brown who will be calling in en route between Prague and the United States; the afternoon battle based on a English Civil War skirmish from the Welsh border area (staged on both Saturday and Sunday); Saturday’s Barn Dance with the Castle Band and guests; and Sunday’s range of events to launch Morpeth’s year of activities commemorating the 500th birthday of William Turner, Father of English Botany culminating in a grand concert of Tudor music by costumed supergroup of the early music scene, The York Waits.
Read the entire article at Morpeth Herald
About the Morpeth’s Bagpipe Museum
Housed in Morpeth’s medieval Chantry buildings since 1987, the Bagpipe Museum his home to a unique collection , the foundation of which is the bagpipe collection of William Alfred Cocks (1892 – 1971), a clockmaker from Ryton, near Newcastle.
The pipes collection belongs to the Society of Antiquaries of Newcastle upon Tyne, and the Museum is supported by Castle Morpeth Borough Council.
Woman’s 90th birthday celebrated with family, bagpipe performance
Dolly Foster recently celebrated her 90th birthday with a family party at the Mary Spitzmiller home on Lorimier Street in Cape Girardeau. Foster has been a resident of Chateau Girardeau for eight years…
Bagpipe player George Gerules provided musical entertainment and honored Foster’s Scots-Irish heritage. Read entire article at SE Missourian Newspaper
Southern Branch Workshop (March 29-30, in Greenville SC) Cancelled
Southern Branch Workshop (March 29-30, in Greenville SC) –
“Unfortunately,the Southern Branch Workshop has been cancelled. If you were registered to attend, we will contact you directly concerning a refund. Please contact the hotel directly to cancel your room reservation as soon as possible.
Thanks for your support.”
Scottish Smallpipes by Kilberry on Sale
These are made in the key of A, by Kilberry Bagpipes of Edinburgh. The pipes have one bass drone, one baritone drone and one tenor drone, resulting in a lovely harmonic drone sound. They are mouthblown and are fitted with a maintenance free small synthetic bag. The pipes are made completely from black acetal (plastic) and overall produce an excellent tone. They are ideal for playing indoors on their own, or along with other instruments.They come complete with a smallpipe alloy finish carry case and are fully reeded and ready to play.Availability: normally 6 – 8 weeks,
