Adventures in Judging Piping & Drumming (and a photo)

Aside from getting a front row seat to good music, the best part about travelling around the place judging pipers and drummers is the people you meet. At its heart a good pipe band is a social club and that goes, too, for the judging game. While judges in most places are compensated for expenses and receive a fee, most don’t sit in judgement for the money. Travelling to games usually involves some degree of tedium – a little traffic here, a crabby border agent there. Its new friends made and old friendships renewed that is the best part of judging (that and the always five star accommodation, of course).
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Among the Best Ever Piping Events in Ontario: The 43rd Livingstone Invitational

My first time attending the annual Livingstone Invitational piping contest was in 1980. Then I was a kid in senior amateur solo piping – “grade one”. Like now, I was a keener. Loved the piping. Like now, I thought I knew a lot more than I did. I was then taught by Bill Livingstone, Jr. – so likely had a sort of Livingstone bias: his Old Man – the founder of the gathering – was a great character, and, I have to say, I’m grateful to have known Bill, Sr. a little.
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John Wilson’s Finest Tune: Tom Kettles

In his autobiography, “A Professional Piper in Peace and War” (1979), John Wilson wrote that he considered his composition, the six-parted reel, Tom Kettles, his “finest composition”. It’s a technically tricky tune, full of interest – and original melody. As I’ve mentioned before, for me it straddles the line between hornpipe and reel, with maybe the reel vibe edging out that of the hornpipe by a hair. It’s a happy-sounding tune with a bright and lyrical – almost song-like – quality to it.
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Invented by pipers: Competition 2/4 Marches

Here’s a couple of tunes that number among my favourite: Inveran, made by one of the greatest pipers – dare I say musician – to ever live, George Stewart McLennan and Millbank Cottage by William Dumbreck, a man who held the title of Pipe Major in two regiments: The Black Watch and The Royal Scots.

This style of tune – intricate and heavily embellished with many technical figures – is a branch of pipe music that we can safely say was invented by pipers. Pipers love strathspeys but we know they were born of the fiddle. Jigs? Who knows but they likely sprung from any number of fiddlers, whistle-players and nimble singers of puirt à beul.
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MacCrimmon’s Sweetheart with Canntaireachd

A piece of music that is in the back pocket of most experienced players of piobaireachd is the tune, Maol Donn. Better known, maybe, as “MacCrimmon’s Sweetheart”. It’s a beautifully assembled composition that sits perfectly in a major key of the Great Highland Bagpipe’s tonal centre. In the context of piobaireachd composition, it’s a very old tune, likely composed in the early part of the 18th century, a golden age of piobaireachd creation. At around 12 minutes in length it’s just-right for an around-the-games sort of tune for competition.
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Antigonish 1996: Not all 3-pace rolls

Among my stash of digitised VHS video is a good few hours of footage from the Peel Regional Police Pipe Band of my time as Pipe Major. The band then – as it is today, it seems to me – was well-travelled. With the exception of my first season (Antigonish!) we hit the World Pipe band Championships in Glasgow every year. In fact, its amazing to say now, as I think back, we even managed to make trips to Scotland for championship contests TWICE in the same season (Ayr and Renfrew) – to be clear: the band travelled to Scotland twice in the same summer. The commitment from this group was remarkable. It doesn’t take much thinking to reflect on the sacrifice members (and their families) made financially. And, for that matter, its true, so many bands do today – though – I, wonder, as a by-the-way, if that is diminishing a little.
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Happy Birthday: Live your life and forget your age

In my usual January Glasgow itinerancy I happened to meet up this late afternoon for a catch-up with a Scots friend, in this case, young Callum Wyndd. Callum, you may know, is a real up-and-comer in the solo piping world and a person I came to know as a member of the Glasgow Police Pipe Band (as the band was then known).
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D R MacLennan: Solo piping innovation in 1928!

On the last day of the calendar year I offer a genuine curiosity: a recording of what is likely among the earliest recordings of the Great Highland Bagpipe played alongside other (non-bagpipe or percussion) instruments. This 78 RPM shellac (pre-vinyl) recording from 1928 stars a luminary from one of the great piping families of the last 200 years in Donald Ross (“D R”) MacLennan.
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John MacFadyen plays “A Flame of Wrath for Squinting Patrick”

Here’s another tune offering from the late John MacFadyen, the Donald Mòr MacCrimmon composition, Lasan Padruig Coagach, known to so many of us as, A Flame of Wrath for Squinting Patrick. A singularly wild tune with nothing quite like it in our current repertoire.
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Great Piping: P/M William “Billy” Gilmour

I’ve known about Billy Gilmour and his marvellous musical abilities for almost as long as I’ve been piping. Early on in my musical education I luckily found myself in the orbit of The 48th Highlanders of Canada. Through my lessons with my great first teacher, George Walker, I landed in the band – yes, for a little while, but a great while.
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