Dunaber Music

Music-making Advice

My friend (and electronic music-maker) Mikael Hansson just passed me a quote that I absolutely love. 

So, some fantastic advice from Brian Eno, the “father of modern ambient music” and co-producer of the good U2 stuff:

“Play more things that make me dance around and less things that make me sit and look miserable in a plastic chair”

Yes, please.

M.

Pipe Band Circles are So Square

I’ve been going on for ages now about the standard competitive pipe band performance configuration, “the circle“.  This arrangement makes no sense to me.  Yeah, everyone can see the hands of the person leading the band, and that helps unison and timing of rhythmic transitions, but what about the many and varied down sides, the good reasons not to perform in a circle?
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A Jig, “Jenny Hazzard”: Score & Sound File

I’ve had a couple of notes from people looking for “more jigs”.  So for the jig hounds here is a 4-parted 6/8 jig, “Jenny Hazzard”, from “Old & New Tunes“, published 1995.   I’ve played this in solo jig competitions with success and I’m pretty sure Peel Police Pipe Band played a couple of parts in a competition medley when I was PM in the mid 90s. 
Continue reading A Jig, “Jenny Hazzard”: Score & Sound File…

A Great Spirit

When I decided to start making recordings that went beyond a capella bagpipes a lot of good musical things started happening.  One of the best?  The chance was created to work with other, non-bagpipe musicians.  One of the first musicians - and best - that I’ve worked with is fiddler and violin-playing maestro, Oliver Schroer.
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A Huge Part of Pipe Band Ensemble

There seems to be a fair bit of upset these days about a ruling that came to be as a result of a vote at the recent Annual General Meeting of the Royal Scottish Pipe Band Association.  Apparently members in attendance voted to remove the “best bass section” prize from the list of those awarded at major pipe band championships.   The upset appears to be coming mainly from bass and tenor drummers caught off-guard by the rule change.  Like most meetings of this kind attendance was reportedly sparse and a poor representation of general membership.  What transpired is a good reminder for next year’s meeting:  turn up if you want a voice.  I have to admit, to be fair, that not turning up at an AGM never stopped me from crabbing about what I viewed was an ill-conceived rule or policy change.
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Be Open to Something New (Also Score & Sound File: “The Oyster Wives’ Rant”)

In honour of St Patrick’s Day, a quote from the great Irish novelist, Jonathan Swift:
Continue reading Be Open to Something New (Also Score & Sound File: “The Oyster Wives’ Rant”)…

A Competition Strathspey: “The Blue Heron” (Score & Sound File)

This tune comes from my third collection of tunes, “Old & New Tunes” (1995). The Blue Heron is a competition-style strathspey.  Continue reading A Competition Strathspey: “The Blue Heron” (Score & Sound File)…

A New March: “The Valley Train” (Score & Sound File)

Here’s a very simple 3/4 march you may find interesting, “The Valley Train”, another tune from my fifth book. I should really have called it “The Dundas Valley Train”. That might’ve made the title a little more specific, a little more accurate, a little more meaningful - you know, the markers of good composition!
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Plato Knew Music

I came across this quote recently; it comes from Book III of Benjamin Jowett’s translation of Plato’s Republic.  It speaks to the fraternity of musicians, and, of course, the fraternity of pipers.  It makes a person feel good about a lifetime study of music.  Like a perfectly tuned low A against a vintage set of sonorous MacDougalls: it resonates: 
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A New Jig: “Well Away” (Score & Sound File)

I knew I’d been away too long from these pages when it took me 20 minutes to track down the once-memorized dunaber login and password. Thanks to the notes on my trusty Blackberry: found. Continue reading A New Jig: “Well Away” (Score & Sound File)…