Dunaber Music

Irony

Like a lot of you who happen to drop in I get most of my piping world news from pipesdrums.com. The Piping Live festival launch story really got me thinking – or annoyed, maybe that’s a better word (whinge alert).
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Online Music Directory

I have a few hard copies of various tune directories.  They are all out of date, though the oldest is not more than ten years old.  Directories are handiest for tracking tune sources, but interesting reading, too, for getting a sense for the printed proliferation of any one particular tune.   According to Iain Millington’s “The Complete Bagpipe Tune and Drum Score Index” (Montreal: Concordia University, 1992) , the strathspey “Mony Musk” is available in no fewer than 35 printed sources.  Who knew?  I find that impressive number interesting, especially for a tune that is not hugely popular (though, for what it’s worth, one of my favourites to play in solo competition). Continue reading Online Music Directory…

Sign the “Save Strathclyde Police Pipe Band” Petition

From the land of brilliant thinkers like David Hume and Adam Smith we’re shocked yet again with another indescribably dunderheaded idea – and this within a week of last week’s judge-banning mess.  The narrow, inward-looking leadership of Strathclyde Police service, as most now know, have decided it makes jolly good sense for the fine people of Glasgow – and Scotland - to rip the heart out of one of the country’s greatest living cultural assets, the Strathclyde Police Pipe Band. Continue reading Sign the “Save Strathclyde Police Pipe Band” Petition…

Scotland’s Year of No’ Coming?

Like the rest of the pipe band world (minus the marketing maestros leading the Royal Scottish Pipe Band Association) I was pretty shocked to read that the international judging team was kicked off Scotland’s judging panel.   When the facts as we know them are laid out it’s impossible to understand the reason behind the decision. Continue reading Scotland’s Year of No’ Coming?…

Scotland the Loud

There’s an excellent book around, “How Scots Invented the Modern World“.  A good read.  The Scots also invented, among a long list of other things, the Great Highland Bagpipe (duh), whisky, curling and golf.  All seriously popular exports in most places I know, especially Canada.  I don’t get the curling thing so much, I have curled, and it’s sort of fun, but not a pursuit that makes me jump out of bed at the prospect of curling a game (or is it sweeping a game?). 
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Hope for a New Premier Grade Event

There was a time I was heavily involved in the administration of the Pipers’ & Pipe Band Society of Ontario.  Bigtime involved.  Vice-President of the Toronto Branch when I was 18, President at 19.  Can you imagine!  What a presumptuous little brat I must’ve been (or am, depending on who you ask). 
Continue reading Hope for a New Premier Grade Event…

Oliver Schroer

Oliver Schroer died yesterday.  A sad day.  We do have his music.  You can experience some of it here.  RIP

M.

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 New Hornpipe: “Sliding into Colintraive” (Score & Sound File)

Yet another tune from the fifth book, “Music for Everybody”; this time, “Sliding into Colintraive“. This hornpipe is the kind of tune my great teacher, the Aberdonian, George Walker, would call, “hillbilly music”. To George, anything uptempo and easily played on the fiddle would usually fall under the hillbilly category. I remember playing what I could at one Toronto Knock-out final: lots of Cape Breton reels to finish – lots of sweat. George was there and came by as I was putting the pipes away, “Ach, metty, fine playin’ but all that hillbilly music!”
Continue reading A New Hornpipe: “Sliding into Colintraive” (Score & Sound File)…

La Dolce Bagpipes

It may be a freakish 25 degrees in Southern Ontario today but I know summer is well and truly over.  The leaves are turning colour (and filling my backyard awaiting my raking pleasure) and days – sadly – are so much shorter. 
Continue reading La Dolce Bagpipes…