Dunaber Music

Just as I Would’ve Played It

July 18, 2010 on 4:42 pm by Michael Grey | In Music, Pipe Bands, Solo Piping, Tips | No Comments

A while back I was going on about how I thought most of us go about listening to music – specifically, bagpipe music. My ramble was around how we should try and get over the discomfort we feel (that’s the delicate way of putting it) when we hear musical interpretations outside of what we’re used to hearing – or playing.
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Bring on the Giraffes: Blair Drummond

July 5, 2010 on 8:28 pm by Michael Grey | In Music, Pipe Bands, Solo Piping, Stories | 2 Comments

Have you ever considered, thought about, reflected on, what pipe tune you may’ve have played the most in your life? What melody you, as a piper – or, as an accompanist, a drummer – have played more than any other? Have wiggled your fingers, twisted your wrists, and aimed to be true to the score of more than any other that was ever written? I have. And my burned-on-the-brain, firmly committed-to-muscle-memory, impaled-on-the-hard-drive? Well, here’s a hint: it’s the name of a Scottish “safari park”.
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Poetic Passion

June 10, 2010 on 4:23 pm by Michael Grey | In Music, Pipe Bands, Solo Piping | No Comments

A thought today, just as we enter the fray of the sometimes twisted piping/pipe band “music season”:
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The Captain (and Me)

May 9, 2010 on 5:04 pm by Michael Grey | In Photographs, Solo Piping, Stories, Tips | 2 Comments

Colin MacLellan sent along a few photos this week. All have become instant treasures. Colin was in town this weekend and while the memory is still fresh (in a hazy sort of way) of me seeing him the last away at 4:30 this morning following a post-competition party, I pass it along here.
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A Smart Ashes’ Prediction

May 4, 2010 on 7:26 pm by Michael Grey | In News, Pipe Bands, Solo Piping, Stories | 3 Comments

The Icelandic ash thing ain’t going away. I wonder how news that makes headlines like today’s “Ash cloud set to close Scottish airspace” will affect the overseas attendance of pipers and pipe bands at the late summer competitions in Scotland?
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Play the Sweet Music (You Like)

May 2, 2010 on 5:10 pm by Michael Grey | In Music, Pipe Bands, Solo Piping, Tips | Comments Off

I was driving to band practice this morning and happened on a really interesting interview on the radio.
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Nuts

April 27, 2010 on 5:56 pm by Michael Grey | In Humour, Pipe Bands, Solo Piping, Tips | Comments Off

The tip of the day:
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So You Want to Compete at the Big Games

March 28, 2010 on 6:14 pm by Michael Grey | In Music, Solo Piping, Video | 4 Comments

Thanks to the recent purchase of a video-to-digital box I’ve been able to post some ancient video. This particular sample presents as a fine demo of what it’s really like to compete at a big outdoor contest – in this case, The Argyllshire Gathering, Oban, Scotland. While this comes from 1991 (gulp) things haven’t changed and what you see is what you get.
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Allemande Left (Nod to the Judge)

March 7, 2010 on 9:18 am by Michael Grey | In Solo Piping, Tips | 5 Comments

Last night’s final of the Toronto Branch of the Pipers’ & Pipe Band Society of Ontario’s amateur knock-out was a first-class event. The morning after listening to a dozen excellent amateur pipers go through their paces got me to thinking. OK. I was thinking about this last night, but I’m still thinking about it this morning.
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10 Favourite Musical Memories of the Noughts

December 29, 2009 on 9:18 pm by Michael Grey | In News, Pipe Bands, Solo Piping, Stories | Comments Off

Yikes. Its two days to 2010. Cliché alert: it seems like yesterday … we were all freaking out about the apocalyptic possibilities of a new millennium. Then, as now, I was working in the technology field and clearly recall being assigned a “war room” shift. For those not familiar with the tech business staple of system recovery, the “war room” is a small group of multi-skilled people charged with restarting failed computer systems. I was the scribe of the group (an important role, of course). With black marker at the ready I was set to record the crashing systems and falling sky. Continue reading 10 Favourite Musical Memories of the Noughts…

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