Dunaber Music

Bring on the Giraffes: Blair Drummond

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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5 Seminal Moments in Pipe Band History

The trouble with trying to nail down a seminal moment is you can only really choose from your own experience – moments you’ve lived through – or – imagine past “moments” in history and choose accordingly. Either way, in picking important moments in time, no matter how thoughtful and reflective you think you’ve been, it all comes down to opinion. And we all know the world needs more of that.

In this list I’ve stayed away from competition winning streaks; I’m not sure record-breaking fits in that well with the definition I’m using: those moments that might be defined as “highly original and influencing the development of future events”.

So here’re my five “seminal” moments; I haven’t cast them in stone, of course, and these could all change tomorrow:
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5 Things that Revolutionized the Pipe Band

I was building a list in my big square head – perfect, I thought, to note here: “Seminal Moments in Pipe Band History”. Anyway, as I started thinking and writing I found two lists developing: “inventions” and “moments”. My “seminal moments” sit in a draft file, the easier list is here. So here, I suggest, are five of the most important inventions, or developments, that went a long way to make the modern pipe band the impressive thing that it is today.
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The Captain (and Me)

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

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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Fleshmarket Close (Glad It’s Not Trad)

Of all the tunes I have built the one that gives me the most copyright grief is “Fleshmarket Close”. This tune wasn’t two years old and it appeared on a recording, a vinyl recording, with the dreaded “public domain/traditional” note. I won’t bother mentioning the offending parties – but it was not a bagpipe group. It was a “folk” band. Anyway, the cool part – especially thinking about it today – was the vinyl record bit of the story.
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Oldtime Maxville

I’ve had this ripped page from a really old magazine ad hanging around my desk for ever – on my handy magnetic bulletin board, to be precise. I don’t know about you but I tend to put stuff up on the fridge or the bulletin board and have every intention of “doing something with it”. Clippings, photos, ticket stubs, all kinds of bits and bobs, I set it aside and the only thing that happens is I forget about it all – and corners curl from age (kinda like pipers). I can’t remember where this particular bit of paper came from. Maybe someone gave it to me. It looks like it came from Popular Mechanics or a mag of similar dimensions. But it’s kind of interesting. So, here’s me doing something with it.
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Google Me a Picture

I sometimes find Google’s search prompt annoying. It can be a distraction when I’m impatiently on the hunt for some bit of info. It’s way too easy to get drawn in to other lines of thinking, other searches and subject matter. Looking for a new Indian restaurant? Well before you know it you’ve got “indian names”, “indian consulate” and “indian railways”. Too many interesting prompts and challenges for my modest attention span. The prospect of a tasty new palak paneer dish just has to wait while I’m whisked away to some helpful, yet unplanned, visit to completely unconnected websites. Who knew that the Indian railway system carries 18 million passengers a day? Not me – until today.
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CBC Radio One Interview

An excerpt from a piece produced by CBC Radio’s Aparita Bhandari. Broadcast January 25, 2010.
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A Good Reed Soaking is What You Need

My first email of the day was a seriously laugh-out-loud experience. I mean LOL in the real sense. Not just the sort of thing we all do when we often send a sort of nondescript note or text and add “LOL”: “I backed out of the driveway today and nearly hit the neighbour’s cat LOL”. Well, I’m sure you wouldn’t write that, but I know you get my gist.
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