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------Est. 1980 Glasgow city centre's oldest bagpipe shop------
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Newsletter - June 2011
Dear Piping Enthusiast,
Trust you are well and your pipes are easy,
comfortable and a pleasure to play. Your bagpipe should give a full sound
similar to that of a pipe organ - compare your drones to that of the
organ's pipes. If you are not achieving organ status, then please give us
a call and we can see what needs to be done. We have had the first major
outdoor event at Dumbarton -see my field report below. We are also at the
planning stage for the next Piping Live! event in Glasgow and as in the
previous two years, we will be at the Marquee outside the National Piping
Centre on Tuesday 9th August, followed by two workshops in our Bath Street premises at 3 p.m. on Thursday 11th and Friday 12th. We will be demonstrating
how bags and pipes are all made by hand and will have some nice ladies
serving wine and nibbles. You will be made most welcome on what is sure
to be a party occasion.
Yours aye,
James C. Begg
www.beggbagpipes.com
News
 I played recently at the
RGI - The Royal Glasgow
Institute of the Fine Arts where Mr. Gordon Macpherson, the
renowned piper and sheriff officer is the President. This was part of
their celebrations on the occasion of their 150th anniversary. Attending
the event was Scotland’s Makar (Scots
for poet or bard), Liz Lochhead, in her role as Honorary RGI. The poet is
pictured with a rare sculpture by long-serving RGI, George Wyllie (89),
at the RGI Kelly Gallery in Glasgow. The sculpture ‘Canary with Foot
Stuck in Girder’ has rarely been exhibited and is unusual in that it is
part of George Wyllie’s personal collection, created by the artist as a
gift for his late wife Daphne. Also on display was archive material
stretching back to the founding of the Institute on 29 May 1861, when a
group of Glasgow businessmen and artists decided to establish annual
exhibitions to showcase the work of living artists.
We also shortly have the film crew from the TV hit
show The Xtra Factor doing some filming on Begg Bagpipes so we'll keep
you posted as to when that goes out on air. More on this next month along
with a report on my outing at a local gala with the band of 1st Lenzie
Company of the Boys' Brigade - the BB have done so much for piping and
drumming over the years.
There was some great feedback on last month's tune by
the talented Mr. Willie Cochrane - it's interesting how simplicity in
tunes is so attractive when mixed with a strong melody and flair.
Innerleithen plays host to the 10th Annual
Innerleithen Pipe Band Championships on Saturday 18th June
2011 at Vale of Leithen Football Park, Innerleithen. Bruce Hamilton,
President of the St Ronan's Piping Society who are organising the event,
said “We are all looking forward to this special event with it being our
10th Anniversary. Let's hope the weather is on our side to
make it a really good day". http://www.stronanspipingsociety.org/
A-Z of Piping - a Personal View by James C. Begg
K is for Keep Playing and Keep the Tradition
So in 2011 is piping live and well or has it been
altered by the modern world? It is hard to answer but piping may be in
danger from opening up too much to the wider world of commerce and losing
its heritage and folklore. Admittedly, the internet and downloads are a
boon to lots of people all over the world. However, we are losing the
published books a little due to the economics of the situation - why
produce a book which costs the composer time and money if there are no
profits in it? Perhaps this more or less has always been the case since I
didn't see Donald MacLeod or Duncan Johnstone running about with Havana cigars and Aston Martins (maybe the odd cheroot and a Whyte and MacKay, but just
the one!). So without a strong economic argument, we never-the-less still
have books being produced like Allan MacDonald's Book 2 and that of
Stuart Samson's new book which will be released in August. These are
produced I suspect mainly at the composers' expense to get their
compositions recognised and will be assisted by modern technology - to these
stalwart composers and their computers, we should all be eternally
grateful - without printed books, piping would undoubtedly be the poorer
for it.
Technical Academy - Setting the Pipe Chanter Reed
This takes a lot of care. If the reed sounds too high
pitched or sharp, this can be altered by raising the reed slightly
upwards in the reed seat. Keep adjusting the reed until you think you
have adjusted it correctly. You are looking for a balance between the
high A and the low A and we can use the tenor drone reed as a check too.
When you feel the As are sound, test the E next and double check that the
remaining notes are in sync too. Perhaps use a tune like the Skye Boat
Song that uses most of the notes on the chanter. To sharpen a reed, lower
it in the chanter - the opposite to flattening it. The reed must fit
securely in the chanter. So when you apply smooth hemping, it helps the
fit but also stops the reed being off centre. The reed does not perform
well if it is directly in contact with the edges of the reed seat at the
bottom of the staple where the staple makes contact with the blackwood.
Smooth hemping will stop air escaping through the
chanter and also prevent the reed falling accidentally fall into the bag.
Experience is required in reed set up and perhaps joining a band may be
an good idea as tone is one a band's main pre occupations. Don't play a
reed that is too stiff for you - this tends to happen to an early
learner. The opposite is true as well in that too weak a reed will result
in poor sound quality and give little pleasure.
Field Report -
Scottish Championships
So it was the 1st major contest of the season and for
those who are not aware, there are 5 major contests interspersed with
other games. These 5 championship contests attract bands from far afield
and the overall points gained from each one count towards the Champion of
Champions award -basically the best performing band over the season. It's
a highly sought
after award but some potential winners unfortunately can't participate in
all 5 events due to their own geographic location so the World
Championships are still the Jewel in the Crown for many. So off I
trooped to Dumbarton on the Clyde estuary knowing it may be wet -however
the morning started well and I was lulled into false sense of security as
early morning in Glasgow was fine and sunny. For once, the weather
forecasters were right and what a shocking day it turned out to be. The
massed bands were cancelled and crowds were to say the least somewhat
thin on the ground - how bandsmen can play in these conditions is truly
admirable and definitely shows the extent of the passion that they have
(photo is of Grade 2 Williamwood wisely turned out with capes and showing
good promise). I listened to grade 2 and the wide variety of tone and the
diversity of the standard from top to bottom was quite surprising - quite
a big gap in my opinion. Some bands overdid the harmonies - drummers did
not always connect to the pipers -almost like 2 different sections and
medleys seemed so disjointed on occasions. It was also strange why a lot
of bands played in shirt sleeves when it was hardly sub-tropical. It
struck me that a lot of bands were erratic in some departments but I'm
being a bit unkind as the weather was so bad. It proved difficult for the
judges too - umbrellas were order of day but why someone could not hold
the brolly for them didn't quite add up either - surely this simple step
would have helped them concentrate on the job in hand. With some bands
having over £100,000 of clothing and instruments absolutely soaked, it
may be time for a review of event locations and dates. On to grade 1 -msr
this time and it was very hard for all concerned under these conditions.
I liked Inveraray and District and they presented a refreshing choice of
tunes. Although the band has a great sound, it maybe still hasn't quite
got the oomph/sparkle that gives it the "Gosh, listen to that"
factor. A lot of bands selected John Morrison of Assynyt House as their
reel and whilst it is a great tune, the weather compounded the natural
difficulty of the tune itself. Scottish Power came in third and as I
suggested in the last newsletter, this is a band that will challenge
strongly in future for top honours. Fife Police are improving all the
time and came is 6th. Winners were the Field Marshall followed by the
O'Tooles, with Boghall 4th and Inveraray 5th. Most of these leading
pipers were on a Begg sheepskin bag and I was naturally delighted with
the outcome. The event itself was well organised, with the local council
and their huge resources delivering another success for the RSPBA.
Online Special
Offer -
15%
OFF ALL CHANTER AND DRONE REEDS
Prices shown on website are before the 15% discount -
discount will be applied after ordering.
YouReport
If you would like to report on any aspect of the Piping World from
wherever you live, we'd be pleased to hear from you. mailto:bill@beggbagpipes.com
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