Author: Robert Wallace

Editor’s Notebook: Piping’s Poor Show/ Willie Ross/ Piping Live/ Controversy of Pipers

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Chatsworth Games in the south have now been officially called off, organisers citing Boris Johnson’s four-week delay to ‘Freedom Day’ as the reason. There will be no band or solo contests in England this year. Here, the authorities in Inverness have confirmed that ‘Under Canvas’, an outdoor summer music festival co-curated with Fèis Rois, will run from 1 July – 30 September, providing ‘a three-month programme of music on the…

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Editor’s Notebook: Alasdair Takes a Break/ School’s Piping Lessons/ Donald Main/ 1976 Results

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The late, great Alasdair Gillies takes a seat on the competition platform while warming up at a games in the US. I was always impressed with his finger positioning. Perfect. Look at the bottom hand. Thumb exactly where it should be, between fore and middle fingers. Top hand digits beautifully aligned. And no, the pinkie is not touching the chanter, though the camera angle makes it seem so. Posture relaxed,…

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Editor’s Notebook: RSPBA Latest/ D McD Cuach/ NZ Piping Centre/ Seumas’s Citadel/ John Cruickshank VC/ Brisbane Contest

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Well done to Walter MacGregor and Nigel Greeves, RSPBA directors, for jildying up their colleagues about the inaction over any sort of pipe band summer programme. They let loose at last month’s Association Board Meeting. According to the minutes just published: ‘W MacGregor informed the Board that the London and South England Branch had held its third online solo competition with over 100 performances, reporting it had been a great…

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Be a Better Piper: Big Bore Blowsticks Do Not Cause Bad Blowing

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One of our readers in Sweden has pointed out an article which appeared somewhere on the internet in which the writer complained of an increasing prevalance of bad blowing among amateur and lower grade band players. He blamed the problem on the growing popularity of wide bore blowsticks. I’m afraid this analysis defies logic. By The Editor The purpose of the wide bore blowstick is to facilitate the flow of…

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Editor’s Notebook: George Stoddart and the Edinburgh Tattoo/ Piping Live/ Chanter Mate/ Solo Contests

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Another great disappointment of this summer, particularly for tourists, is the cancellation of the Edinburgh Tattoo, largely because of the lack of insurance cover. It set me on a rake through the PP archive and I discovered an interesting cutting from the Scotsman newspaper from August 1970. It features P/M George Stoddart, the Tattoo’s first ‘Lone Piper’. It reads: ‘Back with the old crowd is George Stoddart, for many years…

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