Lance Corporal McCaskill had just finished his half hour performance and I turned to Jimmy Banks and Jimmy turned to me and Finlay Johnston turned to him and we all agreed what a joy it was to hear a live bagpipe. The occasion was this week’s Army Pipe Major’s Course Passing Out where we three were the panel. It was the first time in many months we had heard pipes…

How good it feels to have something positive to report! The news that Piping Live! 2021 is to go ahead will be welcomed by everyone keen on clawing back some of the lost ground piping has suffered in the past year. Finlay MacDonald and his NPC team are leading the way in getting us back to where we once belonged. So as the blurb says: Save the Date! The festival…

Bruce Gandy made the point to me when he was playing for the Piobaireachd Society the other night that it doesn’t cost much to upgrade video and sound recording equipment – and for those competing online it was well worth the investment. Bruce had done so, and his performance of Jimmy McIntosh’s Salute to Andrew Carnegie was beautiful, and clear as a bell. If you have an old computer with…

I have it on good authority that that oldest of bagpipe dodges, the two-drone dodge, is being regularly employed by doubtful dodgers in online contests! This dodgy practice is easily done. Shut off one drone; start your video submission; hoist the pipes, 30 second pretendy three drone tune and off you go, drones seemingly in tune, judges none the wiser. But I say this to competitors: don’t be a dodger….