By Robert Wallace Central to the success of last night’s concert of pipe band music given by Simon Fraser University was the clarity and purity of sound from their pipes. Glasgow Royal Concert Hall rang with the timbre of their chanters, their perfect note intervals, the harmonic breadth of the drones. Had the band stood on stage for a couple of hours playing ‘Old MacDonald Had a Farm’ complete with…
By Robert Wallace One of the true pioneers of North American piping and pipe bands, Ed Neigh, has passed away aged 71. Though his death was sudden, his health in the past few years had not been the best. This, however, did not deter him from his piping, and he continued to teach both privately and at summer schools as long as he was able. Ed was also in constant demand as…
A couple of weeks ago I ran a piece lauding the organisers of the Chicago Highland Games for instituting concert formation for their band competition. The accompanying poll results can now be revealed. We asked the question ‘What do you think of the circle formation for band competition’. The results show an overwhelming majority in favour of change – a huge 88%. The response ‘Couldn’t be better; leave well alone’…
There are some pretty simple solutions the Competing Pipers’ Association could enact to solve the poor turnouts at our Highland games. I hope I am not overstating the problem, but when only handfuls of pipers are turning up at the likes of Taynuilt, Lochearnhead, Markinch, Luss, Tobermory, we need to do something. Inveraray, by contrast, can attract 35 for its B grade events, 27 for the C and a healthy entry for…
Robert Wallace: It is with sadness that I report the passing of Geoff Hore, Auckland, New Zealand, after a long illness. He had been suffering from motor neurone disease. In decades of collecting pipe music books Geoff, an NZ Gold Medal piobaireachd winner, had amassed a vast collection of works and there were very few editions he did not possess, some very rare. In the last few years he had…
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