Category: Reviews

Review: Grade 2 at the 2017 British Pipe Band Championships

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This summary of the performances at the Grade 2 British Championship follows last week’s prelim piece from our Special Correspondent. Here he gives us his thoughts on a hard-fought Grade 2 contest last Saturday at Paisley…. From Arena 4, the one nearest the motorway and the airport take off path. Brightening sky with the earliest contests facing rain just an hour or so earlier. During the grade the clouds ebbed and flowed,…

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Review: The 2017 British Pipe Band Championships Grade 1 Performances

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One of the first rules of journalism is ‘be there’ and if you want to give a detailed and accurate, albeit subjective, account of an important pipe band contest then that is exactly what you have to do. No amount of social media chatter, summary sheet perusal or YouTube re-runs is in any way a substitute to actually positioning yourself at a suitable coign of vantage and listening and watching the…

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P/M Robert Mathieson and the History of Shotts & Dykehead Caledonia Pipe Band

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The highlight of World’s Week this year will be the concert ‘Rise’ to be given by the 2015 World Champions, Shotts & Dykehead Caledonia Pipe Band (above). To set the scene, and help everyone appreciate the history of this iconic band, we are running an interview from eight years ago when they celebrated their centenary. Editor Robert Wallace is in conversation with the then Shotts P/M Robert Mathieson, now a…

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Review of the ‘Pipers Meeting’ by Dr Jack Taylor and Patrick Molard

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The launch of this book has had an impressive impact: inclusion in the Piobaireachd Society (PS) conference programme isn’t surprising, though nonetheless very welcome, but it was great to have significant coverage on the BBC’s ‘Pipeline’ programme. The Campbell Canntaireachd manuscript (CC) is the oldest known collection of piobaireachd, written in vocables, a system for presenting the music in words (not in staff notation), reflecting the teaching of ceol mor…

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Two Days At the Highlands & Islands Festival – Second Instalment

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To the contest the following day where I was asked to adjudicate the P/A Piobaireachd and B MSR with Iain MacFadyen. It is always a great pleasure working with Iain and the long hours spent concentrating on the performances seems to fly in. Iain has done so much for piping, turning out so many fine players and judging at the highest level; he sets an example for us all. Only…

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