New Pipe Sergeant at NZ’s Auckland & District/ Award for Lorient’s Lisardo

Auckland and District Pipe Band (A&D) have announced the appointment of Dunedin-based Scott Marshall to the role of Pipe Sergeant, writes Helen Keir ‘It is very humbling to be considered for a leadership role in the band and I look forward to continue building on the approach taken by Adam Michie and Louise Bentley to producing a quality sound and an enjoyable playing environment,’ said Scott.   Scott began piping as…

Be a Better Piper: When Choosing a Bagpipe, It is Vital that You Get it Right

Forget the house or the car. The most important decision a piper has to make is in the instrument he/she buys. Get it wrong and face years of wasteful and expensive plumbing trying to make something out of a very bad situation. Get it right, and you can have hours of musical satisfaction from an instrument that is easy to reed, steady, and an all round pleasure to play. In…

Editor’s Notebook: Pipes Difficulty/ Muirheads Articles/ Paddy Moloney/ Jim Murdock/ John MacLellan Recital

In a recent poll covered in the national press the pipes came on top as the hardest instrument of all to play. The order given was 1 Bagpipes 2 Piccolo 3 French horn 4 Violin 5 Oboe 6 Flute 7 Cello 8 Accordion 9 Organ and 10 Drums. I’m not sure who conducted this survey or what the criteria were, but it seems spurious to me – no mention of…

Donald Morrison Archive: How ‘Donald, Willie and His Dog’ Got Its Name

This article from Donald’s archive is from the Oban Times newspaper. No date is given but it is believed to be from the 1970s. A few weeks ago when reporting on the Northern Meeting competitions [writes their piping correspondent] I speculated on the name of Donald Morrison’s jig ‘Donald, Willie and His Dog’. The name fascinated me in the same way as Willie Ross’s tune ‘The Old Ruins’ did after…

2021 Nicol-Brown Amateur (USA) Results

This was an online competition held on October 9. Overall Champion1 Stuart Marshall, receives MacCallum Pipe Chanter and $1000 travel expenses2 Jessica Bain3 Callum Bevan4 Henry Paluch5 Trevor DeMass Piob1 Callum Bevan, Corrienessan’s Salute (receives a bound volume of the Piobaireachd Society Collection)2 Trevor DeMass, Lament for the Viscount of Dundee3 Stuart Marshall, MacLeod’s Salute4 Jessica Bain, Piper’s Warning5 Scott Long, Caber Feidh gu Brath MSR1 Henry Paluch, receives engraved…