Tea with Lord Lovat

September 2, 2009 on 7:04 pm by Michael Grey | In Pipe Bands, Solo Piping, Stories | 6 Comments

When I think of early September I think of the Northern Meeting in Inverness, Scotland. The grand daddy of all solo bagpipe competitions. It’s the number one event on the solo piper’s calendar; or, maybe more correctly, the solo piper with the most experience, the nimblest fingers and s/he amongst the select global one hundred and fifty or so pipers who aspire to `the medals`: the oldest, most venerable prizes offered in the Highland bagpipe world. Of all the indelible memories I have of times spent at the Northern Meeting none stand out more than the one not directly related to bagpipes: tea with Lord Lovat.
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It’s a Small Worlds After All

August 15, 2009 on 6:58 pm by Michael Grey | In News, Pipe Bands, Whinges | 7 Comments

BBC’s live streaming of today’s World Pipe Band Championships worked beautifully. In one marvelous effort the BBC has transformed, in one big-servered swoop, the perception of the the grand event as a need-to-be-there happening, at least for observers. A good set of speakers and high speed internet access provided any listener, anywhere, with at least as sound a listening post as those on the Green tenth row back from the ropes. To those who have never attended the event the broadcast has allowed a look-in to how things work and gives a fair representation to the scale of the event. To those pipe band zealots who have been (many times before, like me) and couldn’t attend, BBC’s magnanimity provided a fix that helped ease the angst of not being there.
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Lorient Cheese Nazi

August 4, 2009 on 2:55 pm by Michael Grey | In Pipe Bands, Stories | 6 Comments

Just as you should expect the music at the festival is superb. I’m still savouring the great tunes delivered by the first grade bagads at Saturday’s competition. It seems to me the best bagads play with a level of musicianship that exceeds even the best of pipe bands. It’s inspiring.
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The Worlds: Draw Me a Picture

July 21, 2009 on 5:58 pm by Michael Grey | In Pipe Bands, Whinges | 7 Comments

Another RSPBA head scratcher: how is it that the event at the World Pipe Band Championships that has the fewest entries (outside of the grade 4s) has a “qualifier”?
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Pipe Bands and youtube

July 7, 2009 on 10:31 am by Michael Grey | In Pipe Bands | Comments Off on Pipe Bands and youtube

Last Saturday I had a brief conversation with a well-known judge about pipe bands and the internet. We both agreed that the internet – and youtube.com in particular – is changing the way pipe bands are perceived. And its not just the punter’s perception but also that of judges and how they view a band’s capability. It’s a remarkable thing.
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Idiomatica

June 20, 2009 on 10:36 am by Michael Grey | In Music, Pipe Bands, Tips, Video | 6 Comments

Idiomatica. A bit of a poncie sort of self-conscious name for a medley, isn’t it. But what fun to say – and play. I feel confident saying that the Toronto Police Pipe Band had a great, if not challenging, winter of practice shaping this puppy up (as Pete Aumonier might say). And If anyone had any doubt about the degree of serious intensity most of the pipe band world takes pipe band music you only have to look to the internet. Yikes. Reading a sampling of the voracious and sometimes downright bitter opinion Idiomatica elicited made me think the Toronto Police Pipe Band might’ve had a cheerier response had we marched on the field and pulled a Sinead (publically rip up a photo of the Pope). Either that or offer the world the 7,864th medley that starts with a marchpipe. Continue reading Idiomatica…

Irony

May 30, 2009 on 7:13 pm by Michael Grey | In News, Pipe Bands, Whinges | Comments Off on Irony

Like a lot of you who happen to drop in I get most of my piping world news from pipesdrums.com. The Piping Live festival launch story really got me thinking – or annoyed, maybe that’s a better word (whinge alert).
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Smiling on the Judges

May 29, 2009 on 1:43 pm by Michael Grey | In Humour, Pipe Bands, Solo Piping, Stories, Tips | Comments Off on Smiling on the Judges

I am not a big fan of judging. I mean by that, that I don’t generally get a lot of heel-clicking, raise-your-glass glee out of judging, assessing, pipe band (or solo piping) competitions. Done well, judging, or “adjudicating”, takes great concentration – in fact, its damned hard work. Hats off to those who have for years undertaken the judging challenge with aplomb and undisputable fairness.
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A View of Pipe Band Ensemble

May 22, 2009 on 3:22 pm by Michael Grey | In Music, Pipe Bands, Tips | 2 Comments

A couple of weeks ago I attended the Pipers’ & Pipe Band Society of Ontario’s annual adjudicator’s seminar. The theme of the day was the always-befuddling topic, “pipe band ensemble”. As you should expect, there was lots of interesting discussion. I was pleasantly surprised to find that there was a high degree of dislike for the word “ensemble” – I’d never thought much of the word, either; in fact, it was a possible majority who thought the word could be replaced with something better.
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A Pipe Band for the Masses

May 18, 2009 on 5:56 pm by Michael Grey | In Music, Pipe Bands, Video | 5 Comments

Iain MacDonald passed along a youtube link at the end of the string of comments from the get-rid-of-the-über-boring-pipe-band-set post. Really, now. I think it deserves full front row centre treatment. It is marvelous.
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