Pibroch Piobaireachd

April 3, 2009 on 10:17 am by Michael Grey | In Music, Solo Piping, Tips, Whinges | 4 Comments

We know there’s politics everywhere. And, when given the option, the way we choose to spell words is no exception. A Canadian, say, living in the United States, might exert quiet subversion by hanging on to Canadian spelling of any number of words. A note to his boss might read, “…followed up on the neighbourhood initiative; successful in addressing the signage colour controversy; local employees in good humour…”. That Canuck is implicitly saying to his American boss, “I’m Canadian, I’m not like you, I spell bigger, better…”. He’s also implicitly proclaiming to his boss he’s an asshole. But that’s a tangent of a different colour.
Continue reading Pibroch Piobaireachd…

Aberdeen

March 20, 2009 on 2:46 pm by Michael Grey | In Humour | Comments Off on Aberdeen

I found this while doing a file clean-up. Funny.
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A Fresh Look at Delivering a Clean Performance

March 15, 2009 on 9:39 am by Michael Grey | In Humour, Pipe Bands, Solo Piping, Tips | Comments Off on A Fresh Look at Delivering a Clean Performance

The Swedish golder, Henrik Stenson, stole some of the shimmering glow around Tiger Woods’ return last week. You’ve probably seen the story, a quirky breath of fresh air amongst all the gloomy stuff. From Reuters, “Stenson’s wayward drive on the third hole landed in muddy terrain near a water hazard and he decided to get down to basics rather than play the rest of his round in muddy clothes”.
Continue reading A Fresh Look at Delivering a Clean Performance…

Back Pipes

March 13, 2009 on 5:58 pm by Michael Grey | In Stories, Whinges | 2 Comments

For the last month or so I have been cursed with a “bad back”. I’ve never experienced anything like it. Pain-a-rama. It started on February 16th, “Family Day”, a precious mid-winter holiday here in the province of Ontario, and has, ever so slowly, and almost without mercy, improved.
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Booze and Bands

March 3, 2009 on 5:50 pm by Michael Grey | In Music, Pipe Bands, Solo Piping, Stories | 2 Comments

I happened across a really interesting radio show over the Christmas holidays. The virtuoso Celtic flautist, Chris Norman, hosted an hour-long documentary on CBC radio (“The Pure Drop”) – all devoted to the deep (and evidently real) connection of alcohol and Celtic music-making. He travelled all over the place and interviewed loads of people who unanimously supported Chris’s contention that booze and jigs, to put it crassly, went beyond stereotype. Continue reading Booze and Bands…

Tam O’Shanter Suite

February 23, 2009 on 9:12 pm by Michael Grey | In Music, Pipe Bands, Solo Piping, Stories, Video | 8 Comments

To this day the “Tam O’Shanter Suite” has been one of my most interesting and challenging projects.  The recording here, from “Shambolica!” and tarted up visually for youtube, was the first track I tackled when going about making the Shambolica! project happen.  The whole “Tam O’Shanter” experience (meaning my efforts to create this track) tapped in to over 30 musicians and two different studios.  In the end there were nine of us – and the track all recorded in one studio.  Continue reading Tam O’Shanter Suite…

Online Music Directory

February 20, 2009 on 6:44 pm by Michael Grey | In Music, News, Tips | 10 Comments

I have a few hard copies of various tune directories.  They are all out of date, though the oldest is not more than ten years old.  Directories are handiest for tracking tune sources, but interesting reading, too, for getting a sense for the printed proliferation of any one particular tune.   According to Iain Millington’s “The Complete Bagpipe Tune and Drum Score Index” (Montreal: Concordia University, 1992) , the strathspey “Mony Musk” is available in no fewer than 35 printed sources.  Who knew?  I find that impressive number interesting, especially for a tune that is not hugely popular (though, for what it’s worth, one of my favourites to play in solo competition). Continue reading Online Music Directory…

Sign the “Save Strathclyde Police Pipe Band” Petition

February 18, 2009 on 7:48 pm by Michael Grey | In Music, News, Pipe Bands, Stories | 6 Comments

From the land of brilliant thinkers like David Hume and Adam Smith we’re shocked yet again with another indescribably dunderheaded idea – and this within a week of last week’s judge-banning mess.  The narrow, inward-looking leadership of Strathclyde Police service, as most now know, have decided it makes jolly good sense for the fine people of Glasgow – and Scotland - to rip the heart out of one of the country’s greatest living cultural assets, the Strathclyde Police Pipe Band. Continue reading Sign the “Save Strathclyde Police Pipe Band” Petition…

Scotland’s Year of No’ Coming?

February 13, 2009 on 6:24 pm by Michael Grey | In News, Tips | 5 Comments

Like the rest of the pipe band world (minus the marketing maestros leading the Royal Scottish Pipe Band Association) I was pretty shocked to read that the international judging team was kicked off Scotland’s judging panel.   When the facts as we know them are laid out it’s impossible to understand the reason behind the decision. Continue reading Scotland’s Year of No’ Coming?…

Free for Pipe Band Members

February 1, 2009 on 10:14 pm by Michael Grey | In Pipe Bands, Stories | Comments Off on Free for Pipe Band Members

I had a walk through Glasgow’s excellent Museum of Transport last week.  In one area of the museum, that displaying 1950s train stuff, there was an intriguing notice; I include it here: Continue reading Free for Pipe Band Members…

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