THE reason to take up the bagpipes

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THE reason to take up the bagpipes

Post by Squeakie »

......... Not that I’d really need a reason to take up the bagpipes, because I do think they’re amazing instruments. It’s on my bucket list, to learn how to play the bagpipes. I’ve a skosh of Scots in me, after all. In third grade I said I wanted to play the bagpipes when I learned I had a little Scottish in my family tree. Instead I got a clarinet, oh well.

Having said that, if you need a reason, here it is .... This guy has it ALL going on. Darth Vader mask .... unicycle ..... Kilt .... Flames ... I can only dream of being this cool!

I’m going to blame everyone who said to watch YouTube videos for playing and practice inspiration. We’re not going to talk about what other things I’ve been watching, that would make the YouTube algorithms suggest that I would enjoy this video. No, we just won’t go there. :o

https://youtu.be/NNHXqdgCbsc

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Re: THE reason to take up the bagpipes

Post by Tommy »

Wow! I did not know Darth Vader was a Scotsman. :thumbsup:
Thanks for the link Lisa.
A very fun watch.
I see that he has more clips available. Good for another chuckle. :wink:
Last edited by Tommy on Mon Sep 24, 2018 9:33 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: THE reason to take up the bagpipes

Post by fatmac »

Looks like it could be fun, but YT no longer works for me as it's using pulseaudio, & I use alsa. :(
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Re: THE reason to take up the bagpipes

Post by pancelticpiper »

How that video would inspire anyone is beyond me. It's using an instrument capable of great music as a mere prop, a gimmick.

Here, you can listen to actual Highland pipe music played by a great player, Gordon Walker

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QmJUBiTk6bw

(BTW the word "bagpipe" doesn't specifically refer to the Great Highland Bagpipe of Scotland, but to all bagpipes including the uilleann pipes.)
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Re: THE reason to take up the bagpipes

Post by fatmac »

Just got to watch it on another distro. :)

Nice bit of fun for everyone, especially the kids.
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Re: THE reason to take up the bagpipes

Post by ytliek »

Squeakie wrote:This guy has it ALL going on.... I can only dream of being this cool!
If you need a reason to play the bagpipes:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HXm8JdC4k4c

Some like it hot!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K-Op1Mng4oY


:)
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Re: THE reason to take up the bagpipes

Post by Squeakie »

I've saw that one, too.
I'm about thirty years too late to get away with those outfits! They seem very talented, though. I found the group The Sidh, which fuses rock with trad instruments, again exposing people to traditional instruments in a modern, or fun, light.
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Re: THE reason to take up the bagpipes

Post by pancelticpiper »

Squeakie wrote: I found the group The Sidh, which fuses rock with trad instruments, again exposing people to traditional instruments in a modern light
I'd not heard that group before so I listened to a couple of their videos.

About fusing rock with trad instruments, it seems that whenever I hear groups that incorporate Highland pipes with rock musicians one of these two things is occuring:

1) the Highland piper is playing ordinary Highland pipe music and the rock musicians can't quite figure out how to accompany it; the rhythm guitar and drummer use inappropriate rhythms which dull down, drag down, and dumb down the music the piper is playing.

2) the rock band is playing ordinary rock music and the piper can't quite figure out what to do to fit into it.

Both situations create bad music.

I don't know if I've ever heard Celtic instrumental music and rock fused.

The most successful fitting-together I recall hearing were

-the Southern California group Stand Easy, the leader of which is a great piper AND a great rock musician, and who writes music with the integration of the pipes the fundamental idea. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dTTaEPpkNT4

-a group I heard years ago at a Highland Games. At first I thought it was something like a Doors cover band, and it wasn't until I got closer and saw the piper that I realised that the Hammond B3 part was being played on the pipes! It worked fantastically well, due to the pipes having an organlike sustain.

Anyhow the two videos I saw of The Sidh featured the piper playing fast repetitive patterns which didn't rise to the level of what a piper would consider a "tune". Actual pipe music is far more melodic, interesting, and foot-tapping.
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Re: THE reason to take up the bagpipes

Post by Derek Blackwell »

Well how about this Richard? Have you heard Runrig? Pipes are kind of an occasional item for them. Here the guitarist and piper are the same guy, so that probably accounts for the coherence.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jC1Nnf-VKcM

I can't seem to find my fave pipe numbers online from Breton rock guru Alan Stivell, so here's the man playing bombard (although he's best at harp or singing). His band always has a superb feel for tradition going forth into modernity.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o4qLPyA ... okxHwqJ6ee

And of course there's Richard Thompson, who once claimed he didn't listen to guitarists, but pipers. He's often brought the strathspey into rock with great success. I'm showing my age, there must be new bands making these connections, but I agree, with many it's not that well integrated and the subtlety is lost. Rock can be fluid and nuanced, Jimi Hendrix showed us that.
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Re: THE reason to take up the bagpipes

Post by Squeakie »

I grew up in the eighties, listening to a huge mix, from New wave to speed metal. I think The Sidh, for a song called "I'm just a Sidh in Ireland" sounds so much like AC/DC's "Thunderstruck" they could sue for copyrights.
I never said anyone was fusing Celtic instrumental music with rock, but traditional instruments with rock.
I don't think it's high art, or fine melodic piping, but just fun to listen to. I think all AC/DC used was probably three chords and them a scorching blast of random notes for a solo we would all thrash around to at the bar.
As for the unipiper, he's just good fun too. He's making a living doing what he wants, and that's to make music and make people smile and keep his city a little less boring. I think it's great that people might associate piping with something fun, rather than a funeral, like many people do since 911.
BTW, I am well aware there are many types of bagpipes worldwide, I've heard them, and seen them up close and personal. When I was a kid, A family friend played a simple set, probably french. I've seen them at a couple of weddings. The latest time was at the funeral of my brother, a police officer. Its been a while since I heard bagpipes that didn't remind me of his funeral. Of course that's because I prefer airs.
Anyhow, no offense was meant posting the unipiper, he just was so fun and entertaining, I wanted to share.
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Re: THE reason to take up the bagpipes

Post by Peter Duggan »

Derek Blackwell wrote:Well how about this Richard? Have you heard Runrig? Pipes are kind of an occasional item for them. Here the guitarist and piper are the same guy, so that probably accounts for the coherence.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jC1Nnf-VKcM
I'd have had Breaking the Chains/Fuaim a' Bhlàir from Recovery:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IYEqn6eoNxk

Amazed someone's posted a comment there saying 'the drumming is a bit boring' when I've always found it exciting and inspired! Is it fusion? Probably not when true fusion's such a rare beast (Martyn Bennett's 'Grit' being just about the only truly organic example of trad/popular styles I can think of), but IMHO still far more than some kind of bolt-on, misfit, frankenmusic...
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Re: THE reason to take up the bagpipes

Post by Steve Bliven »

No pipes but a whistle and generally fits the trad-rock pigeonhole.... Bushplant.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7qwxmOJ0rUk
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JUdrdYfbuWo

Best wishes.

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Re: THE reason to take up the bagpipes

Post by AKA »

The Sidh with Colin Goldie https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b5bTGBALWfQ

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Re: THE reason to take up the bagpipes

Post by Derek Blackwell »

Hey Squeakie, no offense taken. There's room enough for all of us, and not everything has to be serious. As you might have noticed we have a bunch of extremely opinionated individuals here, and that's a good thing. Your points are well put.

Peter, thumbs up on the Runrig choice, drums not boring at all (two guys working together!). Recovery totally rocks, and yeah, the late, great Martyn Bennett is the only musician I've found so far I think has done totally outstanding work blending tradition with automation. Bothy Culture is a really good one if you ask me.

I think classic rock is still a thing, in part, because it's less automated and cleaned up. One thing it shares with tradition is it's different every time. In the days before click tracks human imperfection sometimes led to a bit of improv and excitement; a hit song was a snapshot of that song on a given day. Nowadays everything seems so locked down (with lots of bands onstage even if they don't have a click track!). I recently heard the Kinks on the BBC from the early days and was amazed to hear how much subtle variation in rhythm was going on (and they was just teenagers!). The living traditions go much deeper of course, but I think having some fluidity is key blending modern and trad.

I have more experience playing rock than traditional music, although at a certain point I became disenchanted with the rigidity that's evolved in rock. A turning point for me was borrowing a stack of Irish records from the Boston library and becoming so fascinated with the piping of Seamus Ennis and Willie Clancy I listened to their records over and over again for several days, just checking out the small variations and the tuning, quite different from one another! I never took up the pipes, but ever since then I really enjoy hearing any trad instrument played solo or maybe in duos or trios. The more instruments, the less freedom the players have, but it's still possible to connect with the moment if they're listening, maybe even interact in unforeseen ways.
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