Scottish raptors: Bagpipe playing and planning, and toward a top quartet (and possibly in a Google + group video Hangout, and in real, real time), and eventually with top pipers, Learning Piobaireachd beauty

Hi Lore, 

Thanks for a very enjoyable, first, Skype lesson last week (on Thursday, October 31st) from Scotland!, and looking forward to our lesson tomorrow at 7:20 pm GMT (which this week is 11:20am whereas last week it was 12:20pm, due to the differential time change between Scotland and the States :).

A wee, possible, beginning plan for tomorrow- 

Awaiting "Carradale Bay" if you send it.

Still focusing on 'Miss Elspeth Campbell' per your comments last week and now learning from your video here - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5HsXxKq3aho.

Would like to develop the Strathspey and Reel I've been playing with this, as well, with you. 

Miss Elspeth Campbell

Susan MacLeod

Mrs MacPherson of Inveran

With building a top quartet in mind in the long run (and possibly in a Google + group video Hangout, and in real, real time), and eventually with top pipers, it makes some sense to me to learn what top pipers are playing, perhaps in Invererary, Field Marshall, PCPB or Scottish Power, since they will be able to dredge out such MSRs some years hence, and I already know to some degree 2 of their (PCPB) recent MSRs. 

Argyllshire Gathering

Cabar Feidh

MacAllisters Dirk

Tom MacAllister / Links of Forth

Dora MacLeod

John Morrison of Assynt House

All three of these MSRs plus other parts of a plan for this year (which I look forward to talking with about as well) are here - ... http://scott-macleod.blogspot.com/2013/09/red-grouse-tunes-ideas-and-plans-for.html ... I may have to explore writing 3 other accompanying parts, with your guidance, in the free musical score computer program, MuseScore, with bagpipe register - http://musescore.org/ - for each of these 9 tunes. The Amazing Grace settings I have, which R and I played harmony for (in his first gig) on Saturday, has 5 parts, as precedent. 

I'd like to learn to play the beauty I hear in your playing the beginning of the Piobaireachd "The Earl of Seaforth's Lament" in the very beginning here ... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ib5i_L1U3Sc ...



... in both "The Company's Lament" and "MacKintoshes Banner" from the CoP Yellow Tutor, and the other 2 Piobaireachds there that follow. How to learn from both you and CoP's Angus MacLellan, and synthesize this, for more playing more beautifully, is a question I'm focusing on? I like the 'zone' you're in in these videos too. :) And learning the moving and beautiful 'The Desperate Battle' (of the Birds) with an amazing recording as resource is another priority, with some good recordings here at WUaS's Piobaireachd wiki page - http://worlduniversity.wikia.com/wiki/Pibroch,_Piobaireachd_or_Ce%C3%B2l_M%C3%B3r. 

For Xmas, I may get from my family a Scottish Smallpipe, and I'm leaning toward one in black wood from John Walsh in Nova Scotia, with both A and D chanters -http://www.johnwalshbagpipes.com/cart.php?page=small_pipes (to play with other instruments, in addition to playing with other instruments in B flat on the GHB). The proprietor at House of Bagpipes in SF thinks Walsh's small pipes sound the best of all the small pipes that he's heard, and I respect his seasoned and knowledgable perspective. But I see you play what I think are the slightly larger Reelpipes here - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6cpLzGOhYX0 ...



... and I really like the almost Middle Eastern sound of these, as well as your improvisation. But I've added to WUaS's "Scottish smallpipes and borderpipes" wiki page here - http://worlduniversity.wikia.com/wiki/Scottish_smallpipes_and_borderpipes - Stephen MacNeill playing a) Walsh, b) MacCallum and c) Shepherd Scottish smallpipes and personally hear very little difference here, but have played one set of Walsh Polypennco Scottish smallpipes and loved the sonorous sound. I'd love to talk with you about this tomorrow in our 20 minutes as well. 

See you online in Skype tomorrow! (May be looking for an internet connection for practice chanter while returning from a Meeting at San Francisco Friends' School which ends around 9:15 :).

Cheers, 

Scott

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