A) Bagpiping Piobaireachd -
B) Scottish Small Pipes' D chanter, in addition to
C) SSP's A chanter
March 25, 2021
Scottish Small Pipes' D chanter
Hi Taylor,
I'm sending two further tunes for the D chanter to play around with - one is another strathspey which could be played as a polka, and the other is newly a reel - with most of their notes within the D chanter's range, at least in one part (and there are a few other nice tunes on these pages for the A chanter, like "Burning of the Piper's Hut" and others).
SSP D chanter Winhams Reel 1st pt.jpg
SSP D chanter The Flower of the Quern.jpg
SSP D chanter The Flower of the Quern.jpg
See you soon, Scott
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March 26, 2021
Thanks, Scott! Can't wait to try them out.
Here's the piece I had in mind from the Fitzwilliam Virginals (prefaced with a lute tune by Guilliame Morlaye), played by lowlandpiper (Pete Stewart), on his set of B smallpipes (with a flattened third):
You mentioned the peculiar fingering style of Stewart before. I think that's because he's using the "closed fingering" style which is distinct from Highland fingering and similar to the fingering on the Northumbrian Smallpipe. It's the fingering intended for the Leicestershire Smallpipe that Goodacre makes. Supposedly it was used for proto-smallpipes in Scotland around the 18th century or so?:
I've attached the Morlaye hornpipe for reference. Can't find the Byrd tune.
I like the possible duet possibilities with the Morlaye tune
-T
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March 28, 2021
Thanks so so much Taylor!
Great to see what you're exploring and especially liking piping-wise! I'll check them out further soon. Just playing a little Light Music 
on the A chanter here and liking its upbeat qualities.
Musical cheers, Scott
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March 30, 2021
Hi Taylor,
Since we've played a bit of Piobaireachd on the "WILD" D chanter now, and in further thinking about this music and its energy, what do you think of Piobaireachd's 'energy' and music's energy in general?
So ,n searching for language about the 'energy' or 'vision' of Piobaireachd, I found this great 1915 manuscript -
Tus is Alt a" Chiuil-Mhoir
PIOBAIREAGHD: ITS ORIGIN AND CONSTRUCTION
BY
JOHN GRANT
Edinburgh, Scotland 1915
PIOBAIREAGHD: ITS ORIGIN AND CONSTRUCTION
BY
JOHN GRANT
Edinburgh, Scotland 1915
https://deriv.nls.uk/dcn23/
Piobaireachd is an art which stands in a very high position. It influences the
thoughts, and has a power over the emotions of the Highland heart that no other
type of music can equal. (PREFACE)
PIOBAIREACHD is said to be a wild and barbarous music, which is very difficult to describe. The meaning of the word piobaireachd is pipe-music. It is generally known by the genuine Highlander, and particularly by pipers, as a special type of music. Perhaps piobaireachd might be better defined as " Ceol Mor," or " The Great Music of the Celt." Bagpipe music is divided into two classes, viz. : " Ceol Mor " and " Ceol Aotrom." Ceol Mor means the Great Music, which is piobaireachd, and Ceol Aotrom means the Lighter Music, or Marches, Strathspeys, and Reels. It is Ceol Mor only, the classical music of the Great Highland Bagpipe, that I intend to deal with in this work.
It was quite impossible for it to grow momentarily, or
to have been handed to the Highlander as a fairy gift, with all its charm and power
of moving the Highland heart to joy, sorrow, or even the frenzy of battle. P 17
Piobaireachd is a class of music second to none as regards its power of moving
the Highland heart. p 18
https://deriv.nls.uk/dcn23/
Piobaireachd is an art which stands in a very high position. It influences the
thoughts, and has a power over the emotions of the Highland heart that no other
type of music can equal. (PREFACE)
PIOBAIREACHD is said to be a wild and barbarous music, which is very difficult to describe. The meaning of the word piobaireachd is pipe-music. It is generally known by the genuine Highlander, and particularly by pipers, as a special type of music. Perhaps piobaireachd might be better defined as " Ceol Mor," or " The Great Music of the Celt." Bagpipe music is divided into two classes, viz. : " Ceol Mor " and " Ceol Aotrom." Ceol Mor means the Great Music, which is piobaireachd, and Ceol Aotrom means the Lighter Music, or Marches, Strathspeys, and Reels. It is Ceol Mor only, the classical music of the Great Highland Bagpipe, that I intend to deal with in this work.
It was quite impossible for it to grow momentarily, or
to have been handed to the Highlander as a fairy gift, with all its charm and power
of moving the Highland heart to joy, sorrow, or even the frenzy of battle. P 17
Piobaireachd is a class of music second to none as regards its power of moving
the Highland heart. p 18
https://deriv.nls.uk/dcn23/
Perhaps you can bring this manuscript - https://deriv.nls.uk/dcn23/
the power to move the highland heart ... suggests to me culture (Highland culture around 1900) playing a significant role in hearing beauty in Piobaireachd (of varying shades of moving-ness ... to highly intense, energy-wise, for some ... and how to learn to play Piobaireachd to move people in a highly intensely beautiful way ... is an ongoing question I'm exploring, teaching, too) ... re even an identity's tastes in music ... suggesting possibly creating a culture of listeners to the Scottish Small Pipes' Piobaireachd ??? (perhaps emerging from other Piobaireachd listening cultures - am thinking GHB ones in particular) ... Have you gotten out your GHB yet and played (pre-baby arrival)? :))
Cheers, Scott
--
- Scott MacLeod - Founder, President & Professor
- World University and School
- 415 480 4577
- CC World University and School - like CC Wikipedia with best STEM-centric CC OpenCourseWare - incorporated as a nonprofit university and school in California, and is a U.S. 501 (c) (3) tax-exempt educational organization.
* *
March 29, 2021
Piobaireachd playing thinking
Nice to talk, Ma,
Just played "Mackintosh's Banner" Piobaireachd through, after playing it 2 nights ago ... seeking to make it "sing" ... and to continue to play bagpipes daily ... as I develop my piping ... and also to "work out" my issues with practicing two musical instruments too ... and to make beautiful music, and develop a kind of well-being in playing daily, - almost like my morning meditation ...
Playing it went pretty well ... but whether I created something new interpretatively regarding Piobaireachd - and out of the box (rock and roll-wise, for example) - I'd say not yet ... ongoing explorations, and seeking of vision in these regards as well ... and whether I developed tonight a kind of well-being in playing - almost like my morning meditation .. i am exploring this further ...
Have fun with your "New Yorker" magazine class - and I looked up the book "Dark Money" by the author of the article Jane Mayer you're reading ... and, in a different vein, Quaker-inspired, and regarding even a single Digital currency to alleviate poverty, I think I'm oriented in a different direction in thinking about money than the book's title .... (as in socially responsible, or socially conscious, money ... and not as an author writing about the seamier side of the financial world)
Back to music, not Piobaireachd, I heard the beginning of an interview with Jerry Lee Lewis yesterday, first great wildman in rock and roll, and somehow he knew from a young age that he was going to play the piano (with its '88 strings' instead of 6 strings on the guitar) ...
which offered a perspective shift regarding the two instruments I'm playing daily - bagpipes and piano ... and hearing this put briefly new different energy into playing today ... and perhaps on the piano upcoming too ...
Piobaireachd's 'energy' I think is fascinating too ... and how it plays out in life, as a consequence of playing it is interesting and can seem to be very positive (as old issues of some conflict even come up in playing or practicing too, interestingly) ... it's a great music, and it's playing seems to have an effect for me different from playing the piano, or playing JS Bach or Scottish Country Dance music ... but how to characterize this further?
You and I didn't talk on the phone about my recent writing about Canyon, or NVGMD (whose pictures I just googled show her to be sincere too, which I appreciate) ... could an investigative reporter open new possibilities re Canyon even
... or buyer beware in general ?
Cultures of money as I seek to get WUaS offering Bachelor and PhD degrees this September 1 2021 ... and emerging in the manner of Friends ... are ones where I come back to the Desiderata "Exercise caution in your business affairs, for the world is full of trickery. But let this not blind you to what virtue there is; many persons strive for high ideals, and everywhere life is full of heroism."
On with music making, and seeking to begin playing earlier in the day, although playing just before bed, does provide a way to stay focused in playing if only relatively briefly. ... Beneficially ... :)
Love, Scott
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March 30, 2021
Hi Ma,
What is a music's energy? Telemann, Vivaldi? It's kind of ineffable but that's what makes it interesting too ...
What is Piobaireachd's 'energy'?
Piobaireachd's 'energy' I think is fascinating too ... and how it plays out in life (my and others - culturally that is - since I'm playing Piobaireachd, what is new in my life or even re WUaS is kind of the question I'm asking), as a consequence of playing it, is interesting and can seem to be very positive (as old issues of some conflict even come up in playing or practicing Piobaireachd too, interestingly, re my 'perfectionism' for ex) ... it's a great music, and its playing seems to have an effect for me different from playing the piano, or playing JS Bach or Scottish Country Dance music on piano ... but how to characterize this further?
I just sent this to Taylor, re characterizing this further -
D chanter
Hi Taylor,
Since we've played a bit of Piobaireachd on the "WILD" D chanter now, and in further thinking about this music and its energy, what do you think of Piobaireachd's 'energy' and music's energy in general?
So in searching for language about the 'energy' or 'vision' of Piobaireachd, I found this great 1915 manuscript -
Tus is Alt a' Chiuil-Mhoir
PIOBAIREAGHD: ITS ORIGIN AND CONSTRUCTION
BY
JOHN GRANT
Edinburgh, Scotland 1915
PIOBAIREAGHD: ITS ORIGIN AND CONSTRUCTION
BY
JOHN GRANT
Edinburgh, Scotland 1915
https://deriv.nls.uk/dcn23/
Piobaireachd is an art which stands in a very high position. It influences the
thoughts, and has a power over the emotions of the Highland heart that no other
type of music can equal. (PREFACE)
PIOBAIREACHD is said to be a wild and barbarous music, which is very difficult to describe. The meaning of the word piobaireachd is pipe-music. It is generally known by the genuine Highlander, and particularly by pipers, as a special type of music. Perhaps piobaireachd might be better defined as " Ceol Mor," or " The Great Music of the Celt." Bagpipe music is divided into two classes, viz. : " Ceol Mor " and " Ceol Aotrom." Ceol Mor means the Great Music, which is piobaireachd, and Ceol Aotrom means the Lighter Music, or Marches, Strathspeys, and Reels. It is Ceol Mor only, the classical music of the Great Highland Bagpipe, that I intend to deal with in this work.
It was quite impossible for it to grow momentarily, or
to have been handed to the Highlander as a fairy gift, with all its charm and power
of moving the Highland heart to joy, sorrow, or even the frenzy of battle. P 17
AND
Piobaireachd is a class of music second to none as regards its power of moving
the Highland heart. p 18
https://deriv.nls.uk/dcn23/
Piobaireachd is an art which stands in a very high position. It influences the
thoughts, and has a power over the emotions of the Highland heart that no other
type of music can equal. (PREFACE)
PIOBAIREACHD is said to be a wild and barbarous music, which is very difficult to describe. The meaning of the word piobaireachd is pipe-music. It is generally known by the genuine Highlander, and particularly by pipers, as a special type of music. Perhaps piobaireachd might be better defined as " Ceol Mor," or " The Great Music of the Celt." Bagpipe music is divided into two classes, viz. : " Ceol Mor " and " Ceol Aotrom." Ceol Mor means the Great Music, which is piobaireachd, and Ceol Aotrom means the Lighter Music, or Marches, Strathspeys, and Reels. It is Ceol Mor only, the classical music of the Great Highland Bagpipe, that I intend to deal with in this work.
It was quite impossible for it to grow momentarily, or
to have been handed to the Highlander as a fairy gift, with all its charm and power
of moving the Highland heart to joy, sorrow, or even the frenzy of battle. P 17
AND
Piobaireachd is a class of music second to none as regards its power of moving
the Highland heart. p 18
https://deriv.nls.uk/dcn23/
Perhaps you can bring this manuscript - https://deriv.nls.uk/dcn23/
The power to move the Highland heart ... suggests to me culture (Highland culture around 1900) playing a significant role in hearing beauty in Piobaireachd (of varying shades of moving-ness ... to highly intense, energy-wise, for some ... and how to learn to play Piobaireachd to move people in a highly intensely beautiful way ... is an ongoing question I'm exploring, teaching, too) ... re even an identity's tastes in music ... suggesting possibly creating a culture of listeners to Scottish Small Pipes' Piobaireachd ??? (perhaps emerging from other Piobaireachd listening cultures - am thinking GHB ones in particular) ... Have you gotten out your Great Highland Bagpipe yet and played (pre-baby arrival)? :))
Cheers, Scott
So, what's a music's 'energy' - the word I keep coming back to - here?
and re "how it plays out in life (my and others - culturally that is - since I'm playing Piobaireachd, what is new in my life or even re WUaS is kind of the question I'm asking)" - by culture I may mean community, but with lots of indirectness. Think too of a piece of JS Bach's music played in German, the former DDR, - and its ineffable role there, as a single piece played by one musician perhaps in one performance ... https://youtu.be/w121z69z-
Am exploring playing Piobaireachd on the Scottish Small Pipes and newly on the D chanter, and exploring too, as I wrote to Taylor the other day, and even regarding the mind-transforming potential of music :
"
I think it could be great, innovative, creative and kinda wild to play beautifully "The Desperate Battle of the Birds" on the Scottish Small Pipes' D chanter - creating a kind of high lonesome sound (re bluegrass, and with a known, loved Piobaireachd) ... and also as a kind of tenor voice ... (would / could be a bit of BENDER and riff too with , or harmonize in, people's minds who are familiar with it in A possibly on the Scottish Small Pipes, and be something quite new and different for people familiar with the GHB and its ~ B flat mixolydian tuning : ) ... and now for something completely different (re Monty Python:) ... but not really :) ...
Just some ENVISIONING ... to play around with a bit
Will seek out some more tunes for the SSP D chanter (ie in the key of G with one sharp on F in the key signature) from the blue or pink books for tomorrow"
I think it's THESE APECTS of a music's 'energy,' 'vision' or 'ability to move' and culturally' that I'm thinking through. What do you think?
Nice to have heard from Peter Bothe in Bremen today, to whom I replied already in interesting manner ... and even regarding beginning a Bay Area Stammtisch ... may share ... and re becoming more social than I am these days :)
How was your class? How was the article after reading and discussing together anew?
Love, Scott
PS What is VIRTUOSIC playing too of Piobaireachd and regarding Yuan Sheng playing Bach: Complete Partitas - https://youtu.be/s_num0eZIQ8 (which I've shared with you before) - by way of comparison? What is VIRTUOSIC or GENIUS playing of Piobareachd?
* * *
April 1, 2021
Scott MacLeod <sgkmacleod@gmail.com>
Apr 1, 2021, 12:25 PM (2 days ago)
to Taylor
Dear Taylor,
Are you up for playing "The Desperate Battle of the Birds" in 8 days or so - in a kind of online SSP recital on the A chanter? Regarding playing through all of the beginnings of the ground and variations of The Desperate Battle of the Birds this evening, have a listen to the Crunluath movements in particular in these 2 recordings of PIOBAIREACHD -
The Desperate Battle of the Birds
John Burgess
https://youtu.be/Mmxp3btwXzs
Lament For Alasdair Dearg MacDonald (Piobaireachd)
Bob Brown
https://youtu.be/60foYtXrx_I
(And shall we check out too some of the fingering movements for Alasdair Dearg too today - from the Yellow Tutor? )
Bob Brown here seems to add some A MACH Crunluaths to his recording - if and as you read along in the CoP Yellow Tutor Vol 4 ... go figure ... but there's so much to learn from the Taorluath and Crunluath variations of these 2 pieces - the crowning movements re a kind of crescendo or 'peaking' flow experience-wise, or bliss even in the meditation (as we learn the idiom further, and here's a decent overview in a new way - https://corymbus.co.uk/piobaireachd-the-classical-music-of-the-great-highland-bagpipe/ - from a writer at the 'Open' Univ in Britain).
Did you play your GHB this week by any chance? (Biseell writes above that Piper's A is above even a B flat :)
Also am liking again and again, personally, the non-mensurality and relative slow tempo of Burgess's Urlar in his Desperate Battle of the Birds, but PM Donald MacLeod's playing - with LIGHT NON-Mensurality (I'll coin this) - of the Urlar, and his teaching of the Taorluath and Crunluath variations may be further helpful learning introductions to this beautiful piece ... https://youtu.be/r1w9J2atyHw ...
All on the A chanter today for Piobaireachd,
I'm coming back to these Guidelines - http://scottmacleod.com/GuidelinesPracticingMusicalInstrument.htm - re (my addition) choosing pieces you enjoy playing (and I have also JS Bach in mind) ... and I'm still on a hunt for Piobaireachd I like better than The Desperate Battle of the Birds ...
Let's explore one of the new Blue Book SCD tunes on the D chanter toward the close of today's meeting if we have time, - if not next week.
(Am hearing too in my mind still the potential for Piobaireachd played creatively with Allman Bros '73 at Cow Palace in the middle of this ... specific Piobaireachds with a rock and roll bands' music that moves me too ... need to get the AI and machine learning going to generate more related tracks with which to play rocking innovative Piobaireachd ... )
Am on an ongoing hunt for most lyrical melodic Piobaireachds (to my ear) ... Begin with the "Lament for the Viscount of Dundee" in 15 days perhaps ... or?
Cheers,
Scott
Here are some decent new overviews of Piobaireachd -
(Bissell again)
https://corymbus.co.uk/piobaireachd-the-classical-music-of-the-great-highland-bagpipe/
Here's an university of Florida researcher Jordan Alexander Key - https://youtu.be/wWjFYPwcxWY - who's created newly an academic interpretation fo Piobaireachd as innovation given at the University of Arizona School of Music going his own way in the Piping world, creating his own audience (and who self-describes himself as blind and gay).
https://youtu.be/wWjFYPwcxWY
And here's west coaster and traditionalist and excellent piper Jack Lee innovating and interpreting (mind-wise too) a Piobaireachd somewhere in his own process of playing and recording all 200-300 Piobaireachds, as one example within the tradition and musical form of smart innovation -
"Video: “War or Peace” – Jack Lee’s rendition of obscure tune"
https://www.pipesdrums.com/article/video-war-or-peace-jack-lees-rendition-of-obscure-tune/
--
- Scott MacLeod
- http://scottmacleod.com
*
| Thu, Apr 1, 12:25 PM (2 days ago) |  | ||
| ||||
Dear Taylor,
Are you up for playing "The Desperate Battle of the Birds" in 8 days or so - in a kind of online SSP recital on the A chanter? Regarding playing through all of the beginnings of the ground and variations of The Desperate Battle of the Birds this evening, have a listen to the Crunluath movements in particular in these 2 recordings of PIOBAIREACHD -
The Desperate Battle of the Birds
John Burgess
Lament For Alasdair Dearg MacDonald (Piobaireachd)
Bob Brown
https://youtu.be/60foYtXrx_I
https://youtu.be/60foYtXrx_I
(And shall we check out too some of the fingering movements for Alasdair Dearg too today - from the Yellow Tutor?)
Bob Brown here seems to add some A MACH Crunluaths to his recording - if and as you read along in the CoP Yellow Tutor Vol 4 ... go figure ... but there's so much to learn from the Taorluath and Crunluath variations of these 2 pieces - the crowning movements re a kind of crescendo or 'peaking' flow experience-wise, or bliss even in the meditation (as we learn the idiom further, and here's a decent overview in a new way - https://corymbus.co.uk/
Did you play your GHB this week by any chance? (Biseell writes above that Piper's A is above even a B flat :)
Also am liking again and again, personally, the non-mensurality and relative slow tempo of Burgess's Urlar in his Desperate Battle of the Birds, but PM Donald MacLeod's playing - with LIGHT NON-Mensurality (I'll coin this) - of the Urlar, and his teaching of the Taorluath and Crunluath variations may be further helpful learning introductions to this beautiful piece ... https://youtu.be/
All on the A chanter today for Piobaireachd,
I'm coming back to these Guidelines - http://scottmacleod.com/
Let's explore one of the new Blue Book SCD tunes on the D chanter toward the close of today's meeting if we have time, - if not next week.
(Am hearing too in my mind still the potential for Piobaireachd played creatively with Allman Bros '73 at Cow Palace in the middle of this ... specific Piobaireachds with a rock and roll bands' music that moves me too ... need to get the AI and machine learning going to generate more related tracks with which to play rocking innovative Piobaireachd ... )
Am on an ongoing hunt for most lyrical melodic Piobaireachds (to my ear) ... Begin with the "Lament for the Viscount of Dundee" in 15 days perhaps ... or?
Cheers,
Scott
Here are some decent new overviews of Piobaireachd -
(Bissell again)
https://corymbus.co.uk/
Here's an university of Florida researcher Jordan Alexander Key - https://youtu.be/wWjFYPwcxWY - who's created newly an academic interpretation fo Piobaireachd as innovation given at the University of Arizona School of Music going his own way in the Piping world, creating his own audience (and who self-describes himself as blind and gay).
And here's west coaster and traditionalist and excellent piper Jack Lee innovating and interpreting (mind-wise too) a Piobaireachd somewhere in his own process of playing and recording all 200-300 Piobaireachds, as one example within the tradition and musical form of smart innovation -
"Video: “War or Peace” – Jack Lee’s rendition of obscure tune"
*
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Passiflora_ligularis
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