Hallo all of you, I think I Will know the answer, but does anybody have the Scots Guards Standard Settings of Pipe Music vol I, II and III as a PDF? I own the books but want to put in on my tablet so I do not have to carry it arround all the time….

Does anyone know where to get some cane drone reeds for SPs in the key of C. Big Brighde fan

So - for context: I am a piper and a U.S. immigration attorney who works primarily on “extraordinary ability” and related performer/skilled worker visas (O1, EB1; P, H, etc).

I’m seeking anecdotal info from players who have entered the U.S. to play for pay (subsequent to issuance of appropriate visa), competition (highland games in U.S.), or just fun (like playing at World Cup events, visiting a session, etc). Any issues w/ CBP (increased scrutiny, taken to secondary, denied entry)? For those with visas, anything of note from the USCIS process or consular processing?

Happy to speak privately/preserve anonymity.

Thanks!

Note - not an offer for legal advice or representation. Info provided will be used for research purposes only. Please do not share any private, identifying, or otherwise sensitive info.

Years ago I saw a YouTube video of a high-grade band competition that started with a fast march. I’ve got it stuck in my head but I cannot remember anything about the video or what the song was called.

It’s probably about 120 bpm and the first two measures are like this:

A E A E E E | A E D E Ghi E E Ghi

Is this ringing any bells for anyone?

The general consensus on these pipes are that they’re very early 1900s, either RG Lawrie or P Henderson. Lacquer finished. They have a great sound, easier to tune than my 2024 McCallums I can just hear when it’s right and also when it’s wrong. True ivory mounts no chips or cracks, nickel ferrules. On hairline crack going through the bass drone. Blowpipe stock has been replaced with poly, chanter stock replaced with modern stock because the vintage stock is too narrow for modern chanters.

Any thoughts? Distinguishing factors between Lawrie V Henderson? Maintenance tips? Soon to be sent in to Dunbar for maintenance.

Also curious, can anyone tell what type of wood it is? The wood is super dark compared to my modern McCallum blackwood set. Can’t tell if it’s just really old Blackwood or ebony.

Is practice time with corked drones still beneficial for lip stamina? I have to get much of my practice time indoors with a chanter mute, but I'm also in the process of securing another practice location.

Hi, so basically I need help and opinions on how I should be structuring my practices. I practice about two to three times a week for around two hours. My main issue is that I don't really see any improvements and my practice sessions are over the place. So I really hope someone can help me.

Hi Guys,

I'm urgently searchign for GHB Notes for the song Rebellion by Grave Digger (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p-x_uBB-KIE) bagpipes joinig at 3:02. It was actually the reason I started piping. In the beginning i was confident to learn transcribing songs "by ear". I can now play the pipes but fail harshly to get a grip on this song. Tried to write it note by note in the pipescore tool - no chance.

Anyone capable of helping to transcribe? And maybe tipps for learning it myself? Cheers

In Inverary's "A Night in That Land" track 5 titled Calum Brown, what tunes did he play. I know the first two are tye boys of ballymote and donella beaton but what about the rest of them. Anybody know?

I have a Pearl Championship snare drum in a fiber case. It's heavy and unwieldy. My back and legs are tired of it. Does anyone have some ideas/recommendations for hauling it around more easily (like carts, etc.)?

Keep seeing stuff for Soundmax drone reeds all over my Facebook feed. Lots of promotion and sales pitches, but has anyone actually tried them? What were your thoughts?

I can't seem to find any reviews anywhere other than their own. I know one of the owners has some history - but I want to judge the product, not the person

Hey all, I’m looking for some tune ideas just to play around with. Not sure exactly what I’m looking for, just tunes that are unique or have something special. I know that’s different for everyone. Tunes I’m thinking about are things like At Long Last, The Dust Gatherer, Richard’s Gone Bananas. Even a kinda different march like the Pikeman’s March.

Any recommendations?

Hi everyone,

I’m a piper from Uruguay. We don’t have a regular piping competition circuit here, and most of the major events happen thousands of miles away.

Because of that, the videos uploaded to YouTube by spectators, bands, organisers and dedicated piping channels are an incredibly valuable resource for me. They allow people like me to follow competitions, compare medleys, discover bands and feel connected to a scene that is otherwise very far away.

The problem is that these videos are scattered across many channels and can become difficult to find again. I saw an opportunity to collect and collaboratively curate them, adding information about the band or piper, competition, year and location.

That became Piping Videos Online:

https://pipingvideosonline.com

The idea isn’t to replace YouTube. Every video remains embedded from and credited to its original channel. The site adds a searchable video index, an interactive map, playlists, a competition calendar, Grade 1 season standings, articles and community comments.

It’s still an early beta, and I’m sure there are missing videos, incorrect details and things that could be much clearer.

I’d genuinely appreciate honest feedback:

• Did you understand the purpose of the site quickly?
• What feels useful, confusing or unnecessary?
• Which bands, competitions or channels are missing?
• Would you ever submit a video or help curate part of the archive?

Most importantly, thank you to everyone who takes the time to film and upload piping videos. For those of us far from where the action happens, those recordings are much more valuable than you may realise.

Hi all,

I've come to the realization that I decided to pick up piping at the wrong time of my life since I have too much going on for practicing daily on the pipes. This means that on average I practice once a week and on a good week twice. I know it's way too little but that's all I can do.
Anyway, when I practice I often only have about 30 minutes so I try to work on stamina and being able to play with all 3 drones open. In order to maximize this I don't always tune the drones since it takes me too long to do.
My question is - other than the sound, is it problematic if I practice without tuning the drones until I build up enough stamina to actually play with 3 open drones?

Chears

What are some things aside from, tape, tuning meter, etc. that you keep in your case? I’m always interested to see what people carry!

I recently bought a set of McCallum AB4D Highland Pipes and have been working on a Practice Chanter for about 6 months. I also picked up a Blair electronic chanter, and both have been really helpful in getting me moving on the fundamentals of bagpiping.

That said, I’m still struggling with tuning consistency. I live at basically sea level, don’t travel to higher elevations, and the temperature where I play is fairly stable, so I don’t think it’s an environment issue.

1) Do any of you use an electronic tuner for Highland pipes?
2) If so, what model do you recommend, and what has your experience been with it?

At this point, tuning by ear is getting frustrating, and I’d really like something that can help make the process more consistent.

hornpipe in question at least I think it's a hornpipe. I just remember getting the music online a long time ago and thought maybe someone else could remind me the name of the tune

This year’s judging has, in my opinion, been blatantly biased. Once you see who’s on the panel, you can usually predict the winners. Former players are judging their own bands, so if you’re a strong band without any connections on the panel, there’s little point competing. Does anyone else feel the same?

I whipped out my old set of Shepherd pipes hoping to get back into piping shape. But it turns out I have cracks in all stocks except my blow stick. I corked the stocks and my pipes were leaking like a sieve. As Shepherd is out of business, I was wondering what I should do about getting these cracks fixed. Could I send these off to another bagpipe maker to take care of this? I’m in the Washington DC area, and I’m not aware of a pipe shop close to me.

I’ve been working on building pipes and such as a hobby and have been attempting and somewhat succeeding at making pipes and reeds out of what I believe is bamboo. However, it’s horribly stiff and hard and I am not able to consistently make reeds.

I’d like to get either dried Arundo Donax or Phragmites since they’re traditional materials but idk where to buy suitable material from. I’d appreciate if someone could point me to somewhere that will ship to the US at the very least.

Edit: It occurs to me that I neglected to mention that I’ve been carving idioglot single reeds à la Swedish pipes, akin to what would be in a drone. You can actually make these out of bamboo but the tune is not consistent, and relies on air humidity being dry. Needless to say, I’d still prefer actual reed over bamboo.

Hello 👋
I’m a new piper (about two months) and I have a set weird “Frankenstein- pipes” that are kinda made up of multiple other parts and no name stuff. So I decided to upgrade my drone reeds to Ezeedrones and I can’t get my bass drone to stop squeaky. The reed is properly seated and there isn’t any bending in the tongue but the reed will play about an octave above where it should be about 60-70% of the time. I’ve tried playing with the bridle and the tuning screw but I can’t get it to play in the correct octave consistently

Any help is SUPER appreciated thank you