NOTES FROM PIPEY'S CORNER

Volume VII Number 4; April 2001

...And Home Again....

Had a great trip, way too short, but made many new friends, including Neill Mulvie, Andrew Frater, Donald Martin, Dugald MacNeill, and many others. Many thanks to Neill for the wine, Andrew for the GREAT reeds for my MacDonald chanter, Barnaby Brown for help tuning THE BEAST; everyone at the PS meeting went out of their way to make us feel welcome. I was particularly pleased to find out that Donald Martin was related to the Cowie family, for whom I played last July at Eagle Point in San Francisco.

The Piobaireachd Society meeting was interesting in its scholarship. Rory Halford-MacLeod presented an overview on the MacCrimmons regarding the last generation of MacCrimon pipers; Jeannie Campbell and Bridget MacKenzie spoke on P/M Willie Gray; Rob Matheson discussed the matter of moisture control at great length; and Barnaby Brown talked about the stagnation of the music. We played 'hooky' in the afternoon and went off to Doune (ancient seat of the earls of Moray) and Callander (Rob Roy country).

entrance to Castle Doune	the walls of the Outer bailey	looking into the old Lord's Chamber	The Trossachs	The Wallace Monument

The dinner Saturday night was quite good, with excellent playing afterwards, including Dr. Jack Taylor, Dugald MacNeill, Barnaby Brown with a Launeddas (circular breathing on a mouth-held triple pipe), Ed Neigh, and others, including myself - playing the MacDonald, which was very well received, even though the B was really flat. I had many comments regarding the tone of the set - 'great drones' and 'what a chanter' among them.

Sunday saw a really good lecture from Ed Neigh on the 'global piping community.' We then played hooky as it was a really beautiful day and went off to Glenturret Distillery, Blair Atholl on opening day, Pitlochry, Killiekrankie, and back to Bridge of Allan.

We spent three days (wish it could have been longer) with Angus and Kay Hamilton at Archerfield; the Foot and Mouth crisis is truly horrible for the farmers; Angus' herd of Cadzow cattle is threatened - they've been grazing on the same land for over two thousand years. The possibility of their destruction would mean the loss of one of Scotland's ancient agricultural treasures. All over Scotland it's necessary to dip your feet and drive your car through disinfectant to prevent the disease from spreading. The BBC pulls no punches in showing the animals' suffering and the dairymen's grief at losing their herds.

Angus, 15th Duke of Hamilton, from his portrait at Lennoxlove

Thanks to Angus we were able to get a private personal tour of Holyrood Palace, of which he is the Keeper; he and Kay also gave us a very personal tour of Lennoxlove, his 'seat,' some twelve miles from his home at Archerfield. At Lennoxlove his father amassed a truly impressive art collection, including many portraits of his ancestors and of famous figures in Scottish history; the letter casket and death mask of Mary Queen of Scots; and many personal items from Hamilton palace, which unfortunately was pulled down in the 1920s. In the '20th century room' are his father's mementoes of flying over Mt; Everest in a biplane in 1933; relics of Rudolf Hess, who surrendered to his father in 1942; and Angus' many racing and flying memorabilia. As Angus said, "...this is nothing compared to what was at Hamilton Palace...." - SOME NOTHING!

the infamous casket, at Lennoxlove	Karen at Archerfield	left - coronation robes right - Thistle Robes worn by the 14th Duke	Angus' father, the 14th Duke (3rd from left) and his brothers, circa 1937 (King George VI's coronation). All four brothers served in the RAF in WW2; two of them were shot down.	portrait of Clementina Sobieska, mother of Bonnie Prince Charlie, at Lennoxlove

After reluctantly leaving Archerfield we went up to Stirling and Bridge of Allan for the PS meeting, and took day trips from there to Callander, Blair, and Fort William and Oban.Monday morning went over to Andrew Frater's in Uphall for new reeds for The Monster. Then back to Glasgow Tuesday for a stop at Sharpie's, quick visits to the College of Piping (very nice) and the Piping Centre (rude). Lunch at Angelo's in Glasgow with Greig, then off to London on the 8 pm flight, then home the next morning from Heathrow on the 10.20 to SFO. . .

The memorial to Towser the Glenturret Distillery cat - holds the World Mousing Record - 28,899 in her lifetime!	Tiny black lamb and her mother across the water from Castle Stalker in Appin	Castle Stalker - a former Stewart stronghold, and the site where they filmed part of 'Monty Python and the Holy Grail' on a budget of about $300k in 1974	Kay and Angus Hamilton, our hosts for part of the trip and really lovely people, next to the portrait of Anne, Duchess of Hamilton in the 17th century
Karen as Roberta the Bruce?	Hielan' Coos in Balquhidder	Karen at Archerfield again, with our room behind her to the right	Dunstaffnage Castle, in Argyll, a few miles north of Oban

. . .We're indebted to many people for their help and hospitality - Pete and Louise Bull, Malcolm White, Allan and Dr. Angus MacDonald, Neill Mulvie, Brian Donaldson, Heather Lee at Archerfield and many others. We're looking forward to returning AS SOON AS POSSIBLE (how about next week)- in the off-season, of course!

Speaking of reeds, here's a few facts about older chanters:

The story of the '440 chanter' is a myth. In the first place, examine old drone reeds. In order to tune a set of drones to a 440 A pitch, the drone reeds would have to be considerably longer, otherwise they'd tune off the pins. Old drone reeds, from the 20s and 30s, are about the same length as reeds made today; most of them are less than 1/8" longer, which tunes down to the low 460s - at their lowest. In addition, the drones themselves would be longer in order to achieve the lower pitch; drones made in the 1850s and 1880s are the same length as modern drones, and pitch at the 470+ tuning of today's chanters without any problem.

The reeds Andrew Frater made for THE BEAST - my early 1800s MacDonald chanter - have a 1" staple (as opposed to a modern 15/16" staple), and the blades are 1/8" longer than typical reeds of today. This pitches my chanter slightly lower than B flat - around 462-464 hz. This chanter, when fitted with a modern reed, is flat on the F and B, but pitches to about a 470 A on the rest of the scale; with the longer, wider, old-style reed it balances perfectly at a pitch SOMEWHAT flatter than played today - 460-464 - but, realistically, not THAT much flatter than modern chanter pitch. There's NO WAY it could pitch to concert A without being completely off balance. As Andrew, Dugald MacNeill, Barnaby Brown, and others have commented, "...this chanter was made by a master instrument maker. ALL the holes are undercut, carefully scraped by hand to produce the correct balance and pitch for its day...."

As Ringo Bowen says, "...I always thought the '440 chanter' story was bunk. The drone pins would have to be a LOT longer on older pipes to tune down that low...." In addition, old recordings of pipers and bands reveal that the chanters, while flatter than today's standards, still hover around Bflat.

Old chanters, made before the 1940s particularly, won't tune properly without the longer stapled reeds. There's NO way they can tune to modern pitch; but the difference is by no means as great as is commonly propounded. The story of the '440 chanter' is a MYTH - pure and simple, put forth by those who DON'T KNOW what they're talking about.

BLACK PART SPEAKS

I've noticed that there are some changes in the wind for the Angus MacDonald Memorial Contest. It has been announced that Harry McNulty and John Keyes have resigned from the board that promotes the G. S. MacLennan Contest; they will be devoting their efforts to fundraising for the MacDonald.The format for the MacDonald is to change as well. It will now become an invitational contest, no longer open to any Professional and Grade I pipers in the Western United States. Only winners of certain premier competitions will be invited to perform.

I have been a supporter of, and a participant and competitor in both of the Angus MacDonald Memorial Contests held the past two years. This was the only contest that was open to Professional and Grade I pipers in the Western United States that was a qualifyer to the United States Piping Federation, and the first step towards the prestigious Glenfiddich Competiton in Scotland. It was also only one of three Professional Piobaireachd contests within the jurisdiction of the Western United States Pipe Band Association. Alas, now there will only be the contests at Costa Mesa and Pleasanton available to the Professionals.

Why the changes? Not enough support from the Professional and Grade I Pipers? Lack of support and recognition from the WUSPBA? Or just plain Greed? The first year of the MacDonald Contest there was a fair turnout of Grade I pipers, but only three Professionals.  Where are all these bright hot fingers from the professional ranks?

The sad truth of the matter is that most of the players in the professional class do not play piobaireachd, and have very little interest in doing so.  Elimination of the third and most prestigious Piobaireachd Contest within the WUSPBA will not make this situation better; it will only make it worse. The first year that the MacDonald contest was held, the WUSPBA DID NOT support it, and REFUSED TO RECOGNIZE IT! OUTRAGEOUS!! The reason given by the WUSPBA for its failure was that the tune requirements for the MacDonald Contest exceeded the WUSPBA recommendations.  For the year 2000 Macdonald Contest the WUSPBA INSISTED that the tune requirements conform to their recommendations. The result was a diminished contest that received NO SUPPORT from the WUSPBA. SHAMEFUL!! 

Given that there are few Professional pipers able to compete, and the lack of support from the WUSPBA, it is no wonder that the promoters of the Macdonald Contest have opted to do something different. Unfortunately the changes do nothing to correct the deficiencies and short comings of the individual competitors and the pipe band association that says it is in the business of promoting piping. Now we'll have what amounts to another Dan Reid Contest that will perhaps give the promoters some prestige and fame, maybe even a little money, but in the end will do nothing to raise the local standards of piping.

 For my part, I say the promoters of the MacDonald Contest should stay with their original agenda for the contest. There are, fortunately some very good sets of fingers coming along in Grade I that ARE up to the original challenges of the Macdonald Contest. There are also very good sets of fingers in Grade II that will step up to fill the voids in Grade I as the Grade I players step up to the Professional ranks. The MacDonald promoters should simply IGNORE the WUSPBA for its failures to recognize and support the MacDonald Contest. Who needs the WUSPBA and the people running it anyway? 

STAND FAST BYDAND!!!

 BLACK PART

(to contact Black Part, email him directly at bagpipr@gte.net - Ed.)

until next month . . . .