Bagpipes - egads

[RickF]

I bet no one here expected to read a post about bagpipes in a euphonium/tuba forum, but here goes...

Our church like many others start off the new year with a bagpiper playing for part of their morning service. My church in North Palm Beach, FL always hires the same one, Pipe Major Graeme Massie. He is the best piper I've ever heard. He plays in tune with himself, and not as loud as some other pipers. I'm not a big fan of bagpipes, but major Massie does a good job. I honestly did not see anyone turn down their hearing aids as is usually the case. Sitting there listening, I took out my phone and turned on my tuner to check some of the notes. Well, the melody was in tune, but the tuner was showing 40 cents sharp on average. I've read that it's hard for bagpipes to play with other instruments like organ or piano. First off, they're not a chromatic instrument and by nature tune between a Bb and B natural.

Major Massie has 30 years experience as a genuine Scottish bagpiper and served 24 yrs in the British Army. He served in the Royal Scotts Dragoon Guards and The Queen's Royal Irish Hussars.

[John Morgan]

I kind of like bagpipes and 20 years back took a few lessons. This instrument is certainly not for everyone (playing or listening). In the orchestra I play with, we occasionally get a handful of pipers to play a couple tunes with the orchestra. Things seem relatively in tune. I wonder if the pipers just assume their A is really a Bb concert and play with that in mind, or if they somehow tune to A=440. I never got into the pipes enough (or played them with other instruments that tune to A=440) to know how that works, but I have heard pipers play with all sorts of band/orchestra instruments. So how do they tune and make that work? How about a euphonium/bagpipe duet? Hmmm....

[ghmerrill]

Our church like many others start off the new year with a bagpiper playing for part of their morning service.

I did not know this. It is a bit scary. Not at all sure it's common around here (maybe down near Aberdeen, or in the Carolina mountains/highlands?).

I've read that it's hard for bagpipes to play with other instruments like organ or piano. First off, they're not a chromatic instrument and by nature tune between a Bb and B natural.

I always understood that one of the goals of using the bagpipe in military contexts was to frighten (terrorize) the enemy. If so, this might account for the somewhat peculiar approach to "tuning" (a term that is perhaps best used loosely with regard to bagpipes).

Major Massie has 30 years experience as a genuine Scottish bagpiper and served 24 yrs in the British Army. He served in the Royal Scotts Dragoon Guards and The Queen's Royal Irish Hussars.

So ... 30 years of scaring the enemy. QED

[RickF]

(snip) So ... 30 years of scaring the enemy. QED

Yeah I guess, ha.

Here's a link to a page I read about tuning...
The Pitch and Scale of the Highland Bagpipes

edited link above

[howrdhodge]

Our issue isn't pitch, it's coordination. The Dartmouth College Commencement always starts with the graduates being led in by a piper playing Simple Gifts. I've played the last few years, and we join the piper for the final few repetitions while they are approaching the College Green, which must make for an interesting mashup as we can never hear the piper clearly once we start until he's right on top of us.

[ghmerrill]

... which surely means that you just need to allocate funding for more pipers.

[John Morgan]

... which surely means that you just need to allocate funding for more pipers.

Ha-Ha. Funny. As I said earlier, however, I actually like bagpipes. When I visited my brother in Seattle, I went to some venue where they had bands (sort of rock but I can't quite remember) and they had an amazing bagpipe player who was all over the instrument, going absolutely nuts, had the crowd going wild also, very entertaining.

I got to thinking about when I played in the orchestra (and bands before) with pipers. I think perhaps the pipers tuned to themselves as they usually do, and perhaps we played our stuff 1/2 step above what the pipers were playing. In other words, their A was our Bb. Perhaps that is how it worked together. We played the standard fare of Scotland the Brave and Amazing Grace to name a couple I remember. Also I think we played Auld Lang Syne on New Year's Eve, but not totally sure on that. I'll have to pay more attention next time around.