Hi everyone, I am a very competent highland piper who for university has been required to pick up a set of Fred Morrison reelpipes. I have never played bellows before and my question is are bellows learnable without a tutor? I can play them but there is clear pressure fluctuations and I find it very difficult as I have never done it before.

I am curious about the general sense here, especially from folks with extensive teaching experience who have used one or both of these books, which of the two you prefer? What are the pros and cons of each? If you had to pick one of these to use as a core tutor reference book when teaching beginners, which would you defer to?

I've used both, but with small teaching loads, so I don't have a broad range to compare with. I learned on the Green Book (mostly, my instructor used it as a base and heavily subsidized it), but for obvious reasons I don't know what the NPC tutor would be like to learn from.

For reference,

The Green Book: https://www.thebagpipeshop.co.uk/products/tutor-one-new-edition?variant=7549587259456

National Piping Centre tutor: https://www.thebagpipeshop.co.uk/products/npc-tutor-1-cd-rom?variant=43566724879

Apologies for the long links, my browser isn't allowing me to use the link tool.

Hello from Kuala Lumpur! Need some help in identifying the pipe tune played at the 20-minute mark in this old tourism ad produced in my country. Pipes are unfortunately not as widely used in modern Malaysia and I'm trying to spread awareness where I can. Many thanks!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F4drldWF0dw

Doctor’s bore oil on the wood, and NEVR-DUL wadding polish from a local O’Reilly’s has really helped shine everything up. The bore in the drones seems straight enough for the parts to move freely even through all the altitude and humidity changes. Thanks for all the tips!

Next steps will be securing all the metal parts to the wood, fresh hemp wrapping, and testing the old synthetic bag for leaks when corks are delivered.

Got a weird problem where the neck of my sheepskin bag seems to dry out a lot quicker than the rest of it.

Despite trying to rub the seasoning in a lot more on the neck in the last season is still dries out a lot faster than the rest of the bag (1-2 weeks).

Has anyone come across this / has any advice - other than get better at seasoning. Cheers!

My tutor has picked up on my right index finger curling excessively around the chanter when I play. Im struggling to find anything online that will help me correct it. I'm trying to slow things down and focus on keeping it straight but then I'm unable to play anything properly. If anyone has experience of this or had issues with it themselves, what did you do to correct it?

I assume the Shepherd chanter is designed to be tuned to just temperament?

If you were playing pipes in Bb with a group would you stick with just or tune to equal temperament?

The connector that came with my border pipes seemed a little long so I made a mockup to see if I needed shorter one. This hardware store version is the Goldilocks length. But when I tried to take the connector from the hose on the original to trim it, I discovered that it’s on really good. Like seems to be glued on there. How are people shortening their bellows connector hose? Any problem with using the homemade version for a while? I’m loath to damage the original.

I haven’t used this chanter in a few years. I dug it up recently but it has turned greyish… how do I get it back to it’s former glory?

I'm going this year (stupidly excited) with another couple. My wife is well indoctrinated and will happily watch pipe bands for hours (she comes to the worlds with me willingly) but the other couple - I'm not so sure.

Does anyone know which bands are going? It's by invite only, so I guess I'm wondering if anyone here is in a band that's been selected. I might make choices of what to watch so as to not bore my friends.

From 16.30 min

Can anyone list the tunes played by Scots School Albury?

I know the second tune is Out of The Air but thats it

Thanks everyone

Hello! Silly situation but I’m panicking a bit and hoping Reddit can help.

I registered as a solo piping competitor for the upcoming VA Scottish games back in July, but seem to have accidentally deleted the confirmation email/ticket and it was more than 30 days ago so can’t be recovered from my gmail trash. I have the payment on my credit card statement so can confirm I did actually register.

I’ve emailed the contact email listed on the games site twice but have not heard back. Has anyone ever dealt with something like this or have any advice? I have competed before but this is my first time since 2011 so needless to say I am out of practice when it comes to registering and navigating the games environment etc. Thank you in advance!!

I am struggling with Scottish smallpipe reeds. I am quite picky, I am afraid. The sound must be lively and bright, and the tuning of the chanter without too much tape AND I would like to play with another smallpipe mate. And for once: not out of tune but sweet and spot on! I play smallpipes in c. I' ve heard Northumbrian reeds are great for Scottish smallpipes. Brighde chambeul would use these. What is your opinion? And if Northumbrian reeds are that great, why don't they make smallpipe reeds differently?

Hi, I was wondering if anyone has any experience in tying in a chanter stock on a Canmore (or equivalent) hybrid bag, instead of using the hose clamp. Do you need to pack it the same way you would as a hide bag, if so, what would you use for this. Many thanks

A friend is from Hungary originally and has Ben us USA for 20+ where he learned the bagpipes.

Preliminary look from me for home without his knowledge.

He is planning on moving back and is wondering is there are any highland bagpipe bands players who want to get together and play.

Anyone able to ID the name of this tune and where I might be able to find it? TIA

Please use this thread to discuss whatever piping related questions you may have, or comment to help others.

I’m getting back into piping after a 15-year hiatus. I found a few dozen chanter reeds that I had squirreled away in sealed film canisters. (Do they still make those?) Regardless, the reeds are pretty dry. Can these be slowly rehydrated back to some semblance of life? I image it’s like rehydrating a dried cigar :).
Cheers from Chicago.
-eric

Exactly what the title says. Im looking to purchase a set of (preferably gently) used Burgess border pipes. Id prefer African blackwood but leadwood is also fine. Ive also got an ad up on bagpipecentral but so far havent gotten any hits. If you have a set you dont use, why not make a few bucks?

Looking for the sheet music to A Call to the Gathering.

My google-fu has correctly identified it as being part of the same named Don Bradford book, but i can't find anywhere that has the book itself for sale.

Does anyone know if there's any digital version of it I could buy, or even if there's a physical copy that wont cost me three times the purchase price to ship to Oz?

I have bagpipes that are about 25 years old. I played them a little bit in highschool but have never played them since. They have been in a hard side case in temperature controlled house. I can not even remember the brand but I do recall we bought them from a reputable shop in Canada. We actually drove to Canada and picked them up from a guy in Ontario after attending a highland games. I live in Missouri now and would like to sell them. Anyone have any advice on how to figure out the value or how to sell them? I have no clue what they are worth....if anything. Is there a market for old bagpipes????