ViperPiper's Bagpipe Tunes

This is my first attempt at writing a Piobaireachd.

Sorry if the midi file isn't quite right, for some reason, some of the grace notes don't play right.

Nice. It's hard to get the real feel of it when it's not actual pipes, and that is the nature of the instrument. The spirit and emotion is lost in technology. Would be nice to hear your personal translation. I think a lot is being lost in politics. It is nice to hear a lone piper playing for himself in the distant than seeing competition piping sometimes. You get more of that spirit. I am working on a piece for my Grandfather who passed away. He was a WWII Veteran and even though I myself am a veteran of Iraq, Kosovo/Macedonia, and Saudi Arabia, I think I owe it to him and the men who fought before me. Hope to see more, Rob.[/quote]

This thread has been quiet for a while, but I'll make a few comments anyway.

I am a fan of Roderick Ross' style of notating piobaireachd as illustrated in his collection BINNEAS IS BORERAIG. For those who are not familiar with this work, the tunes are written out with the actual duration of all note, according to the playing of Malcolm MacPherson. No time signatures are indicated, and no bar lines are used. The tunes are all arranged by musical phrases. (Ross also uses only three staff lines, which is quirky, but hardly a necessary part of his literal notation.)

So, when I work on a tune in BMW GOLD, I write out the notes which give the actual value I desire. The idea that you can't write out piobaireachd, that you have to have help interpreting it, is only partially true. I can't imagine NOT having a teacher, but, notation can be as accurate as light music for any given expression of a tune.

Especially cadence movements need to written with some actual melody notes, as do the Low Gs sometimes on a piobaireachd D throw. The reality is that we hear all or part of some these so-called gracing movements as if they were part of the melody. I don't like them to be turned into tiny 32nd notes overhead when they are in fact of significant duration.

I'll mount up an example here of what I do with my own compositions--all credit to Roderick Ross for the idea.

-David.

There's no substitute for Canntaireachd. The feeling it gives to the performance it creates has no substitute. I like some of the new stuff out there. We have to encourage both. Having roots in Canntaireach is a skill that all pipers should have. Just like learning cane reeds before going on with synthetics. Piping is definitely a life long journey, Rob.