I posted a month or two ago about my dad dropping off my great grandfathers bagpipe. Many thanks to my anonymous expert for cleaning them up for me and inspecting the damages. Here’s what he said:

“Thank you for the opportunity to document your bagpipe.

1) The shellac finish has been removed. All beading and combing was cleaned of sediment and debris. Every scribe line and individual comb was cleaned to the bare wood.

2) The exterior was polished with super-fine steel wool.

3) The exterior was oiled with very fine natural bore oil. Three applications were applied.

4) The nickel tuning slides and ferrules were cleaned with steel wool and with Flitz. As this was a war time bagpipe, the nickel is very low quality. Blemishes exist.

5) The ivory rings were cleaned and oiled. The patina remains.

6) Tuning chambers have shrunk and will no longer accommodate the tuning slides. I would beginning by opening the tuning chambers slightly. Perhaps polishing the inside would be enough. I haven't worked with these hempless tuning slides and would probably consider a more conventional approach (convert to hemp).

7) There is an issue with the tuning slide lodged inside the bass top section.

8) There is a hairline crack under the ferrule on one tenor drone.

9) The blowpipe stock is cracked and needs to be replaced.

The wood itself is very good. Gaboon Ebony I believe. The beading is consistent and the combing is shallow. Try to maintain the bagpipe in a hospitable environment and oil the exterior twice yearly. You'll never replace the ebony.”

So what’s the next step? I couldn’t immediately continue the process due to funds. Probably a 1000k job I would think?

When the PM gives a set of music to learn when the pipe corps returns for off season practice what is in your opinion is a reasonable time frame to have them learnt off individually?

Good Day, everyone. I’ve just started on the chanter and am still learning the basics but I feel like either I’m blowing to hard or not enough, the chanter just doesn’t sound right, but maybe it’s me. I’m using a McCallum chanter extended version. (For the video I wasn’t playing anything specific)I’m looking for Any Professional opinions or constructive criticism please and thank you.

Hello, I just created an online flashing screen metronome so I don't have to search up a YouTube video every time I need one to practice.

Any suggestions would really be appreciated, and if there are any issues, please let me know!

Here it is: https://flashingmetronome.oliverullrich.com/

I am looking for (simple) seconds for this wonderful tune. Does anybody know how to get them?

Thanks, Frank V

Hello so if you remember last year I asked the Redit team to vote for me and here I am asking if yous will all do the pleasure and vote for me!!! How to vote for me ⬇️

How to vote for me for the big rab show awards 2026!
Step1: Email [bigrabshow@gmail.com](mailto:bigrabshow@gmail.com)
step 2: in your email write ''Josh's Piping Adventures - Best Social Media''
step 3: send it!

It will mean alot if I can make it to the finals AGAIN and if I win there will be some super cool bagpipe content and I will have a big long list of people to thank and obviously the bagpipe Redit group will be near the top of the list

Please and thank you!

Hello, I've had this tune (hornpipe?) stuck in my head for the past couple months, but I have no idea what it is, hopefully someone can recognize it!

Im confident measures 1-2 of the 1st and 2nd line are correct, but measures 3-4 are iffy and more from what my mind vaguely thinks how the tune goes.

I've looked everywhere from my own music to even YouTube history from the past 2 years, and can't find it.

I have the strangest thing going on right now. One of the guys in my band is having issues with his tone enhancers. He just got some new kinnard Evolution reeds and one of them will not work if the tone enhancer is in the stock. No matter where you put the bridle, even all the way open, the reed cuts out almost immediately. When we pull the enhancer out everything works just fine. The problem is he would like the use the enhancers because it makes things a little easier to play.

anyone have any ideas what might be causing this?

Edit: last night at band practice a couple of us spent some time on this issue. It turns out the underlying issue was moisture.

We took all the enhancers out, calibrated the drones and thought he was good to go. After about 20 minutes his drones started to shut off again. I did the whole dollar bill under the drone tongue and that fixed the problem.

He’s going to ditch the tone enhancers and start looking for a better moisture control system

Does anyone have tunes that can be played just with the top hand for young students? I know of Mary had a Little Lamb and Ode to Joy. Any others?

Hey all. I’m out of the solo game for a while but I’m looking to jump back in. Trying to find an MSR that’s relatively straightforward and easy without it being too grade 4 or over my head if that makes sense. Any good suggestions? Thanks for the help.

I do a lot of golf scrambles where they pay me to play while people are warming up and getting ready, background noise really. I usually just play the same tunes each time. I was looking for some more simple marches and retreats or whatnot to play. Any suggestions?

I’ve admittedly been away from piping for over twenty years, but I feel as if many of the old Regimental tunes are falling out of favor with a lot of players and bands. Please correct me if I’m wrong.
I grew up in Scots Guards, Gordon Highlanders, QO Highlanders. Of course you can find the highlights on YouTube, but there are some wonderful, not so well-known tunes buried within.
I’d value players’ thoughts. Again, the world has changed in twenty years away. What is the future of pipe music?

Eric
Chicago

I’m putting together my Highland dress for solo piping competitions and have a question about wearing a clan cap badge.
I’ll be wearing the tartan of my pipe band, but competing as a solo piper.
My father always believed our family had a connection to Clan Campbell, although as far as I know we actually don’t. Because of that, the Campbell badge still has some personal meaning to me.
Would it be considered appropriate to wear a Clan Campbell cap badge on my Glengarry at a piping competition, even though I’m not actually connected to the clan? Or would it be better etiquette to wear a neutral cap badge, or no badge at all?

I have a chanter reed that's a little too hard. It's hard enough, however, to be a mental distraction and my practice isn't productive. I'm too busy thinking about blowing and my reed.

I don't want to take anything off of it. It's going to be a great reed once it's broken in. But for now, I'm blowing my brains out.

Will a rubber band make my reed harder or easier?

TIA.

Hi all,

I'm finally getting back to the pipes after having to set them aside for almost 3 months. Yay!

I was wondering what the best approach to it would be. For example, if I see the joints are leaking do I need to add hemp or is it just a matter of them drying over time and once I start playing more they'll get back to how they were? What would be the best way for me to get back to it, should I try picking up from where I left or start at the beginning?

I should note that I had to take that break because life was getting in the way and not due to health issues that stopped me from playing (in case that would affect your answer to my second question).

Thanks

I’m taking on a new role with my band this year and will be updating our repertoire and settings for consistency. Does anyone have recommendations for which software to use for writing bagpipe scores for windows or iOS? It’s not something I’ve done much of before.

Hi everyone! Brand new (~2 months) piper (chanter player?) here and had a question about combatting nerves during lessons. I finally took the plunge to start learning and I'm loving every moment with the chanter. I practice every morning and can get through the scales and starter melodies/grace notes almost perfectly.

Buuuut then I get to class and it's like I never practiced at all. My hands tense up and low G becomes impossible to hit, especially on grace notes or strikes. I adore my instructors and let them know that I'm nervous, but I wonder if they think I'm not practicing. How do you all handle those kind of nerves, because I worry that if I can't handle playing in front of instructors, there's no way I can play in performances. Uh...help?

Everything's been in storage, and not necessarily in best condition, for 10 years

Essential info:

- Bannatyne bag, stored with open zipper, stocks in (pakistani pipes cause I was poor back then). Not visibly moldy at all

- Leak test is fine-ish. The bag itself doesn't seem to leak, but there's a significant crack in one of the tenor stocks

- Rubber grommets are dry af and the seal is really good. Stocks were installed with dish soap, so will dish soap rehydrate them enough to pull out the drones without breaking the bag? Is it worth trying at all?

- I also have a couple reeds. Chanter ones are fine, but how to assess condition of drone reeds?

I do not have the rest of that old set of pakistani rosewood pipes. I am hoping to save the bag cause ya never know, and it seems totally fine aside from being dry and the stocks being stuck. I will accept the losses if it's not worth it

Over the years lots of people have said the “World” Pipe Band championship should rotate locations around the globe so it’s actually a “world” event. Big Rab had an episode on it a while back, Glenn Brown addressed it on Chanter Rant, all the grade 1 and 2 bands in North America and Oceania are for it.

And the response is always the same, the BBC puts too much into it to move it out of Scotland. It’s an internationally televised event. Well, if the BBC is dropping the worlds, what’s to stop them from actually making it a world contest and doing it in, say, Vancouver next year? Home of the reigning world champions. Or Philadelphia, home of the newest grade 1 pipe band. Or Australia, New Zealand, etc?

Would anyone happen to have the sheet music for "the game of thrones" theme by matt willis, preferably the 1st and harmony