Video of the Week: Breton Champs!

This week's piping video is Bagad Kevrenn Alre's winning performance from last year's championship in Lorient, France.

If you've never been to the festival surrounding this event, it's spectacular! Some of the best live music I've ever heard came from small side street cafes and random tents that spring up down near the water. This championship is performed in a concert like style as you'll see in the video. The audience can comfortably sit in the stands of the local soccer stadium...gee what a novel idea!!

Jouir!!

Ban Scottish Bagpipes Eh?? Let's ban ignorance instead!

Ok people, we got a real point of contention here. I'm not messing around this time! Let's put an end to ignorance, specifically ignorance of celtic (in this case Scottish/Irish) music, its history, and its culture!

What am I rambling - nae - ranting about??!! Why an ever so eloquently worded (cleaning up my puke) article written by one Elizabeth Griewe. And yes, just so you know I spelled her last name incorrectly. It's spelled with the "e" before "i" and I'm not going to give her the luxury of properly spelling her name.

Now to the point - she wrote a commentary article for the Chicago Tribune. Its subject is why "we" should ban Scottish bagpipes on St. Patrick's Day and her history of growing up around the typical drunken piper...squealing cat bag... blah blah blah.

I could go on to point out all of the inconsistencies in her article. I could go on to point out her lack of research on the history of Scottish pipes and how they translate to the types of pipes that the Irish play. But, I'm not going to stoop to her level. I'm not going pull an Elizabeth "Griewe" and not do research on a popular culture/holiday and say that I don't like "X" and "X" should be banned.

What I will say is this; we need to ban this girl's and everyone's (that's a discussion for another day) ignorance of other cultures and holidays associated with them. The opening bravado of Ms. Elizabeth's commentary states; "Cover your ears! The bagpipes are baaaaack!" To which I respond to Queen Elizabeth COVER YOUR EYES! THE IGNORANCE IS BAAAAACK!

What can I say? How is it OK for her to recommend banning an instrument from another culture? What if I wrote an article saying how much I hated the sitar, or ummm...some other ethnically related instrument that was typically played on an Indian (or other country's) holiday?? Firstly, I love the sitar; secondly, I have no idea if that is something that actually happens in India. But, I wouldn't be surprised if it did, and you get my point here.

Look, I'm all for free speech (within reason) and people having their opinions. However, every now and then someone comes along and makes a blanketing statement about a whole group of musicians that they don't know anything about and have never heard quality playing on said instrument! The lesson here is, if you're reading this (what a lucky soul you are too!) and you want to write a commentary about another country's holiday, please please do your research on the history of any instruments/music and its significance to the natives.

Hey, if only Queen Elizabeth paid attention to the Palmeronian Rant, then she would be able to see some quality piping videos every week!!

Video of the Week: A Mighty Cauld Wind

Put yer jeecket on, there's a cauld wind blowin' through!

This week's video is a live performance of two highly talented traditional scottish musicians. The piper in the video is Finlay MacDonald, and the fiddler is Chris Stout. The two of them put together an incredible album, very much in that "session" style, like one might hear in a small pub tucked away in the recesses of Glasgow's west end. The video is a track played on their album " The Cauld Wind" and it's availabe on Google Play, iTunes, etc. etc.

If you like this track, then you'll love the rest of the album. Enjoy!

Uist & Barra Online Streaming...Am I Dreaming??!

As you may or may not know, the Glasgow Uist & Barra Association sponsors a competition each year in March, now held at the College of Piping in Glasgow. Some of Scotland's (and the world's) top players are invited to participate in a piobaireachd, MSR, and Hornpipe and Jig competition. The full results are listed at: https://www.pipesdrums.com/article/uist-barra-attracts-rich-roster-of-solo-piping-elite/



This year, the event was streamed live over the internet, and is now available to watch on demand at the following link: http://www.collegeofpiping.org/glasgow-uist-and-barra-association-annual-invitational-competition-update/

First of all, this is fantastic that events such as this are being streamed, and for those who don't want to wake up at 3 AM Eastern US time to watch live, it offers an opportunity to hear what some of the world's top solo players are playing, and how they're playing it. What an incredible learning tool these streamed events can be for new and experienced players alike! Personally, it makes me wonder how much it costs to stream and record these events and whether it couldn't be done more?

Events that are usually streamed nowadays (that I can think of):
-Uist & Barra
-Winter Storm in Kansas City
-The World Pipe Band Championship
-The Glenfiddich

Events that (I'm pretty sure) aren't streamed but should be:
-B.C. Indoor
-Maxville Gold Medal/Former Winners
-Oban Silver/Gold/Former Winners
-Inverness Silver/Gold/Clasp
-London, England (Bratach Gorm etc.)
-The odd pipe band competition -- Maxville, Europeans etc.


Again, I'm not sure how much it costs to have a single camera/microphone set up. But, as long as a person on the competition committee has a decent camera and an internet connection, I don't see why some of these additional events couldn't be streamed. It doesn't have to be a fancy set up. Take the Uist & Barr video: an unchanged camera angle, no fancy graphics, no maintenance, no hassle! We don't need to have a host designated to making comments and introducing the players with story after story of their playing history etc. Just a decent camera angle and suitable microphone will do!

Secondly, if you read this please watch Callum Beaumont's tune up for his MSR on the above linked video. He plays a slow air (I'm not sure of the name) that the crowd sings along to! I've never heard of this type of thing happening at a competition, and quite frankly it brought chills to my spine. Wouldn't it be neat to tune up like that all the time? That type of imminent adrenaline rush would really get you to put your best foot forward, so to speak! Clearly it worked for Callum. Although he didn't get a prize, I thought his MSR was really well played.

Well that's all for now folks. Lesson 1: streamed events are good for everyone...everywhere...ever. Lesson 2: play a slow air or song to get the crowd going and you'll always get a nice applause when you're done!!

Video of the Week: Matt "My-God"-saac

Hey people, get ready to have your socks rocked!

So each week, I'm going to post a youtube video that is piping/drumming related. The videos won't all be the same content. I'm going to try to vary the topics/instruments played. This week I'm bringing you an excellent video of an outstanding Canadian (or is it Canadien??) piper. His name is Matt MacIsaac, or Matt My-God-saac...you'll see what I mean when you hear his playing.

This video is of some competition he played in a few years ago. It's a March, Strathspey, Reel, Hornpipe, Jig set.

His tunes are as follows: (help me fill in the blank for ones I don't know)
-March: ??
-Strathspey: Arniston Castle
-Reel: Sandy Cameron
-Hornpipes: Donald MacLeod/Smelling Fresh by James Duncan MacKenzie (or JDM as I call him)
-Jig: ??

Hope you like it! Please comment with the March and Jig names if you know them.

Crieff Highland Games Cancelled

As Jerry Seinfeld would say, "That's a shame!"

The shame here is unfortunate news presented yesterday via Rob Wallace's growing piping/drumming website, http://pipingpress.com/. See the article here: http://pipingpress.com/2015/03/04/crieff-highland-games-abandons-piping-contests/

A brisk, mostly cloudy day at the Crieff Games last summer.

It seems as though the Crieff Highland Games, located near Perth, Scotland, has decided to cancel solo piping and band competitions moving forward! This is a terrible thing to hear for any solo piper, especially if you live in or travel to Scotland in the summer to play at the "games." This is especially awful on a personal level because this past summer, I was there and competed! In fact, there were 16 solo competitors, and a few who didn't play because they were told that no field entries were allowed.

The Crieff games committee is blaming the World's. "As you will be aware the number of both participants & spectators at Crieff Games piping competitions has dwindled over the past few years. We believe that this is down to the World Pipe Band Championship now taking place over two days on the same weekend." Again, there were 16 competitors!

While that may not seem like a lot compared to some of the bigger events over in Scotland, it's certainly a healthy number for one of the smaller games on the circuit. Personally, I think the games committee wants to save money by cutting events that offer little to no monetary profit. Even though several of the international competitors were there because the World's being the same weekend, it still isn't enough to push on and continue to offer a platform for solo pipers and bands to perform. We can only hope that this trend doesn't continue and if it does, only the bigger piping events will survive. Solo pipers won't have the chance to go to the small local games the week before the big one to get the cobwebs off, so-to-speak. There has to be another way, there just has to be!! Right?

Maybe with enough public outcry they'll add the piping for August 2015. I know I'd like to go again if I get the chance!

Welcome!

Welcome one and all to the PALMERonian Rant blog!

This blog will serve to inform those who wish to read of and discuss piping and drumming related material, a platform to do so.

More to come and stay tuned!


Yours aye,

Palmer J. Shonk