Bagpipe Music & Score Software

I’ve been searching for some decent software to print music and/or play it back. I originally began using PipeWriter which has quite a good MIDI playback feature, and it helped my sight-reading alot! The version I had bagun to play with in 2002/2003 did not print nicely though, so I was on the hunt again for notation software that could present publisher-quality hard-copy music. I’ve compiled a list of what I’ve found on the net and divided the different programs into groups according to their price (free or not) and bagpipe-friendliness. I’ll only post what I have had experience in… I’m not going to go into a long list of programs that I’m not sure of.

Bagpipe-Specific Notation Software

• PipeWriter – The demo version of PipeWriter v1.4 is available at members.aol.com (Alan Corrie & Lindsay Davidson’s site I assume). I have found a full spec V1.4 at teachyourselfbagpipes.co.uk and since the newest version of PipeWriter (v1.5) is out and for sale (for about $42) on members.aol.com, I don’t think it will do any harm to let you all know about it. I think this is an amazing piece of software. It takes some time to learn how to code the music in, but with a little patience this can teach you a whole lot about the music. Included in the full v1.4 download is a library of about 100 tunes for you to experiment with. I have pushed this program to the limit and have a few tricks and shortcuts if anyone needs them… just drop me a line.
• PiobMaster – Published by Ceolmor Software & Publishing, this is probably the most advanced bagpipe-specific notation and music score software available. It costs about $50 for a download version and the demo version of Piobmaster 2.3 is free on the site. Ceolmor also has available, for download or purchase, drumming notation software(DrumScriobh 2.3).
• Bagpipe Music Writer GOLD – An excellent tool to print and play both piobaireachd and small music. It costs around $100 and is very much like PipeWriter in that you have to code the music into the program.
• EDIT (1/08/2008) CelticPipes – Very useful notation software. This program seems to have many of the problems that I’ve found with other software sorted out. I haven’t played with it very much but from what I have seen, it made a very good impression. The evaluation version (which give you access to all of the features) is available for download on the site. Thanks to Kevin for giving me the heads-up on this one.
• ( EDIT – 2/10/2008) Electric Pipes – With Electric Pipes 3.0 you can play pipe and drums scores simultaneously, either all in one score or in multiple scores allowing a full band arrangement to be played. It really is your “Band in a Box”! Thanks to Steve for the link.

Bagpipe-Friendly Notation Software

• Lime & LimeViewer – Lime is a general purpose score and music notation software program. What I like about it is that it’s so adaptable to your needs. I have found it to be excellent at printing high quality sheet music. I have played around with it quite alot and it can have a few issues, but on the whole it’s very, very good. All of the music on my tunes page has been printed using this software. It’s not free, but the download from the site which I’ve linked you to is the full version. it just reminds you to buy every time you start it up, which can be pretty annoying (Registration costs $65). LimeViewer is free viewing software for Lime. It allows you to view and print, but not to edit the scores. I can’t find a download for this as yet though… apologies.

Well… I hope this helps. I learned a ton from experimenting with all this software… I hope you do too.

 

Gatherings and Beer…

I haven’t been to a Gathering for 3 or 4 years, so I was happy to see many old faces when I arrived at Benoni High School on Saturday. It was the last competition of the season and was very well attended from what I remember from half a decade ago. My brother played in the first event of the day with the King Edward VII School Pipe Band, so I arrived at 8am to drop him off still a bit worse for ware from the night before.

Before long I was meeting old friends and I found myself in the beer tent at about midday, slowly getting happier and happier. I spent most of the day with my old Transvaal Scottish B Pipe Major, Alan Leesam, and an old friend of Chris Mulinder and my dad’s, Peter Holdgrieves. It was great to catch up withall of them and throughout the day we worked througha case of beer with the humm of the bands in the background.

The day was not really successful for the SA Irish. They needed to beat 1Medical to win Champion of Champions, but only managed 4th on the day to come second for the season. They’ll take a good week or two off now before we all start to prepare for the Tattoo in September. Craig and the rest of the band were their usual happy selves despite the result.

I made a point on Saturday of not supporting anyone in particular… I have this tendencyto be really competitive in everything and I find that it detracts from my enjoyment of the activity in the end. So I made up my mind to just enjoy the sights and sounds. This was brought home a while after the massed bands and prize-giving when I was having a chat withan old school-mate of mine… a piper from one of the Gr. 2 bands came up and bitched and moaned about what seemed (to me) to be petty issues with the band’s score sheets. I looked around at everyone relaxing and having a drink after a long day, and almost told him to let it go and have a pint with us. Maybe I’ve been out of the game so long that it doesn’t bother me, and maybe those issues were legitimate, but I really wonder why people get so riled up over something that is supposed to be fun. I’m in no place to criticise though, so I’ll just be happy that I had an awesome day. I can’t wait to compete with the bands though…

All in all I had a great day. I caught up with some old friends, heard some amazing sets and was pleasantly surprised that the highland dancers are a whole lot hotter than I remember! There are a few solo contests before the end of the year that I’m looking forward to watching (and maybe competing in), but for now I’ll just get on with the practice at a leisurely pace.

 

All set…

Header and title… check.

Side-Banner… check.

Exhaustive Extensive list of links and band websites… check.

Blog Stats… check.

Calendar… check.

Archives… check.

Tag Cloud… check.

Chanter, set of bagpipes and some tunes… check.

I think I’m all ready to start posting and getting on with the practice. I’ve enjoyed putting this whole thing together… and I think I’m going to enjoy filling it up with tales of my experiences even more! It’s taken a while to get this site the way I want it to look, but I think it’s worth it… to anyone reading, please post a comment whenever you have anything to say – if I’m doing something right, or even if I’m being a bit of an idiot, all feedback is welcome. Even if you have nothing to say, drop me a line to say hi. It helps me to feel that I’m not just screaming into a lonely void.

So enjoy… I certainly will. I hope that if you’re reading this, you’ll get as much out of this as I am.

 

Bagpipe Blogs…

When I decided to start up this little blog, I began to do a bit of searching on the net for bagpipe sites and other pipers or bandsmen who were blogging. This is what I came up with…

Blogs

• Piping Girl – A blog by an American girl who is learning to play the Highland Bagpipe. The site has been running for about a year now.
• Irish Piper’s Blog – Tony Darnell in Colorado learning to play the Uilleann Pipes (the Irish Pipes).
• A Bagpipe Journal – Written by quite an experienced piper. I like to read his experiments with reeds, bags, gadgets, etc…
• Piper Pride - A blog by a professional piper. He’s got an awesome bunch of links and info on all aspects of the Great Highland Bagpipe… Piobraireachd, bands, small music, etc.
• Bag Pipe Lessons – Jori Crisholm’s bagpipe education blog.
• JustPipes – Justin Howland’s blog… a professional piper.
• The Captain’s Corner - Where piping education never ends!
• So You Think You Can Pipe – Brian’s journey to become a bagpiper.
• Bagpipe News – A blog with all the news from the piping world.
• The Voice – The online journal of The Voice magazine.

Grade 1 Band Websites

• Simon Fraser University Pipe Band – Founded by brothers P/M Terry and P/S Jack Lee, the SFU Pipe Band have won the World Championships in 1995,1996,1999 and 2001.
• 78th Frazer Highlanders – The 1987 World Champions.
• Field Marshall Montgomery – The 6 time World Champions, led by P/M Richard Parkes.
• Shotts & Dykehead – World Champions in 1948, 1952, 1957, 1958, 1959 (Grand Slam Year – Winners of the Scottish, British, European, Cowal and World Championships), 1960, 1970, 1973, 1974 ,1980, 1984, 1994, 1997, 2000, 2003 and 2005.
• Strathclyde Police Pipe Band – 12 times World Champions.
• St Laurence O’Toole Pipe Band – My favorite Irish band.
• Scottish Power – Sponsored by Scottish Power since 1989.
• Vale of Atholl – One of the most innovatively musical pipe bands in the world.

Local Band Websites

• Transvaal Scottish – The current South African Champions. The band dates back to 1902.
• African Skye – Under an African Skye…
• South African Irish – Gaurdians of the Irish Spirit.
• 1 Medical Battalion Pipe Band – From Durban, South Africa.
• Lyttelton Manor Pipe Band - P/M Liam O’Flaherty (ex-school mate of mine) started this band with pipers and drummers from Lyttelton Manor High School in 2002.
• King Edward VII School Pipe Band – My high school pipe band. My brother, in 2006 & 2007, and I, in 1999 & 2000, have been Pipe Major of this band.

Piping Interest Websites

• World Championships Website – Pipes and drums from across the world descend onto Glasgow Green every year with one goal… to become World Pipe Band Champions!
• Pipes|Drums – An amazing independant publication for pipers and drummers with up to date news from the whole of the piping and drumming world.
• Piping Live! – Wow!
• PlanetPipe – Pure piping pleasure.
• Australian Pipe Bands Community Website – A forum for Australian bandsmen… but you can probably join too if you’re not from down under. Not affiliated to Pipe Bands Australia.
• Pipeline – Radio Bagpipe!
• Wetootwaag’s Piping Podcasts – Bagpipes and whiskey… nothing more to say, really.
• Pipe Band Chicken – I can’t really explain the wierdness of this in one paragraph… you’ll have to read it for yourself!
• Piperazzi – Piping photos of the day.

Pipe Band Federations

• Royal Scottish Pipe Band Association – Organisers of the World Pipe Band Championships.
• Irish Pipe Bands Association
• Pipe Bands Association of South Africa – The Pipe Bands’ Federation in South Africa since 1980.
• Royal New Zealand Pipe Bands Association
• Pipe Bands Australia – The Australian Pipe Bands Association webite.
• Alliance of North American Pipe Bands Association – The overall pipe band association in the US. Members include the Alberta Society of Pipers and Drummers, the Atlantic Canada Pipe Band Association, the British Columbia Pipers Association, the Eastern United States Pipe Band Association, the MidWest Pipe Band Association, the Pipers’ and Pipe Band Society of Ontario, the Prairie Pipe Band Association of Manitoba, the Saskatchewan Pipe Band Association, the Southern United States Pipe Band Association and the Western United States Pipe Band Association.

Whew! A lot of work… but I’m enjoying finding piping and band culture throughout the web and the world! I’m still discovering sites and blogs, and I’ll post when I have some more… enjoy.

 

Baptism of Fire…

The Irish (SA) are a military band, and so they have the most massive repertoire I have ever seen! I got given a book of standard settings last night at practice and need to get the whole thing into my head as soon as possible if I want to start playing in the band.

I’ve added a page to this blog onto which I can publish my personal song-vocabulary and sheet music. I’ve learned quite a few tunes over the past week, but I’m worried that I get into the ‘just learn’ mode rather than the ‘play properly’ mode. My fingers are still pretty fast and accurate (thank God for muscle memory!), but I need to make sure I learn and play the stuff properly.

On a bit of a tangent – the band had to play for some senior officers in the pub last night. It was a bit of bad timing with a Championship just 3 days away, but the guys were obliged to play (they are a military band after all). It was great to see and hear the band as a whole, giving me a bit more incentive to get up to speed quickly.

I miss playing in a band… for months and months I didn’t want to join one. All of the bands I’ve played for in the past hack at the same tunes over and over, and are only really active during the competition season each year. The Irish, by comparison, have parades and functions throughout the year, and there is always something going on. I’m glad to have joined… after all the shit with my coaching (click here to read about it) and the politics in rowing, I’m thrilled to have found something else to occupy my time.

Check out my tunes page. I’ll update it as often as possible.

 

Hello all!

I have started piping seriously again after a 6 or 7 year break since I finished high school. I’m not as proficient as I used to be, but will enjoy the journey back to being un-rusty. This will be a kind of journal to publish my ideas, thoughts, tunes, compositions and experiments.

I’ve recently joined the South African Irish Pipes & Drums here in Johannesburg, South Africa with my brother James. I’m still learning the parade stuff and have unfortunately missed the competition season (it ends this coming weekend), but I’m hoping that the pressure from the other guys in the band will get me back up and playing sooner rather than later.

I look foward to developing this blog, and I hope to get some good feedback on some of the sometimes stupid things I get up to. Watch this space!