1 Gone Piping eMagazine schoolofpiping.com February 2021 ©schoolofpiping.com 2 Fáilte: First of all we would like to wish all of our readers all the very best for 2021. Obviously covis-19 is still the main issue this year and as a result it would seem that most of the international piping events would again be cancelled. Online contests seem to have become commonplace and as an educational institute we are very grateful for them so that our students have something to aim for. These have given our students some new perspective into their playing and made them look at other aspects like recoding and focus on sound quality. It never hurts to have a change of perspective and to be forced to listen critically to ones own performances. Our website, www.schoolofpiping.com is an Internet based resource for pipers. It contains an archive of technical articles, reviews, historical information, photographic albums, sound files and video files that are freely available to pipers everywhere. Most importantly it includes a Shop that supports the work we do to promote and educate piping around the world. Please feel free to pass this magazine on to any that might benefit or enjoy reading it with our compliments. Brett Tidswell ADVERTISING To advertise your business or product in this magazine contact: [email protected] Unbeatable rates and huge exposure. Copyright © 2021 School of Piping/Brett Tidswell All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted, in any form or by any means, without prior written permission of the editor. ©schoolofpiping.com 1 Contents: VALE: JaMes Haddow McIntosh MBE. Page 3 A tribute to Jimmy McIntosh. Corrienessan’s Salute. Page 8 Stories behind the tunes. Look the Part. Page 11 We look at appropriate headdress for piping events. What’s at the School of Piping Shop? Page 18 A detailed look at what is currently available at the SoP shop. Review – Bagpipe Tutorial. Page 24 We review the latest tutor book to come out of Germany. Ezeedrone Reed Combinations. Page 27 A look at what the latest combinations have to offer. The Little Cascade. Page 31 The composer and the real story behind the tune. R U Brown Events for 2021. Page 35 An update on the 2021 events. Classifieds. Page 37 Adverts for anything piping related! ©schoolofpiping.com 2 The UltiMate Guide to Bagpipe Reeds Purchase “The Reed Book – DVD-RoM” at: http://www.schoolofpiping.com/shop/advanced_publications.html Also available direct from stockists and various reed makers. What others have to say about the Reed Book DVD-RoM! “I highly recommend this book to anyone who wants to know more about reeds, how they are made, how they work and how to adjust them for whatever result you require.” Shawn Husk- Reedmaker “I doubt that there is another product that covers so well what this DVD covers – highly recommended.” P/M Bill Robertson - ex The Royal Scots I have gone through the DVD-Rom thoroughly and find its layout superb...user friendly and a timely addition to your text. This should be a recommended referral for all pipers, especially the experienced who are often in need of true and tried methods... many thanks and all the best. Ken Eller – Canada A Must Have Item For Every Piper ©schoolofpiping.com 3 James Haddow McIntosh MBE James Haddow McIntosh was born in Broughty Ferry, Scotland in 1925. At an early age, Jimmy’s father had arranged for him to receive piping tuition from P/M Tom Sutherland, Royal Scots Fusiliers. Jimmy joined the local pipe band. In 1939, and the legendary Pipe Major Willie Ross came to Dundee for a month, courtesy of The Piobaireachd Society, and Jimmy’s father enrolled the 14-year-old Jimmy for lessons. In October that same year, Jimmy’s father enlisted him as a boy piper in the Cameron Highlanders. At this time, Willie Young, a pupil of Robert Meldrum, was Pipe Major. It would be Willie Young who gave Jimmy his first introduction to ceòl mòr. This was followed in 1941 by tuition from P/M Donald MacLeod, after the regimental amalgamation with the Seaforth Highlanders. MacLeod was still going to John MacDonald, Inverness, regularly at that time. Jimmy was also sent to the Army School of Piping at Edinburgh Castle where he underwent further tuition with P/M Willie Ross. James Haddow McIntosh MBE Returning to Tayside, Jimmy took a job as an engineer with National Cash Register (NCR), played with Mackenzie Pipe Band for a short time then started the pipe band at NCR, which saw much success at the top end of Grade 2. ©schoolofpiping.com 4 When talking to a Dundee friend, Peter Forbes, Jimmy was persuaded to have another go at solo competing, something he hadn’t done since his Army days. From 1965 he had lessons from Bob Brown, Balmoral. This was to be a transformational experience for him and thereafter he dedicated himself to the study of ceòl mòr. After a couple of years, Brown had Malcolm McRae join Jimmy in the lessons much in the same way that John MacDonald had Bob Nicol combine his lessons. When Brown died in 1972, Jimmy and Malcolm then went to Bob Nicol. Jimmy McIntosh on his Vimeo channel Jimmy McIntosh won all the major solo piping competitions. He won the Gold Medal at Oban in 1978 (playing The Big Spree) and at Inverness in 1971 (Tulloch Ard) and in 1974 was the winner of the very first Glenfiddich, which in those days was called the Grants Piping Championship. Years later, he was awarded an MBE by Her Majesty the Queen and then he was also awarded the Balvenie Medal for his services to piping. Around this time, Murray Henderson, who had been going to Jimmy for a few years, went into the reed-making business with him. In the mid-1970s, Jimmy was part of a group that started the Competing Pipers’ Association. He was elected as their first President. Malcolm MacRae was elected as Vice-President, Hugh MacCallum Secretary and Tom Speirs as Treasurer. Jimmy immigrated to the US in 1982 and set up a piping concern. He had a huge and immediate impact on piping there and in North America as a whole. Many of his pupils became very successful internationally. During his early time in the States, Jimmy was elected President of the Eastern United States Pipe Band Association and put in place an efficient and thorough review of its judging and competing processes. In 1985, he assumed the position as director of the pipe band at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh. Piping had been part of campus life there since 1939. The position included ©schoolofpiping.com 5 overseeing the University’s move to have the instrument as a legitimate major in its Conservatory of Music. Jimmy produces a significant quantity of resources in the field of ceòl mòr, including a CD of 7 tunes, a Book of pieces in the “Balmoral” style, a tutorial video and a Vimeo channel of piobaireachd tuition through the EUSPBA. This is a tremendous collection of valuable resources. Jimmy always had a close connection with the R U Brown Piobaireachd Society in South Australia. Not just because of his time as a student of Bob Brown, but also personal friendships with members. He worked at the NCR with past secretary Moyra Smith and Alex kerr used to play in the NCR band under Jimmy. He first came and judged at the Gold Medal event in 1981 and the again in 2004. His presence was greatly appreciated and his tutorials and individual sessions with players were always well spoken of. Jimmy even called to ask if he could record any tunes for us on his Vimeo channel, which he very kindly did. He was a true gentleman and a master musician. Jimmy McIntosh will be sadly missed by all of us who knew him. ©schoolofpiping.com 6 McCallum Bagpipes ©schoolofpiping.com 7 ©schoolofpiping.com 8 Corrienessan’s Salute This tune is similar to “The Harp Tree” and has been a firm favourite with Pipers since it was found on a loose piece of paper with Angus Mackay’s manuscript, which Dr Charles Bannatyne acquired from the widow of Michael MacCarfrae, piper to the Duke of Hamilton. The name was linked to some scribblings on the paper but it links in rather well with a poem by Iain Dall Mackay, the blind piper, in which he describes a journey from Tongue to the West Coast and relates how the Mackays used to organize deer hunting and feasting at Corrienessan, which means a hollow with the waterfall. These feastings, which appear to have been held every second year, were attended by Clan Chiefs from near and far. Even from Ireland, Scandinavia and Europe. Having walked over the area near the Lodge of Gobermuisgach, there is a hollow; Corrie Ghrainde, which is at right angles to Corrienessan and the high ground between the heads of the two corries is a surprisingly large flat area. Corrie Ghrainde is an ideal “Elick”; that is a very steep U shaped hollow that ends abruptly at a vertical wall. Deer were driven up into this hollow believing they were escaping into a remote area, not knowing that in such a confined space the staghounds would have a relatively easy task in pulling them down. Staghounds in action The composer is not known and it would be tempting to ascribe it to one of the Mackays but the simple melody indicates an even older origin.