Tuesday. Bagpipe Master Class.

I got up nice and early to check my email, only to find that the whole place is virtually dead at 0900. It turns out that the internet cafe doesn't open until after 1100, and most things only start winding up for the festival about then.

At 1000, I went to a Bagpipes Master Class with Bob Worrall [left] and John Wilson [right], which I'm sure will be a highlight of the trip. Bob and John were resplendent in pastel colours, as photographed above.

The master class started with a young French piper [about 16 or 17] playing a competition style march, strathspey and reel [MSR]. Then John and Bob gave instruction, and got the piper to play several parts of each tune with the new instructions. I was really impressed with how differently the tunes were played, a credit to the piper for his adaptability, and to John and Bob for their instruction. The instructions were interpreted for the crowd, and both were very entertaining speakers. The piper also got some instruction with a hornpipe and jig, and I know I'll take a lot away from the class.

John Wilson told a story about how the great highland bagpipe was classified as an instrument of war. He also told the story of the piobreachd he played, called The end of the great bridge. His pipes sounded fantastic, and the peformance will definitely stay with me.

Bob Worrell played a 2/4 march, a tune stolen from some fiddlers. He played music written by a composer he knew. It was interesting that the hornpipe the French piper played was written by a friend of his. It's a small world.

After the performances, there was a question time. The first question was about what equipment Bob and John used. It was a very contrasting list:

Bob Worrall:
1994 Naill Bagpipes
Synthetic Ross Bag
Rocket Drone Reeds [plastic reed with graphite? tongue [I have a set]]

John Wilson:
1886 Henderson Bagpipes
Sheep skin bag [from a Scottish sheep that goes baaaaaa [needed no interpretation]]
Cane drone reeds

The difference prompted Bob to joke that John was a dinosaur, and for John to point out the quality of sound he achieves with his setup.

Another interesting difference was that while John had a chanter reed that was 3 weeks old, Bob had a McAllister reed that was 18 years old, and that the reed had outlived its maker.

The comparisons continued with shoes and watches, but stopped short before a final comparison could be made.