Andrew Hayward

The Fair Maid of Barra

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Just feeding the blog monster.

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Dunedin has 'first of its kind' concert

Here's the first of the footage from last weekend's concert:

 

http://www.ch9.co.nz/node/14905

 

More to follow.

 

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Dunedinburgh Tattoo Gimmick

Last weekend I was involved with a performance given by the combined City of Dunedin pipe bands. Because I am a new member of the band, and because not many supporters of the band know my face, I played a role in an opening sketch whereby I was disguised in my casual clothes, and sitting in the audience as if that's where I belonged. When the MC came on stage with a shiny set of bagpipes (mine), he explained briefly how the worked and then opened the stage to any member of the audience who was brave enough to have a go at paying them. As rehearsed, I raised my hand and shouted, "Yeah, I'm keen!" The unsuspecting audience cheered me on as I made my way toward the stage.

 

The MC asked me my name and then handed me my pipes, which I took from him clumsily and put over the wrong shoulder. He smiled, then corrected me and gave me some helpful advice. I pretended to struggle. I made some horrible squeely noises with my chanter and I under blew my drones quite a lot, but the audience encouraged me nonetheless. My fingers were mixed up and I couldn't keep the bass drone on my shoulder, so I stopped pretending to be out of breath.

 

I asked the MC for one more try, except this time I blew up properly and started playing the Green Hills of Tyrol. I hope the audience was surprised, for they were certainly amused when the curtains opened and the rest of the combined band marched on stage joining me in the repeat of Green Hills. We received some very positive feedback from the audience, who generally thought it was a hilarious gimmick and a great way to open a concert.

 

Photos and video footage from the concert will follow.

 

www.andrewhayward.co.nz

 

Dunedinburgh Tattoo

Tickets are on sale now!

www.andrewhayward.co.nz

With piper (that's me!)

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Bagpipe music + copyright

Isn't it interesting that there is very little copyright protection in the world of fashion design? Designers, as it turns out, rip each other off all the time. Consumers like you and me do not often need to look far for perfectly sufficient 'imitation' designs of much higher-priced shirts, shoes and pants. I learned about it all this week in my music profession paper. Our lecturer played us this TEDtalk videofile:

It got me thinking about the copyright issues relating to bagpipe music.

The earliest collection of bagpipe sheet music that I know of is the Scots Guards collection (in 2 volumes). A tutor once told me that the release of these books was the biggest and most exciting thing to happen to bagpiping in the 1950s. Many, many pipers now own a copy. I don't have these books here with me in Dunedin, but I know from memory that the Gordon Highlanders' collection of bagpipe music has a very clear reminder about copyright at the beginning of each volume.

          

Of course, owners of copyright do not actually need to provide such reminders, but it should be assumed that all sheet music is protected by copyright, even if it doesn't display the © sign.

The issue with bagpipe sheet music is that most of it does not display the copyright (©) symbol, so many pipers assume that they are free to photcopy it, and re-distribute it however they please. Either this, or pipers just have little respect for copyright law. Much of the physical bagpipe sheet music that has been handed to me in the past 10 years is a photocopy from some book, and I have also been taught and encouraged to copy sheet music into a bagpipe music writer for digital storage and distribution. Even (or, especially) the music of contemporary piping Gods such as Robert Mathieson and Gordon Duncan is treated in this way, and their copyright warnings are very clear.

So is there such a thing as a financially-successful bagpipe music composer? No. Guts for me, but I have deduced that the bagpipe world still has very strong folk culture, whereby tunes are passed on from piper to piper quite freely, without any concern for the right to copy, and generally, people don't seem to mind.

Anyway, it's not as if anyone else chases this up...

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I Love Clubs & Societies at Otago

I was rather upset when I composed my last post, for I had just encountered an angry and 'not-very-nice' neighbour. However, the world of piping has once again been balanced, this time with the assistance of OUSA and Otago's Clubs and Societies building.

I approached the Otago University Students' Association with my North East Valley piping problem, and they recommended I enquire at the Clubs and Scoieties building for a music practice room. I was very pleased with this recommendation, so I talked over my situation with an assistant at the Clubs and Societies reception. She was very helpful in her manner of assisting me, and I came out with a regular practice room booked for the next two weeks, and a heavy weight off my shoulders.

I was also very pleased to discover that a blues harmonica workshop was being offered in the building, so perhaps next week I will go along and rediscover the blues harp in all its glory.

Thanks OUSA, good job.

www.andrewhayward.co.nz

My Poor, Poor Bagpipes [Edited]

Just now I have encountered the rudest person who has ever interrupted my bagpipe practice. She said her name was Queenie and that she was my neighbour. It seemed that she had nothing to say for a while, until she asked, "Can you play those things somewhere else?" I said nothing.

"...Every time you start up everyone says, 'Oh there goes that [blank] with his [blank] pipes.'" I was deeply shocked but still I said nothing. She went on to say, "It ruins our afternoons. I mean, it's OK what you're doing, I guess, but there's a reason why the piper's club is way up on Serpentine Ave where no one can hear them." She also threatened to call the noise control if I continued.

Needless to say, I was hurt by this encounter. Keeping in mind that this was the first time we had ever spoken to one another, I felt rather grumpy afterwards.

What am I to do? I was enjoying the freedom to play on my deck in the sun. I never play at 7:00 in the morning or late in the evenings. I am a musician trying to practice his instrument. It's my passion and it drives me more than almost anything else. Damn! I wish I lived in the highlands of Scotland.

I shall have to find somewhere else to practice...

www.andrewhayward.co.nz

This week in Piping

Well, on Tuesday I attended a meeting of the City of Dunedin Pipe Band. Although it's their 'off season'(there are no upcoming pipe band competitions), they are happy to train me for a concert they are preparing for after Queen's Birthday weekend.

On Wednesday I had my weekly leson with Geoff Hallberg, who taught me the science behind tuning a bagpipe. He showed me how to set up a chanter reed, and how the alteration of only one note can effect the entire chanter. He has given me some reeds to experiment with this week. I have already set up one - but how well I have done so, I'm not too sure. Inspection of my reeds will be next Wednesday.

I have started additional piobaireachd lessons with Bill Robertson via Skype. Former Pipe Major of the 1st Batallion Royal Scots, Bill has over 60 years experience in piping, with training from the Army College of Piping (i.e. from Willie Ross, a famous bagpipe composer and performer), and piobairachd training from Donald MacLeod (the most celebrated of all 20th century pipers).

www.andrewhayward.co.nz