Hacking Bagpipe Competitions: Create a Meaningful Experience by Vince Janoski

The first round of the Bagadou championships was held in Brest, Brittany a couple of weeks ago. An amazing event. The contest features the top level bagad ensembles performing for about ten minutes to a relatively large audience by the sound of it. Viewers of the online live stream numbered near 2,000 at one point. [...]

Solo Piping Videos from the Metro Cup by Vince Janoski

May the blessings of G.S. McLennan be upon YouTube user ffmpad for he/she has uploaded video from this past Saturday’s Metro Cup. Alas, I missed it this year but the internet provides… Here are the medley performances of Chris Armstrong and Angus MacColl who were third and first respectively. There could not be two more [...]

Solo Bagpiping Hits the Internet Tipping Point by Vince Janoski

Is it just me or is there an unusual bounty of cool (recent) solo piping to be had over the internet these days? I’m not talking about past things on YouTube and whatnot (though that is good… sometimes). It used to be (way back in the old days, oh, like a year or two ago) [...]

Adopt Your Piping Power Pose! by Vince Janoski

Body language can shape who you are. What kind of piper do you want to be? It might just start with how you stand and how you present yourself to your audience. When we walk up to the judge, are you comparing your past performances as an indicator of how you will do now? Chances [...]

No More Frozen Pipes: Good Bagpiping Warms It Up 2013 by Vince Janoski

No more do pipers hibernate like bears in the winter months of the eastern USA. As winter wanes and spring waxes anew, there are a slew of opportunities to warm the ears with great live bagpiping, warm the fingers and start off your 2013 competition season, or warm your brain with workshops and lessons. Here [...]

10 Personal Bagpipe Resolutions for the Coming Year by Vince Janoski

Now that we are on the brink of another year’s turn, it seems a good a time as any to refresh your list of bagpiping resolutions. A happy, healthy, and prosperous year to all! The hubbub of the holiday season is over. You can now focus more on bagpipes! Whether or not you are considering [...]

10 Bagpipe Performance Goals for the New Year by Vince Janoski

Happy Hogmanay! The start of another year is upon us. As you reflect on the things that have influenced your bagpiping over the last ten years, you can begin the year by setting musical goals as part of your New Year’s resolutions. A good way to guide yourself through your next year-long ritual of bagpipe performance and competition.

Stream It All! Bagpipes Delivered to the World! by Vince Janoski

The historic free live stream of the Glenfiddich Championship was a rousing success, I’d say. Congratulations to Iain Spiers on his first win. If you were one of the (at peak) more than 800 viewers, you dragged yourself out of bed in the wee hours (like me), lost sleep watching it into the night (if [...]