There are lots of crazy explanations out there about what “key” bagpipes are in, and how to tune them to other instruments. Without judging all the things you’ve heard, let me take you through my explanation, which I have put to the test on my two albums, and while jamming with many musicians (most recently, Bryan Adams! :D).
First, a brief, semi-accurate history of why the bagpipe is so darned hard to tune to other instruments:
Originally, the bagpipe scale-notes closely resembled the notes of other mainstream instruments. It may never have exactly matched up to concert pitch, but bagpipes did possess a coherent scale that was ultimately possible to fit into the crazy world of “music theory.” Our “A” was closest to concert “A,” and that’s how it got its name.
Where did concert pitch come from? To my knowledge, it was actually mandated by the church in Rome. Apparently, organists at various churches would attract more members to their church by cranking up the pitch of their organs! By doing this, it produces a psychological effect that makes the music sound better. Needless to say, this got out of hand over time, and eventually the church said “enough is enough,” and required all organs and other instruments involved with the church to play at a set pitch, wherein “A” = 440 hertz (aka vibrations per second).
Meanwhile, back at the ewe pen, bagpipes were undergoing the same phenomenon. Read More
A great article “Everything You Know About Fitness Is a Lie” by Daniel Duane in Men’s Journal suggests that perhaps many things we have been conditioned to believe about working out are not entirely accurate. The article delves into aspects of the “fitness industry” and describes all the machines, gyms, trainers, and methods that really do nothing but feed the cash hungry beast of the fitness business. His discovery is that true strength comes from a simple routine of free weights and exercises with fundamental goals—a program that hasn’t changed much in seventy years.
This got me thinking about bagpipes. Read More
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