Recording project

For the past several months I have been involved in a recording project for the School of Piping site. It was my intention to at some stage produce a number of recordings and as it turns out two CDs have now been completed.

The first recording is a very traditional piping CD with a ground and two full (but short) Piobaireachd being played. Other competition style sets and some lighter sets complete the recording. These are all new recordings.

The second CD is a recording of all basic piping idioms. Common tunes learnt by and often requested of pipers. Over the years I found very little reference material that I was happy with on solo bagpipe for some of the common piping tunes, so I have been preparing these types of recordings for our band learner’s classes for years and decided this time to go a step further and offer them to a wider audience. Often requested tunes like Mull of Kintyre, Amazing Grace and Flower of Scotland have been included, but have backing tracks provided by Marcus Holden of the band, Fiddlers Feast to create a little more variety and wider appeal. As well as a tool for learner pipers, this album will hopefully appeal to the lover of the “auld favourites”. If there is enough interest I will produce other volumes in the future.

A great time was had and it was an interesting exercise indeed. Being involved in the back stage mixing and production is always an experience, and it is always a surprise to see how others interpret the sound of your instrument.

The next project is an all Piobaireachd CD. That will have to wait until after the worlds, as I will be over having a tune with the Strathclyde Police this year. I hope to catch up with a few of my friends while I am there.

All CDs will only be available from the School of Piping website.

Brett Tidswell