Roddy MacLeod: Piobaireachd Volume One

Although I can't remember exactly which year it was, I can still remember the circumstances when I first heard Roddy MacLeod play a piobaireachd.

Myself and a group of pipers had been partaking of a liquid refreshment at the bar during a Bratach Gorm sometime in the 90's. We'd been talking about various makes of pipes, and their sound characteristics, marveling at how the same make of pipe could sound entirely different depending on the owner.

Old Hendersons were much sought after at the time, being seen as the pinnacle in pipe making. It was then announced that Roddy MacLeod would be up next, so we began to move back to our seats. "What type of pipe does Roddy play, then?" I asked. "Oh, I think that they are an old set of Lawries", came the reply.

I parked myself down and waited for Roddy to appear. Lawries, eh? I'd heard quite a few sets, quieter than Hendersons, not as much in the way of dynamics or projection, still, I'd just heard Bruce Gandy play a quiet pipe, and his music certainly didn't suffer for it. I'm sure it would be the same for Roddy.

Roddy entered the room, a quiet little smile on his face, and blew up his pipes. Quieter? It was a jaw dropping moment for me. The resultant joyous noise filled every corner and crevice of the room with a warm, powerful soup of sound, with harmonics so thick you could slice them like a Lorne sausage and have them for breakfast. There was absolutely nothing else you could do but surrender to that sound and let it just wash over you.

Roddy played impeccably, and left the room bearing the same quiet smile in his face that he had entered with.

Since then I have had the pleasure of seeing and hearing Roddy often. Have a look at our former winners page. It looks like Mr MacLeod has bought a season ticket, particularly for the Gillies Cup. If, thousands of years from now, archaeologists dig up the Gillies Cup from the ruins of what was once old London Town, there's a fair chance that it will be Roddy's DNA that they find on it, he's held it that many times.

These days Roddy is an MBE and is well known for being Principal of the Piping Centre in Glasgow, but he is still a competing piper, and very much at the top of his game. We are extremely fortunate, then, that Roddy has committed himself to a long time project which involves recording around 100 piobaireachds, and making the recordings and the sheet music for them available on CD, or on his website. 

Now, I'll admit here that I let Roddy's first CD release in this series pass me by when it was released a few months back. When Alasdair Gillies released his groundbreaking "As Played By..." CD-Rom containing not only a huge quantity of classic marches, strathspeys and reels played to the highest standard, but also a PDF e-book of the music for all the tunes, written exactly as played, I was thrilled. I still believe that this kind of format is going to be hugely important in the future of piping, as lesser pipers like myself can read exactly what is being played on the disc, with the hope of one day learning the tunes. "If only someone would do the same for piobaireachd!", I thought.

Sad to say, by the time that Roddy's volume One had hit the shelves, I was already immersed in the Donald MacLeod CD collection. Although I admit that I love hearing Donald's quiet spoken tones and practice chanter on these invaluable historic discs, there's still nothing quite like hearing the full piob on the full pipes. You then end up forking out for a Worlds Greatest Pipers or Piper's of Distinction disc to get a hold of a piob you want to learn, only to find out that it's not the full tune, or that it's the Angus MacKay setting of Mary MacLeod, or whatever, and not the one in your book.

To cut a long story short, I now have Roddy MacLeod's Piobaireachd Volume One, and it takes me right back to that afternoon when I first heard him play those fantastic pipes of his. The tone and playing are superb, showing that Roddy is still at the top of his game. There's a very good choice of tunes on the disc, the opening track, Struan Robertson's Salute, being the only tune I have not heard played in competition several times, in other words, they are tried and tested competition classics, perhaps to a Silver Medal level.

The playing is smooth, powerful and varies between hypnotic and astonishing, as good piobaireachd playing should be. Other tunes include The Little Spree, (with the theme notes "down" on variation 1 ), Corrienessan's Salute, Kinlochmoidart No.1, Massacre of Glencoe and the King's Taxes. The actual recordings are extremely well done, with a welcome professional clarity.

The actual music for the tunes comes on the disc in two formats. Each tune has a Bagpipe Music Writer file, which also includes the Nether Lorn canntaireachd running alongside the notes, and also a PDF file which contains the full tune, but no canntaireachd. Like Seamus MacNeill's tutor, or even Binneas is Boreaig, there is not even a nod towards any attempt at a time signature on the staff, with all the emphasis being directed towards giving each note as accurate a relative note value as possible. The result is that when you play the BMW file of the tune, it's sounds probably closer to any electronic attempt at piobaireachd I have heard, including movements such as the crunluath fosgailte. Each tune is also written out in full, so there's no need for your eyes to hop from place to place, you can put on the CD and follow the notes or the canntaireachd without visual interruption as you finger your chanter.

This is just the first volume in Roddy's series, and I am sure that the final collection will come to be as highly valued as those of Donald Macleod or the Bobs of Balmoral. The difference is that Roddy's discs can be used for instructional purposes, or just for listening pleasure. I am glad to have caught up. Roddy's website has already been giving us an indication of what future CD releases may contain, with tunes such as The Unjust Incarceration, The Princes Salute now available for download, with a whole load more listed. The future is certainly looking bright for ceol mor with a library like this being made available to all.

SPSL Christmas Invitational Contest - Great night at The Mudlark

The SPSL Christmas Invitational Contest ('Strictly Come Piping')  held at The Mudlark pub, was a resounding success.

Nine pipers played to a packed audience and offered a varied repertoire to suit all tastes (as well as a bit of festive uplift with Santa sgian dubhs, Xmas tree headgear and, in one case, the full 'Santa-in-a-Kilt' treatment).

Read more: SPSL Christmas Invitational Contest - Great night at The Mudlark