I didn’t plan to start a new thread but I wasn’t sure which post I could add it to. Those instruments you love to hate, though no mention of crumhorns. Any more to add?
Today is of course International Bagpipe Day
Where has the year gone?
I appreciate this is a niche area, but as today is International Bagpipe Day it’s time to celebrate the instrument that’s loved and loathed equally.
Here is Luigi Lai who I saw many years ago and it was one of those what did I see and hear moments. The launeddas are played using the mouth as the ‘bag’.
Enjoy.
Encounters with Civilians #2
A few years back in this place, in our time-honoured way, we shared our tales of what happens at the Venn diagram intersection of our own musical world and the normal lives of the rest of our world – family, non-music friends, colleagues. I was reminded of this on this day last year. One of my union muckers, aware that I was unlikely to be doing something straightforward like going to see the Alex, had driven the local train to take me to Crewe and once there, I was greeted with a
“Eh up, lad, where you off to?” “Audlem Bagpipe and Hurdy Gurdy Day.” “Do you know? I regretted asking that question even before I’d finished asking it.”
So how are the experiences with civilians going?
Further, while I know from blogs passim that this musical combination sounds like a real horror show to many of you, and the accompanying link probably won’t convert you. But surely you’ve got to love that, for one day a year, an obscure village on the Cheshire/Shropshire border becomes the focus for drone-driven dance music. There will be Northumbrian pipes, uilleann pipes, border pipes, English bagpipes and so much more than » Continue Reading.
