I ordered my bagpipes this week!!
After all this practising on the chanter, and memorising the chunes, and practising, and so on, I took the plunge and ordered a nice set of Dunbars - polypren, imitation ivory, and nickle trim. 
(I just didn’t have the $4,000 for the blackwoods with silver trim 
)
So, they should be arriving just in time for spring and outdoor practising!! Look out, neighbours!
Just keep the racket down or you’re likely to get kilt!
Bwa-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha…
I am so sorry for that.
God it’s late!
by the sound of 47 off-key accordians!
You could move next door to us. 
My husband and I dearly love the sound of the bagpipes…'course, he’s a Geordie and I’m just weird.
A few years back, Dawson City had a Mysterious Piper. Every once in a while, somebody would go up to the Midnight Dome over Dawson and play for about an hour. It sounded wonderful - I was lucky enough to be there at the right time once. He or she has not been heard in the last two or three years though.
CooL!
I play the whistles and flute and I just got a decent 10 key Irish flute that is in the shop getting repadded at the moment. Im also saving up for a Patrick Olwell keyless flute in blackwood with silver rings and tuning slide…droooollll
I am in great anticipation of the coming St. Patricks day weekend, lots of good music. In fact one of my favorite Scottish bands “Old Blind Dogs” are playing on Sunday! Woo! I cant wait:)
Yay for bagpipes! 
Aaaah ! Bagpipes ! The only true civilized musical instrument, me lad.
Bagpipes - one of the coolest musical instruments the human species has come up with. Possibly even cooler than the didgeridoo (though I’ve always wanted to hear a band with both).
I love watching the Edinburgh Military Tattoo when, after all the brassy pomp and bullshit, the lights go out, and one spotlight is fixed on a lone piper on the battlements. That’s so beautiful ,it’s chilling.
Bagpipes Rock!!
When I was a student at the University of Arizona, there was a guy who would go out in the early morning and play in this sort of ampitheatre in the middle of the mall. It was great to be on my way to an 8 a.m. calculus course and hear the pipes drifting across the campus. Beautiful.
I used to be in a British Brass Band, and one time we had a combined concert with the Drums and Bagpipes. They performed first, and then we went on. For the final piece, the Drums and Bagpipes came out behind us as we did Amazing Grace.
I played B flat bass, so I was already back row center. The bagpipes took up the entire back part of the stage. When they played that warmup note that filled up my entire range of hearing, I can honestly say it was the most beautiful sound I ever heard in my life. Even nowadays I get choked up when I recall that moment.
Definition of perfect pitch:
When you can throw a set of bagpipes into a dumpster without hitting the sides.
Enjoy!
How long did the chanter take to learn?
You better not live near England Drive or my girlfriend and I will hunt you down ;).
England Drive, eh?
Straight up the Lewvan and turn left - no probs!
So, what do you want to hear?
How about “Wild Mountain Thyme”
Bagpipes make me swoon! I would’ve had them at my wedding except that it was held in my father’s back yard and the neighbors objected.
Hmmm. That’s more of a song than a pipe tune. I’ve poked around a bit and can’t find a piping arrangment on the Net. But it’s a good song - now I’m curious to find an arrangement!
(It may seem strange that a Scottish song isn’t readily available for the pipes, but the piping scale is a bit different from the chromatic scale.)
Feel free to move in next door to us if you ever want to relocate to sunny Charleston. I would love you!
Oh-and Mr Blue Sky:
High-5! I dug it!
I, on the other hand, was studiously ignoring it. Hrummph.
Chrome Spot - I started three years ago, but my instructor takes three months off each summer, so 27 months. I’ve learned other musical instruments in the past, and never found them quite so frustrating in the early stages. I started thinking I could actually do it about a year ago, when it started getting more fun. However, I’m looking forward to getting my pipes - that’s when I really can say I’m a piper.
sidle - hmm - Charleston, eh? But I’ll bet you don’t get snow there…
happyheathen - you think a mere accordian, even en masse and off key, is any competition for the Great Highland Pipes? pshaw - they’ll be drowned out from the moment of the first grace note.
Everyone else - thanks for the words of encouragement!
Oh, and I was astonished to find out that AC/DC’s “Hells Bells” sounds really really good in the pipes…one of the pipers that came up for the Frostbite Music Festival was showing off one night.