After most of the piping and drumming world lying dormant since March 2020, 2022 was a year of triumphant return. As we have each year since 2001, we bring you the pipes|drums New Year’s Honours, as we look back at the previous 12 months to recognize the greatest collective performances, […]
Piping royalty Stuart Liddell of Inveraray, Scotland, has been made a Member of the British Empire (MBE) in King Charles III’s first-ever New Year’s Honours. The Grade 1 Inveraray & District pipe-major, elite solo piper and world renowned teacher was officially bestowed with the award “for services to piping and […]
Auckland, New Zealand – December 30, 2022 – Stuart Easton of Palmerston North, New Zealand, was the overall winner of the annual Northcote Invitational Solo Piping Competition, held at the beer garden of the Northcote Tavern in hot and sunny conditions reaching 25°. With a Medley preference, Easton nudged out […]
The Royal Scottish Pipe Band Association chose Christmas Eve as the date to reveal that a deal had been secured with the northern Scottish city of Aberdeen to host the 2023 European Pipe Band Championships on June 24, 2023, at Duthie Park. Aberdeen takes over the contest from Inverness, which […]
Wherever you are, whatever your age, however you like to celebrate the holidays, only the best to you and yours from pipes|drums! We have enjoyed bringing you hundreds of stories and features over the year, and we thank you for reading, commenting, contributing, subscribing, watching and listening. Over the next […]
Grade 1 ScottishPower of Glasgow has moved to play drums from the British Drum Company in sync with Leading-Drummer Jake Jørgensen joining the company as its newest “marching artist.” The band had been playing Premier Percussion instruments for several years under an endorsement deal, and becomes an official British Drum […]
Several years after implementing a formal policy, the Competing Pipers Association is getting tough on members competing before and accepting prizes from their teachers. The association has sent letters to members whom they have identified as receiving awards from instructors informing them that these prizes will be expunged from their […]
Ross Miller has gained a reputation for creativity through his compositions and recordings, and now the Linlithgow, Scotland, native and member of Grade 1 Inveraray & District is gaining attention for his continuing series of fun self-produced Christmas videos of arrangements of classic carols and songs on the Highland pipes. […]
The Internet – November-December 2022 – The Fall 2022 edition of the World Online Piping & Drumming Championships took in more than 600 entries across 80 events with contestants submitting videos of their performances that were then assesses over several weeks by judges around the world. The top solo piping […]
We continue with Part 3 of the pipes|drums Interview with Jim Sim. In Part 1, the 40-year drumming leader and president of the Midwest Pipe Band Association for the last dozen years talked about his pipe band origins and influences. Now, in Part 2, he takes us through the genesis of the influential, regionally iconic […]
In Part 1 of our exclusive conversation with Pipe-Major Jimmy Banks MBE, the highly decorated piper and military man talked about his air “Salute to Willie, the Royal Fendersmith,” the piece requested by and played for Queen Elizabeth II’s funeral in September. In Part 2, Banks discusses matters of copyright […]
On the heels of adding a piping instructor, St. Columba’s School in Kilmacolm, Scotland, is searching for a snare drumming instructor to teach part-time at the exclusive private school just outside of Glasgow. The successful applicant would be self-employed and must have experience working with school pipe bands and carry […]
In the 1970s, Vancouver’s Triumph Street rose to the heights of Grade 1 in non-uniform attire, with mismatched kilts, a variety of sporrans, shoes, buckles, and coverless bags. Almost 50 years later, the one-year-old Cascadia Pipe Band of nearby Seattle has been promoted to Grade 2, becoming the first band […]