The Bagpipe Society

Grace Notes

It does not seem quite right to be writing the foreword to the Summer edition of Chanter, sat at my desk, wrapped up in a thick wool cardigan! Someone hasn’t told the weather that we are at the beginning of May and it should be warm now. Let’s hope that by the time this edition is posted through your letterboxes we are all experiencing some better temperatures, especially as we will soon be packing tents ready to set off to the Blowout! The Blowout, for me, is always the start of summer and then it’s just a few weeks to go before my other annual pilgrimage to Le Son Continu in a, usually, hot and sunny France. I hope to meet many of you at one or both events and the thought of catching up with fellow pipers (and hopefully securing future articles for Chanter!) is what keeps me going through the cold, grey skies of a Moorlands winter.

However, I can be transported to blue skies by reading Cassandre Balosso-Bardin’s adventures in California. Cassandre is certainly making the most of her time whilst in New York and she recounts how she escaped the January blues to connect with the piping and folk community on the other side of the States.

Another hot and sunny clime can be found in Greece and Macedonia.

Attending the IBO conference last year, my knowledge of different pipes and cultures was expanded by many of the talks, including that by Athanosis Ouzounis. He gave a fascinating presentation about the gaida from northern Greece and I’m grateful to him for sharing his experiences and knowledge with The Bagpipe Society. There are several links in his article to sound recordings and film clips and I encourage you to seek them out and also to visit his website at http://www.gaida.gr/ which is a fantastic resource for music and information on the gaida from this part of the world.

Athanosis talks about the continuation of a tradition by a younger generation of players but what happens when there’s a complete break and it needs complete revival and rediscovery? This is the story of the muchosá and Pol Ranson charts the instrument’s history and rediscovery in the first of a two part study.

Finally, there is the concluding part of Alexander Anistratov’s life story as a bagpipe maker which sees him develop his craft and have to uproot from his home and workshops, not once but several times. He is now in a much sunnier place and I hope the future is more settled for him.

As ever, I’m grateful to members for their feedback and encouragement as well as their photos and accounts of bagpipe encounters. Please keep sending them to me at janethepiper@gmail.com.

Dear Jane,

I thought you might appreciate this image of a bagpipe-playing unicorn. It comes from collectible cards in a popular children’s fruit-leather snack (doubtless others are available). I can’t help but wonder if this is the first ever image of a bagpipe-playing unicorn or if others are out there awaiting discovery?

We await further research.

Andy Letcher

New address for online Bagpipe Encyclopaedia

The magnus opus of Wiebe Stodel now has a new name! Do check out this gold mine of all things bagpipe related.

Dear ladies and gentlemen,

After serious consideration I have decided to change the name of my website from Editobari (which is an acronym of the original full title) into the much more obvious title Bagpipedia. The new link reads: <www.bagpipedia.nl>.

Though I’m still working regularly on the expansion of its contents, the lay-out and structure of the website remained unchanged.

Kind regards, Wiebe Stodel