inserted into the blowpipe stock and retrieved using a simple tool, meaning that every player, regardless of set-up could use it. Airfl ow with as little restriction as possible was high on top of the list, too, but the backpressure seal was also a key. Progress with the early prototypes showed us several things. It was an incredibly effective valve with little or no restriction on airfl ow, but depending on where we placed the valve within the stock, it also acted as a great water trap and assisted in condensing and collecting moisture inside the blowpipe stock. The air-lock within the valve body, while being the best way to actually seal the system within the stock, also gave the piper the ability to move the Moose Valve into the best position to achieve the desired outcome. The benefi ts continued to reveal themselves. Less damage to the bag from spit and water at the base of the bag, virtually unrestricted airfl ow, excellent seal, ease in removal for cleaning. The Moose Valve is, without a doubt, the best valve
I have ever used and the most popular product we’ve developed. Regardless of the valve you choose though, the seal is the key. Effi ciency from your bag is essential and helps with the stability of your drones.
Thomas Edison once replied to a question
about him failing to create a reliable electric fi la- ment globe. “I have not failed. Not once. I have discovered 10,000 ways that do not work…” Nigel and I have been developing piping products now for almost 10 years.
In the de-
velopment process we have come full circle to very simple, but very effective products. Over the last two years we have been developing the most logical, sensible and easy way to control the moisture to your reeds. It’s very close to production and we are very excited to get it out to pipers worldwide. In the last 15 years, guys like Alasdair Gillies,
Willie McCallum, Gordon Walker, Roddy Mac- Donald, Gordon Duncan, Greg Wilson and
Angus MacColl have all been playing synthetic and have beautiful harmonic and stable pipes. The recordings, whether in open air or packed recitals, are testament to this. The movement of a signifi cant number of pipe bands back to sheepskin and cane seems to be an indication that everyone is chasing that sound, that classic sound. I fail to understand why some bands with their own great sound, with their own distinctive and vibrant, quality sound, change from a tried and well-tested synthetic system to sheepskin and cane or vice versa, with which they have little experience. If a band has changed across to sheepskin and cane in an attempt to develop a sound like Field Marshal Montgomery, they are missing a very impor- tant point. Richard Parkes and other very talented pipers within the band have devoted years to perfecting the band’s own distinctive sound in the same way as Nat Russell and Victoria Police did with synthetic. l
THE NATIONAL PIPING CENTRE presents The Georgia Piping School
10–15 June 2012 • PRICES START FROM £380 ($600*) Kennesaw State University, Atlanta, Georgia
The National Piping Centre, Scotland, is the centre for excellence both nationally and internationally for the Great Highland Bagpipes. Attend our school and be taught by some of the worlds most successful musicians.
Piping Tutors: Stuart Samson MBE, Glenn Brown, John Mulhearn, Callum Beaumont**
Stuart Samson MBE Ex-Director of the Army School of Bagpipe Music and Highland Drumming
Glenn Brown
Gold Medallist 2009 and two time World Pipe Band Champion
*Approximate exchange value at time of publication **Staff may change due to unforeseen circumstances
John Mulhearn
Contemporary recording artist and overall winner at Northern Meeting B Grade 2009
Callum Beaumont Gold Medallist 2011 and
three time World Pipe Band Champion
To book your place go to
www.thepipingcentre.co.uk/schools/atlanta-georgia or email
twilliams@thepipingcentre.co.uk PIPING TODAY • 45
SYNTHETICS
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