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Piping in the press O


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PIPING TODAY ISSN 1479 7143


Editor: Roddy MacLeod MBE BSc Features and all editorial enquiries: John Slavin/Designfolk


email: pipingtoday@designfolk.com Mob: 0781 513 1116


PUBLISHED BY THE NATIONAL PIPING CENTRE 2012 Unless otherwise noted, the text, photographs and adverts are copyright © of the writer, photographer or designer. All rights reserved. The contents may not be copied or reproduced in any manner without written permision of the editor, Roddy MacLeod. Excerpts and entire reviews may be printed as long as credit is given to the author, artiste and/or photographer and the Piping Today magazine.


N April 10, we had the press launch for this summer’s Piping Live! and the World Pipe Band Championships. Piping Live! will run from August 6 to 12 and the Worlds this year will be on August 11. The coverage was widespread with photographs and comment appearing in most of the national newspapers. The photographs, which obviously caught the imagination of the picture and news editors, are of


several young pipers with their faces painted to blend in with a world map which shows Scotland at the centre, marked with a set of bagpipes. See page 6 for an example. What the pictures portray very well is that piping and drumming are pursuits which are enjoyed


all over the world by young people. This portrayal is accurate as it is our impression that the scene has never been more vibrant. I was pleased that Ian Embelton, Chief Executive of the Royal Scottish Pipe Band Association, shared


the view that the press coverage was very positive and that the collaboration between Piping Live! and the Worlds has proved to be an extremely positive force for the good of piping and drumming. Tickets are now on sale for both events so don’t delay! Information on ticketing for the main


Piping Live! events can be found at www.pipinglive.co.uk and for the World Pipe Band Championships at www.theworlds.co.uk. We are still hard at work here completing the detail of the full Piping Live! programme which is a mammoth task. A brief visit to the website will show you that we have some great nights planned featuring stellar names in the world of piping and traditional music. The full programme from top to toe will be ready online and in print by the end of May so look out for more detail in the next issue of Piping Today. While the early part of this editorial reflects positively on the press coverage of the launch of Piping


Live! and The Worlds, I would say that it does sometimes irk me that the limited coverage given to piping stories is often related to the light-hearted and frivolous and usually it will be a picture that makes the pages rather than a story. For example, last week there was a lot of press and television attention for the launch of a new iPhone


App called Airpipes. It was a fun story and one which was able to engage non-pipers and pipers alike in a Guitar Hero-like task of fingering a pipe tune on the iPhone while blowing into the microphone to keep the air reservoir topped up. Even for this story we had to have the obligatory and insulting press photo of someone standing with their fingers in their ears as if to protect them from the terrible sounds produced by a bagpipe. This pose has become so clichéd. The press also picked up on the story of the city of Vancouver banning the bagpipes as an instrument which could be used for busking. The good news is that the ban is to be removed. The phone lines were hot again with journalists wanting to enquire whether busking is good for the image of piping or not. Another old chestnut which the press seem to love. Light-hearted interest stories on pipes are getting the attention of the press but wouldn’t it be refreshing


to have some journalism in our top daily papers which focused on the serious side of our instrument? More in-depth stories which look into endeavour, research, collaboration, human interest or performance excellence, for example, would be very much appreciated. Let us hope that the launch of Piping Live! and The Worlds is also the launch of some more


considered journalistic reporting and reviews which we can follow with interest before, during and after these two great events.


by RODDY MacLEOD MBE, BSc Principal, The National Piping Centre


PIPING TODAY • 5


EDITORIAL


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