On the Rise Hornpipe Mark Saul


suite, Back on Track, the third in his railway trilogy that began with Hellbound Train, a piece first played by the Victoria Police.


Not content with producing quality pipe music,


in 2005 Mark developed his own custom electronic bagpipe and in 2008 he launched the world’s first dedicated digital bagpipe tuner capable of accurately tuning chanter notes as well as drones. This invention was shortly followed up by another first; a tuner for pipe band bass and tenor drums, now used by many top bands mid-sections including Shotts and Dyke-


head, SFU, Peel Regional Police and ScottishPower. Currently Mark is the teacher-in-charge and


full-time bagpipe instructor at Scotch College Mel- bourne, the current Australian Juvenile Champions, and teaches at piping schools in Australia, the United States, the United Kingdom and Asia as well as on-line. Here is Mark’s insight into his composing: When did you start composing? I started playing pipes when I was 12 and started


writing pipe tunes when I was about 15. Back then I mainly wrote the types of tunes I enjoyed playing,


so initially lots of reels, jigs and hornpipes but then later other types of tunes too. Eventually I enjoyed challenging myself to try to write pieces that were beyond the normal style of tunes and as original in concept as possible.


What inspires you to write?


I love writing music, I never get tired of the process and it’s always different and often a great challenge. I find that inspiration is not always necessary to write a good piece of music but it can help you get started. My inspiration has come from a lot of different places,


PIPING TODAY • 31


NEW MUSIC


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