Locating the Kilt Pin

[OC Richard]

How can you tune two different notes on the Chanter? Or, is it a matter of finding the best compromise?

This video shows the process of tuning the chanter https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D0TjjqKR8T4

In the old days the fine-tuning of the various chanter notes had to be done through expert reed adjustment. There's detailed lore as to where to carve on the reed to fix each note.

But then adhesive tape came along! So you didn't have to know all that lore.

I remember when, say, McCallum came out with the chanters with huge oval holes, the idea being that you had the upper portion of each hole covered with tape as a matter of course.

I'm wondering how the bands who come from other CONTINENTS can afford to come to Scotland TWICE, a month apart.

Generally overseas bands just come for the Worlds and whatever contests are the weekend prior.

Unlike the USA where most Highland Games are two-day, over there they're usually one-day events.

So bands customarily attend two different Games on the Saturday and Sunday prior to the Worlds.

In the past when our band went to Scotland there was no "Major" that weekend, so we would go to, say, North Berwick on Saturday and Bridge of Allan Sunday before the Worlds. Both Games were crawling with overseas bands.

But now that Perth, the Saturday prior to the Worlds, has been declared a "Major" the overseas bands will want to go there.

The whole system of five "Majors" (Scottish, British, UK, European, World) is inherently unfair to overseas bands because for years the vast majority of overseas bands would only be attending one, the Worlds, due to the massive expense (in the neighbourhood of $100,000) of a good-sized band from Down Under or North America making the trip.

Now with Perth being a Major long-distance bands can conveniently attend two Majors back to back.

About non-pipe band people attending these things, I think for most attending just one of these things, either Perth or the Worlds, would be more than enough piping for a holiday.

The Edinburgh Tattoo would be far more entertaining for a non-pipe band person, I reckon. It's pipe bands packaged into a cohesive "show".

Edinburgh during Festival season is packed with tourists and there are so many concurrent events that nobody could see more than a fraction of them. I love the energy and craziness of it all but I'm sure a lot of locals either hunker down or get out of town.