I have to intervene at this point and say that all these pipe bands that combine modern instruments all owe a debt to Gordon Duncan, in Fact I think Stuart Cassels from the RHCPipers was one of Gordons students, Gordon experimented with modern instruments on the 3 CDs he made and "just for Seamus" combines a piobaireachd tune with a dance beat, at the time Gordon was slated for the way he mixed traditional and modern and when he was pipe major of the Vale pipe band he played ground breaking tunes that are commonplace these days, whilst most of the pipers in the RHCPipers and Albannach and the tinkers johnny bagpipes etc are very very good, Id reccomend you listen to Gordon Duncan and he will put a whole new perspective on the instrument, he is regarded as one of the finest if not the finest piper that ever struck in a set of pipes, he playing is quite simply astonishing, yet he always found time to teach young people to play, and despite playing all over the world and inspiring so many pipers his job was emptying the bins in his home town of Pitlochry.
Tragically Gordon Duncan took his own life on the 14th December 2005

www.gordonduncan.co.uk