Professional Pipers

[Ancienne Alliance]

What are the normal wages for a professional piper in a wedding ? (besides the quaich ! )

Robert

[rongoms]

totally depends on many factors.
How many tunes, duration....etc etc.

Out the seattle way, it starts at roughly $300 to play the processional. Goes up from there.

Also, it depends on the quality of the piper. ONe of the local golf courses fired their long-standing piper and hired someone for about half the price and got exactly what they paid for.

[highlander_Daz]

from £95.oo up to £200 for 4 hours, some are more expensive, some are cheaper and you will regret it.

[Ancienne Alliance]

Many thanks gentlemen.
I see I'm not that expensive after all.

best,
Robert Amyot

[highlander_Daz]

Robert we should be charging more, I was recently at a wedding and the chocolate fountain cost more than my services.

[James MacMillan]

I am not a piper! But I have had to contract for the services of a few pipers in the past.

Here in Southern California the rates are generally by the hour with it being $150 to $200 per hour plus transportation costs.

I also did a short google and found these sites that should be of interest.

http://www.pipelinebagpipes.com/rentapiper.nxg

http://www.standrewspipebandvt.org/Fees.html

[JerseyLawyer]

I think $250 and up is about right.

Unfortunately, I've heard guys playing gigs who should be wearing a mask and carrying a note and gun when they go to collect the check, but that's neither here nor there.

[James MacMillan]

I should also say that a couple times, when it was for a funeral, and the time was set within a few minutes, the fee went down a lot. Once to $50 with no extra cost thrown in and another time the piper came for free, but the family gave him some money anyway.

If we are talking a professional performer for a Burns night, I think fees upwards to $500 could be born with ease, as the cost can be spread around the attendees in the cost of the dinner tickets.

Saying that the piper charges by the hour, and then only has to play for a few minutes skews things a little.

[JerseyLawyer]

That's true (the by the hour thing), but unless you happen to live right around the corner, you still have to get there, and warm up, and tune, and be waiting when the guests/mourners arrive.

So, probably an hour is a minimum rate, in most circumstances.

[James MacMillan]

I guess what I was trying to say, and failed, was the price should be set with the individual piper. He/she will know what he wants to charge, unless it is his first gig.