Making a joyful noise....

So, by popular demand....

“The Battle of Sherrifmuir”
Traditional arrangement by Robert Wallace, from his book The Glasgow Collection of Bagpipe Music. This book is one of the first I bought after I started taking bagpipe lessons. It’s taken me just over a year to get to the point where I can play this 6/8 march moderately competently. In the meantime, Joann and I visited the Sheriffmuir battleground in March 1999. I played this tune on my shuttlepipes whilst standing by the monument marking the battle. Recorded 2/14/00; 56 sec; size: 458,711 bytes.

“The Bells of Dunblane”
Composed by Pipe Major Robert Mathieson, from his book Taking Notes (Third Collection). This is a slow air. (I’m playing the melody part. Someday, I might record the melody, followed by the harmony, making it a 2-part tune.) Recorded 2/14/00; 1:04 min; size: 523,703 bytes.

This tune refers to the 13C Gothic Dunblane Cathedral. And more. Writes Mathieson in the liner notes of his CD entitled The Big Birl [Lismor LCOM 5262):

The first time I ever heard the cathedral bells in Dunblane was during the tragedy of March 13th, 1996. The world media were trying to explain and convey the depth of sadness that had stunned the town. The silence of the people and the sound of the cathedral bells seemed much stronger than any spoken word.

Someone, having read a previous version of this page, was kind enough to send me liner notes regarding this tune from a different CD. A year and half later, another person perusing this Web page sent me the CD. (Thank you again, Jeff L.) From the CD entitled Dedication, by The Saint Thomas’s Episcopal School Pipe Band (Houston, TX), the Juvenile World Chamnpions, 1985, 1995, 1998 (this CD © 1999):

‘Grief is a minefield of emotion. Our feelings come and go. Yet even in the darkest night, we may, we must, believe in the light. Look for and long for the light.’ The words were spoken by the Very Rev. James Whyte six and a half months after a crazed gunman walked into Dunblane Primary school and shot to death 16 five- and six-year-old girls and boys along with their teacher.

An eerie silence descended upon this otherwise peaceful Scottish town as the people came to terms with this sudden, senseless tragedy. When the time came for the funeral services, the oppressive stillness was broken by the bells of Dunblane.

Pipe Major Robert Mathieson’s beautiful composition is a moving tribute to lives lost so tragically.

“Lynsey’s Lullaby”
Composed by Pipe Major Robert Mathieson, from his book Marking Time (Book One). Mathieson writes: Written for my youngest daughter in the quiet years. Let me add that this pipe tune should probably be played on small pipes, even the shuttle pipes. But the oxymoron of a lullaby on the Great Highland Bagpipes was too much to pass up. Recorded 6/17/99; 54 sec; size: 483,009 bytes. This is my first “recording” for the Internet.

More coming. Stay tuned.

Please note: These pipe tunes are in MP3 audio format. Nowadays, I first record the tunes as a WAV audio file using Syntrillium’s Cool Edit 2000 (“rebranded” Adobe Audition after Adobe acquisition), which then converts the WAV file to MP3 audio format. In the unlikely event you don’t already have an MP3 player installed on your computer, here are some to consider: