At Perth Bagpipes, we believe that four components make the perfect wedding piper: A high-quality instrument, solid technique, an understanding of musical expression and the proper outfit. These are the basics.
A High-Quality Instrument
Let's face it, we've all heard a bad piper, and it isn't pretty; no one wants to listen to a fire in a pet shop. It's simple; with the correct reeds, and a well-tuned instrument that is blown correctly, it will sound satisfactory. Nothing quite competes with the sound of a well-tuned bagpipe at a wedding.
Solid Technique
An excellent wedding piper must have a strong foundation of the basic embellishments and play them correctly. As pipers, we start by learning the embellishments that are used to decorate tunes, and once we have a strong foundation here, we move on to learn tunes. Then, we progress from the chanter (practice instrument) to the bagpipes.
Musical Expression
Once you have a high-quality instrument and the technique dialled in, the next part is to express the music in a way that has feeling and meaning. Traditional Scottish marches, jigs, strathspeys and reels have nuances, and we ensure to convey these to the listener.
The Outfit
We believe that the final touch is the traditional Scottish dress consisting of the kilt, which is accompanied by many other Scottish garments worn by the wedding piper: brogues, hose, flashes, Sgian-Dubh (small knife worn in the sock), sporran (pouch at the front) dress shirt, argyle jacket and waistcoat and the Glengarry or Balmoral (hats).
Comments