Locating the Kilt Pin

[jsrnephdoc]

About civilian pipe bands, kilt pins aren't all that popular.

To put numbers on it, in Grade One (the bands with the best musicianship, and generally the best-dressed, who are "influencers" amongst lower-level pipe bands the world over) only four of the 14 bands were wearing kilt pins at this year's World Pipe Band Championships last Saturday.

Of course, WHERE to place the kilt pin should be asked in the context of WHETHER. My own collection of kilts remains small enough, and the cost of the pewter trinkets tiny enough (in comparison to the 8 yds of 16 oz wool and the cost of making it into a kilt in the first place, that I've solved the "whether" question by getting one distinct pin per kilt and not moving it around.

But, your marathon of watching the World Piping Championships causes me to ask ANOTHER question: Is it hard to get good tickets for the "Worlds" (online purchases months in advance vs. just buying seats at the gate)? And, if an in person visit isn't possible, how do you go about watching them from the US (do you need a VPN?)

A thing about uniforms is that the more items you add the more things there are to go missing or be worn wrongly. And so it is with kilt pins, it's extremely difficult to get everybody in the band to wear them the same way, and inevitably somebody will lose theirs. So the kilt pins, rather than making the band look more smart, make them look higgledy piggledy.

It's why the preponderance of bands don't bother.

My life in retirement is boring enough that I'm not anywhere close to being a daily kilter, and when I DO wear one, I'm surprised and delighted to see how often perfect strangers ask me intelligent questions. An example: Back in Bozeman, MT, the local symphony orchestra (which is SUPERB, by the way) did a "Movie Music of John Williams" concert. As attendees entered the venue, they were offered a chance to have photos taken with Star Wars characters (no, Jaba wasn't among them). My wife and I joined Chewy and an Imperial Storm Trooper for a portrait. The photog was an MSU undergrad. After he shot the pic, he asked me a question or two about my kilt. So, I started talking about the evolution of the "Lunar 2" tartan and barely got going before he asked "Barb Tewksbury made a kilt for YOU???"

So, I'll keep adding a new pin per new kilt.

Sadly because of budget cuts and other causes there are very few military pipe bands in Scotland now.

In 2006 all of Scotland's infantry regiments were coalesced into a single uber-regiment The Royal Regiment Of Scotland.

Every time I look, another one of the battalions' pipe bands has been abolished. As far as I know there's only four left:

2SCOTS
3SCOTS
4SCOTS
7SCOTS

The only battalion whose pipers wear kilt pins is 2SCOTS, here

Do those military bands participate in the World Championships?

And, two final questions:

The NYC Tartan Day Parade was where I learned there was an iOS app for tuning the drones (pictured in some of the YouTUBE videos of last weekend's "Worlds" now available as well, with the Pipe Major of the winning—wonderful—band doing it for his own group. Is there a similar way of tuning one's chanter? And, if I can gather my sister and sons for an August 2026 "Pipes and Drums" immersion vacation, are there other venues I should consider having on my list besides the Tattoo in Edinburgh, the Worlds in Glasgow, and the UK in Perth (apparently, that contest was canceled this year)?

And, thank you SO much for the lovely photos you often include with your SO informative posts!!

[OC Richard]

Of course, WHERE to place the kilt pin should be asked in the context of WHETHER. I've solved the "whether" question by getting one distinct pin per kilt and not moving it around.

For many years I only owned one kilt pin, a Celtic Cross I had custom made in the 1980s.

Several years ago I bought something I've long wanted but never got round to getting, a classic traditional kilt pin by one of the old jewellers. My first Highland Dress catalogue, that I got in the mid-1970s, was my first guidebook to Highland Dress and something like the Sears Wishbook rolled into one, and it had a full-page photo of dozens of traditional kilt pins. Well, 50 years on I finally got one.



So I have two, but much of the time I don't bother.

But, your marathon of watching the World Piping Championships causes me to ask ANOTHER question: Is it hard to get good tickets for the "Worlds" (online purchases months in advance vs just buying seats at the gate)?

It doesn't sell out so just getting tickets at the gate is fine.

The stands at the Grade One Arena are a different matter, they do sell out. I would get those in advance. But the stands are only on two sides, and a third side is just a fence, and hundreds of people watch for free from there.

How do you go about watching them from the US?

The BBC live streams the Grade One Finals at the Worlds every year, you can watch it from anywhere in the world for free. https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00dp4m5 (They don't have all the 2025 Worlds bands up yet.)

They do a fantastic job. Expert commentary is provided every year by Bob Worrall, an iconic figure in the international piping world.

It's a worldwide viewing party and Bob is the host! As it goes along he gives "shout outs" (imagine a Canadian accent) to the viewing parties being held in pubs and homes in Singapore, Australia, Johannesburg, Rio de Janeiro, you name it, as well as all across North America and Europe. The piping community wants to see it live no matter what the hour.

Bob has his catch-phrases which have become famous in the piping community. There's a Bob Worrall drinking game.

Do those military bands participate in the World Championships?

When I was at Perth and The Worlds last August yes the pipes & drums of 2SCOTS was there at both.

The pipes and drums of 3SCOTS and 4SCOTS also compete at various Highland Games when they can. Obviously they're sometimes deployed overseas and not available. Ditto the pipes & drums of The Scots Guards and The Royal Scots Dragoon Guards, which are London-based Guards regiments, not Highland regiments.

I learned there was an app for tuning the drones... Is there a similar way of tuning one's chanter?

There are TONS of apps and standalone handheld tuning devices designed specifically for the Highland pipes.

Yes they work for the chanter and drones both.

My favourite is the Braw Tuner app. I'm a visual person and I love the way it creates a map, a chart, of your chanter scale so at a glance you can see exactly where each note is at. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D0TjjqKR8T4

And, if I can gather my sister and sons for an August 2026 "Pipes and Drums" immersion vacation, are there other venues I should consider having on my list besides the Tattoo in Edinburgh, the Worlds in Glasgow, and the UK in Perth (apparently, that contest was canceled this year)?

There are tons of Highland Games across Scotland (and the rest of the UK) all summer. Most larger Games have pipe band competitions.

The biggest one of course is the Worlds, with over 200 bands each year. But Perth, the weekend prior to the Worlds, is nearly as big due to the fact that overseas bands generally arrive a week and a half before the Worlds so they can compete at Perth as well.

Perth did happen this year, and most of the bands at the Worlds were there. It's sort of the "warmup" for the Worlds.

Another incentive for bands to compete at Perth is that it's a "Major". Certain contests are designated "Majors" and function as the European Championships, the UK Championships, the Scottish Championships, etc.

Here's a list of the RSPBA contests for 2024. (Just to get an idea, you would have to check to see what the 2026 schedule will be.) Be aware that the "Majors" can switch venues from year to year.

https://rspba.org/results/bands/contests/2024/

[jsrnephdoc]

When I was at Perth and The Worlds last August yes the pipes & drums of 2SCOTS was there at both.

The pipes and drums of 3SCOTS and 4SCOTS also compete at various Highland Games when they can. Obviously they're sometimes deployed overseas and not available. Ditto the pipes & drums of The Scots Guards and The Royal Scots Dragoon Guards, which are London-based Guards regiments, not Highland regiments.



There are TONS of apps and standalone handheld tuning devices designed specifically for the Highland pipes.

Yes they work for the chanter and drones both.

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

There are tons of Highland Games across Scotland (and the rest of the UK) all summer. Most larger Games have pipe band competitions.

The biggest one of course is the Worlds, with over 200 bands each year. But Perth, the weekend prior to the Worlds, is nearly as big due to the fact that overseas bands generally arrive a week and a half before the Worlds so they can compete at Perth as well.

Perth did happen this year, and most of the bands at the Worlds were there. It's sort of the "warmup" for the Worlds.

My mistake. It looks as though it was the "British" championships that have gone into Limbo. And, I think the event in Perth is called the "European" Championships.

Apparently, there's also a separate "UK" Championships, which (at least this year) took place in July in Edinburgh. It might be delightful to be in Scotland that long, but I cannot imagine how I could afford to do so. I'm also wondering how the bands who come from other CONTINENTS can afford to come to Scotland TWICE, a month apart. But then, I was AMAZED to see what organizations managed to send bands (even High School bands!) from Scotland to NYC for the Tartan Day Parade…

But, a trifecta of the European, Worlds, and the Edinburgh tattoo might be all my spouse would be willing to sit through, and that could all be done in a 10-14 day interval.

And, I think my wife might be more interested in the trip if I could find another venue in addition to Lochcarron that offers tours of a historic tartan woolen mill. (I'd love to visit them again).

[PiperPadre]

[QUOTE=jsrnephdoc;1412404]How can you tune two different notes on the Chanter? Or, is it a matter of finding the best compromise?


Tape is your friend. If you look at the pipe chanters at your next Highland Games visit, you'll see most of the chanters have tape around the uppermost part of the holes on the chanter. To be honest, my own praxis is to have tape on every note. I get a bit nervous if there's no room to move further up on a hole - especially on the top hand.

It's a question of physics. The tape serves to lengthen the distance of exit of air from reed to a particular note hole. The longer the distance, the flatter the sound.

[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.

[jsrnephdoc]

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.

When I was a small boy, while my friends were listening to Buddy Holly, and a bit later, the Beatles, the music coming from our living room primitive stereo was either Harry Lauder crooning about the "Gloamin'" or the High vs. Low Road, or the Black watch or Royal Scots Guards (all from my Dad's scratchy "78s,") or on Saturdays, with my mom leaning in to the console because of the poor radio reception in Michigan's VERY remote UP, Puccini or Verdi (the Matinée broadcasts from the Metropolitan Opera).

My Ring Tone is the Skye Boat Song

I will admit I'm having a bit of difficulty convincing my wife that being a piping groupie for two weeks is the best way to spend precious vacation dollars…

[PiperPadre]

[QUOTE=jsrnephdoc;1412420]When I was a small boy, while my friends were listening to Buddy Holly, and a bit later, the Beatles, the music coming from our living room primitive stereo was either Harry Lauder crooning about the "Gloamin'" or the High vs. Low Road, or the Black watch or Royal Scots Guards (all from my Dad's scratchy "78s,") or on Saturdays, with my mom leaning in to the console because of the poor radio reception in Michigan's VERY remote UP, Puccini or Verdi (the Matinée broadcasts from the Metropolitan Opera).

My Ring Tone is the Skye Boat Song

Oddly familiar!

That was exactly the dynamic in my own house, although my dad wasn't such a Harry Lauder fan, more along the lines of old, scratched pipe band LPs, and some Jacobite folk groups (Corries, Livingstones, et al.) while my mom listened to Baroque music. Consequently , I became a piper and Baroque cellist. My ring tone is Nessun Dorma.

[jsrnephdoc]

My ring tone is Nessun Dorma.

On the cello, or on the pipes

[Jock Scot]

--------------

I will admit I'm having a bit of difficulty convincing my wife that being a piping groupie for two weeks is the best way to spend precious vacation dollars…

I am afraid that I can't help but agree with your wife.

[jsrnephdoc]

I am afraid that I can't help but agree with your wife.

Well, of course if we're there for the better part of two weeks we'll visit a few distilleries as well, but she's sampled alcohol only once in her entire life. I do think she'll enjoy touring the Royal Yacht Britannia, just a block or two away from where the king drops in to buy his kilts (or maybe he has someone else pick them up for him).