Piper's Dojo Audio Experience

This week, a you-be-the-judge special, highlighting bands hoping to be World Champions in Grade 2 in less than a month! July 31st, 2013.

This week, a you-be-the-judge special, highlighting bands hoping to be World Champions in less than a month! July 24th, 2013.

This week, Andrew, Carl, and several other Oran Mor members will be in the house. Let’s just have an open session to see what things are out there to talk about! July 17th, 2013.

This week, we’re going to discuss how we built Oran Mor from the ground up, and how we currently operate. July 10th, 2013

This week, we’re going to look at some awesome technologies you can use to help your piping. The Dojo uses a lot of technology, and we’ll share some of our tricks with you. July 3rd, 2013.

This week, we’re going to talk about the process of beginning the bagpipes. What to do and what not to do, both from the student perspective and the teacher’s perspective. June 26th, 2013.

This week we have some top secret recordings, and it’s your job to tell us who’s the best. Trust me – this’ll be a lot of fun! Only on Dojo Universe. June 12th, 2013.

At the same time the British Championships were going on (we judged them last week), the first big grade one contest in Ontario was happening. We’ll have some more fun judging in this week’s Dojo Universe. June 5th, 2013.

The season is off and running in the RSPBA – let’s see if our results match that of the judges! We’ll use live polls and then match things up with the real results! May 29th, 2013.

Andrew’s away today, so Carl and Vin will play! Let’s talk about Weddings and Funerals. What’s the best way to plan for them? How do you tune up? And so on, and so forth. May 22nd, 2013.

Shh. We have some top secret maintenance tricks we’re going to share with you. But don’t tell anyone, because they are secret. Also, Adam Quinn co-stars with some awesome insight on composing (and a few funny anecdotes, too!). May 15th, 2013

Believe it or not, bagpipe music is quite similar to actual music! One of the things that a lot of pipers dont’ realize is – we follow chord progressions just like guitarists or orchestras. However, because we only ever play one line of music, we often loose site of what’s going on. Let’s dive in a little bit this week to check it out. May 8th, 2013.

Last week, the show reached pure CONTROVERSY over the validity of drumming in general. Vin started it, and then many in the crowd piled on. Guest “Andrew” held his own valiantly, but he was outrageously outnumbered. This week, the Eagle has landed. Michael Eagle, drumming extraordinaire, will demonstrate to us (and “school” Vin, as it were) just what drumming is all about. We’re long overdue for a...

No drummers were harmed in the production of this podcast. Repertoire expansion! How many bagpipe tunes are there in the universe? Well, you couldn’t possibly learn them all but, trying can certainly make one a more interesting musician. April 24th, 2013.

There are tons of books out there about creating music, several of which have really inspired us here at the Dojo. We’ll talk about the brave new world of music literature! April 17th, 2013

Scottish piping versus the rest of the world! What is it that makes piping out of Scotland so good? We’ll talk about this with special guest Derek Midgley, a local eastern U.S. piper who’s been burning up the solo boards in Scotland over the last few years. April 10th, 2013.

Dojo University hits its first anniversary! It’s seems like we’ve always been here, but yes, Dojo U has been delivering the finest bagpipe instruction online for only 12 months. Over that time, we’ve amassed quite a bit of quality bagpiping content. April 3rd, 2013

The bagpipe is one of the few instruments where players do NOT watch their music scores while performing. We’ll talk about the challenges of memorizing long tunes and long lists of tunes as well as share tips for making the whole thing easier. Also, how do we conquer the initial challenge of learning a tune – sight reading? March 27th, 2013.

Transitioning to the Bagpipe. What are some of the tips and tricks to starting off on this “beast” of an instrument? We’ll talk about all the things that will get you up and running on the big pipe. March 20th, 2013.

Spring Training! It’s time to get into form for the coming performance season. Whether you’re an active competing soloist or do the gig circuit, the warmer months always bring a flurry of activity for the piper. March 13th, 2013.

The “bag” in bagpipes. The seasons are changing and it is a good time to start fresh with a new pipe bag. But where do you start?

The famous Metro Cup was this past weekend, and Vin was there first hand. How did it go? Vin and hopefully you (you know, the guests) will have some thoughts about the weekend!

When it comes to bagpipe sound – you’ve gotta start somewhere. And actually, it’s impossible to produce good tone or tuning without a foundation of maintenance. So, we’ll cover the basics at this week’s Dojo Universe show. February 13th, 2013.

Allan MacKenzie has compiled an excellent new collection of Cape Breton music for pipers called “Co-chruinneachadh MhicChoinnich,” which contains gems from many composers. He’ll be on the show, and we’ll play through some of the tunes in the book. February 6th, 2013.

As pipers, we’re in a bit of a bind in that we only have one “volume” we can play, and that volume is best described as… well… loud. However, pipers across the centuries have been creating (or perhaps “simulating”) dynamics in extremely innovative ways. January 30th, 2013.