Piper's Dojo Audio Experience

'Twas the night before Christmas, and all through the Dojo, we've enlisted AI for some festive mojo! This week, Andrew and Jim detour for a special Christmas episode, enlisting the writing and artistic talents of very special guest to pull together the most bagpipey version of A Christmas Carol and The Grinch ever conceived (by AI)... Wishing all our followers and listeners a very Merry Christmas...

This week, Andrew and Jim welcome special guest and piping legend Jack Lee to talk all things piping, drumming and… cruising?! The upcoming Piper’s Dojo and Piping Hot Summer Drummer collaboration 'Cruise Journey North' departs from Seattle to Alaska on May 4th, 2024, with regular classes, private sessions, tune workshops, tune composition sessions, and opportunities to interact with local pipe ba...

Do your pipes ever feel hard to play? If you’re not asking these 4 questions every time you pick them up out of the box, you’re setting yourself up to fail before you play a single note… This week, Andrew and Jim discuss the 4 questions of bagpipe maintenance that are a ‘pre-flight’ checklist to make sure you’re set up for success every time you play. By making a system of these and building it in...

This week, we're welcoming special guest Ed Best – Dojo U's drumming instruction lead, rhythm guru and dad joke connoisseur – to chat about his approach to helping drummers find their own musical freedom. We dive into the ways piping and drumming can be similar (and how similar approaches between the two corps can benefit a band); how rhythm is the crucial foundation to all music; how drummers app...

Do your bagpipes fit your body – or do you make your body fit to your bagpipes?   Continuing last week's conversation about posture, this time Andrew and Jim challenge the idea that bagpipes are hard to play – according to Andrew they should be easy to play, always, but we all know that's often easier said than done... especially for newer players. So they follow up with some great tips on ho...

"Multitasking is a way of fooling ourselves that we’re being exceptionally efficient." Did you learn to play exclusively on a practice chanter, have to get a few tunes (with all embellishments included) memorized, and only then transition to the bagpipes – where you then had to juggle posture, blowing steadily, and many other skills at once? Like in every other walk of life – for bagpipers, multit...

Pipers everywhere struggle with seemingly perpetual problems like crossing noises, often doing 'reps' to fix them. But they're not even close to working out the actual cause of their issues... This week, we dived into the ups and downs of scale navigation (see what we did there?) – and along the way, took some wild turns into the history of gracenotes, the frustrations of teaching, how to progress...

Ever noticed there are certain bagpipe tunes that seem to become – and stay – wildly popular? This week, we're chatting about "viral" bagpipe tunes and trends. Where do they come from, what causes them, and why do certain tunes become so popular when there are other arguably "better" tunes out there? Got a question or topic you'd like answered in a future episode? Leave a comment or email it to su...

Playing the bagpipes is a complex thing – so when figuring out where to focus on for improvement, maybe we can learn some lessons from the emergency room... This week, we're discussing how to triage your "performance killers", by diagnosing the most fundamental issues in your playing and prioritising what to work on in iterative rounds of improvement. Pssst – we’ve recently launched our new, compr...

Frustrated at the neverending struggle to keep your bagpipes in tune? You’re not alone! But many pipers think that once you ‘solve’ tuning, you can move on… when really, even the best pipers in the world are still refining their approach to tuning. So how do you switch despair at the endless road to something you can not just live with, but enjoy doing? Changing how you think about tuning is the b...

Lincoln Hilton, founder of Modern Piping and online sensation, walks us through his trial and error tuning journey as a young piper coming up through the grades. This clip is an excerpt from Lincoln's hour-long interview, included as part of our new course on bagpipe tuning: "The Great Bagpipe Tuning Algorithm". Visit https://pipersdojo.com/tuning today to learn more!

The great Jim McGillivray tells us a bit about his tuning process and how he uses a "pressure variance test" to check he's nailed his bagpipe tuning. This clip is an excerpt from Jim's hour-long interview, included as part of our new course on bagpipe tuning: "The Great Bagpipe Tuning Algorithm". Visit https://pipersdojo.com/tuning today to learn more!

How do we optimize the pitch of our pipes, and time it perfectly with the actual performance? P/M Robert Mathieson and I discuss in this interview clip. This clip is an excerpt from Robert's hour-long interview, included as part of the new course. Visit pipersdojo.com/tuning today to learn more!

Your surroundings – particularly temperature changes and humidity – are vital considerations for any tuning process. World champion piper Callum Beaumont explains how important these are for him to think about when preparing to play at high-level competitions. This clip is an excerpt from Callum's hour-long interview, included as part of our new course on bagpipe tuning, "The Great Bagpipe Tuning...

Do you find it harder to hear your bass drone than your tenors when you tune? As it turns out, so does Jack Lee! So how does he manage this and the rest of his tuning process, to get that trademark beautiful tone every time he plays? Jack is one of many world-leading pipers we’ve interviewed for our brand new Bagpipe Tuning Suite of online courses, designed to help you finally crack the code of ba...

How would Matt MacIsaac teach you to tune? Matt’s one of many, many world-leading pipers we’ve interviewed for our brand new Bagpipe Tuning Suite of online courses, designed to help you finally crack the code of bagpipe tuning! Visit pipersdojo.com/tuning today to learn more. Inside the “Great Algorithm” Bagpipe Tuning Suite you’ll receive... In depth “Bagpipe Tuning in Theory” module, with quizze...

Introducing the Bagpipe Tuning Suite that helps you finally crack the code of bagpipe tuning! Visit https://pipersdojo.com/tuning today to learn more. Inside the "Great Algorithm" Bagpipe Tuning Suite you'll receive... --In depth "Bagpipe Tuning in Theory" Module, with quizzes to test your knowledge --Comprehensive "Bagpipe Tuning in Practice" module --90-Day Tuning Training Plan --11 full-hour in...

Ever heard someone say "real pipers don't use a metronome"? This week, we're discussing how rhythm is the most foundational skill any musician – including bagpipers – needs to develop. But do some people just naturally have better rhythm? Can you develop it? And how do you know when you've got it right? Pssssst... We're launching our new, comprehensive bagpipe tuning course VERY soon at Dojo U, fo...

Feel like you're flying blind when you tune your pipes? We have so many variables to manage while we're listening to our tuning – and chances are, especially if you're just starting out, you're not entirely sure what you're actually listening for... This week, we're discussing how to think of bagpipe tuning as an 'algorithm' – and if maths or computers aren't your thing, don't worry! At its core,...

Is your tenor drone sharp? Is your C flat compared to your drones? Are your drones flat or sharp compared to your low A? Who cares?! This week, Andrew and Jim discuss the "who cares" model of bagpipe tuning – where it doesn't matter whether you know instinctively whether your pipes are in tune, or even which way you need to shift a tuning pin or tape to fix the tuning. Instead, it's important to b...

For better or worse, digital tuners are widely used in the piping world. They're easier than ever to access, with many smartphone apps now available. And they're a useful reference tool that can show you what pitch your reeds are sounding at. But most importantly – what CAN'T your digital tuner tell you? This week, Andrew and Jim discuss the pros and cons of bagpipe tuners, when they're good, when...

It's the instrument we all started on, and a very different one to the full pipes... but for something that's mostly used for practice, does it actually matter if your practice chanter is blackwood or polypenco (plastic)? Long or short? Tuned or not? This week, Andrew and Jim discuss all things practice chanter, including what to look for and what to consider when you're buying your first, or in t...

While rushing and lack of control are huge problems for beginners and intermediates, if we roll it back a step further – do you actually know where the beat is supposed to go in the first place? Bagpipe music isn't always written in a way that makes that easy to answer. So this week, Andrew and Jim discuss where to place the beat in bagpipe music, how embellishments likely developed, and whether w...

Have you ever hit a wall in your piping? It could be because your foundations need fixing... This week, Andrew and Jim look at the root causes of player stagnation, which usually aren't fixed by doing more reps, or trying to play faster, or any of the many other ways we tell ourselves we'll get better if we just keep pushing. Often, the best way to progress is actually to take a step backwards – b...

Are you a "wet blower"? Many pipers seem to inexplicably have a bagpipe that accumulates WAY more moisture than their bandmates... but before you get too attached to that as part of your piping identity, you might want to hear what we have to say about the "myth" of wet blowing... On this week's episode, we explore some other variables that may be at play for "wet" blowers, like condensation, prop...