Marchioness of Tullibardine, Highland Harry, Loch Carron (Pipe Major Willie Ross 1929) Bagpipes

Pipe Major Willie Ross playing Marchioness of Tullibardine, Highland Harry, Loch Carron Bagpipes. Recording is from 1929.

[PIPERJIM]

My Grandfather was a pupil of the late Pipe Major Willie Ross. When my Grandfather was giving my brother and me lessons would always about the piping Legends. We would sit for hours just listening to him talking about them, and answers of all our questions about the good old piping days. But one question was answered very clearly. It was when my older brother would ask about female pipers, and did Pipe Major Willie Ross have have any as pupils. We were informed absolutely NOT..! under no circumstances would he have taught any females. My grandfather kept in touch with Willie right up until his death. He told us it was one of his saddest days attending his funeral.

[alanmolox]

It's amazing that bagpipe playing as come as far as it has, as you listen to this (and others of Mr. Ross) you wonder if they were uncomfortable with the fast awkward playing, and esp. the high hand notes (ugh!) are a bit flat, I just wish to reach into that recording and twist in the reed just a wee bit. I did have good respect for Loch Carron tho, very strong.

[paddythepiper]

Cheers love the new posts full of music and interesting info great stuff .

[clachan]

The recording was most likely from an old 78 record. I heard the late PM Donald Maclean playing the same 2/4 march on a 78 and it was fast, I also heard him  play live often and his timing was what you would hear today maybe a tad faster but just a tad. 

[donskene]

Ah man! My pipes! These are McPherson made with Henderson's drone.
Lost in a fire in 2014

[PoliceMisconduct]

This has got to be my favorite chune. I don't think it was sped up, though. I had the tape "Johnny Boy Goes Pipes and Drums" about 20 years ago and if it was sped up, most likely it was done with an expensive system. I noticed that some of the sheet music for M of T doesn't jibe with how he piped it. It seems like he added a lilt to it and deviated a little on the third part. Not sure.

[ChrisZ]

Some Grade 1 pipe band needs to take inspiration from this rendering of "The Marchioness" and play it as their medley opener. Round it out more completely and play all four parts at a flying hornpipe-style tempo. That would be cracking.

[duff]

Either way warped are not warped I just like hearing the pipes being played..wish I knew how

[pipertripp]

Can't say I like this style of playing. 110 BPM for a 2/4 march? While the technique was pretty darn impressive, that wasn't a very musical performance to me. No swing, to fast. I assume that this recording wasn't somehow sped up was it? Also, you can really appreciate Donald MacPherson's influence of tone/tuning standards when you listen to these really old recordings.

From a historical perspective this stuff is pure gold, I just don't fancy the style/interpretation.

[israelipiper]

My piping tutor was from the Glasgow area, and she began piping around 1907, being taught be her pipe-major father. Her opinion of Willie Ross's playing was that it was unmusically fast, and "chock-a-block" with embellishment.   Nonetheless, the recording may have been speeded up a bit mechanically.  It is not terribly musical, nor is Willie's fingering anything like the best I know from Scotland, Ontario, BC, NZ, or Australia.  The doubings are all crushed, and there are no subtleties of timing. And timing nuances are a major form of expression and personal interpretation--all of which are lost at this tempo. What is it--100 or 110 bpm or what?  I'd put this best in the mid-60s, and get the tachums back. I dislike hyper-fast inter-war piping like this.  Willie did slow down his interpretations as he got older. Many did. 

[michaelkazmierskidunn]

Excuse me, everyone: I am dead serious here: You do NOT know what you are missing Honestly, it is an absolute shame and horrible pity that almost every single person is listening to the raw, unremastered, warped and crackly versions of these old bagpipe recordings. This has to STOP! All these old recordings you have uploaded are honestly far, and I mean, FAR! from remastered. THey all still have the clicks and the warping and all that. So, in order to make the recordings obviously not so horrid, I went ahead and remastered everything and put them on my own Youtube channel, because I'm a stickler for good quality recordings. You see, I may be blind, but I could seriously make my living remastering recordings like this. I still don't understand why the College of Piping, the Piobaireachd Society, and other piping organizations don't even bother to remaster these recordings. I might get in touch with them and try to make them aware of this. You're honestly doing the piping community more harm than good! Why expose people to warpy, crackly recordings when they can be corrected?
So, all of you who are listening to these records, may I ask you to please, pretty please listen to them on my own Youtube channel? I bought Tony Langford's entire collection, which has more piping on it than what was on Ross's Music Page. I have corrected all the clicking, all the warping, and all of the things that deteriorate from the music. So please, if you don't mind?