Technology lurks behind the skirling pipes and swirling tartan.

Tutors at the National Piping Centre in Glasgow, founded ten years ago to set new standards for the "noble instrument", are  teaching students from Germany to Japan, live on the web. However, the skirl that droned over  the Highland moors, and thrills the crowds at piping band parades, is a little too loud for computers, according to the centre's principal, Roddy MacLeod. "We play with the practice chanter because the quality of the sound is not perfect and the full bagpipe overloads the microphone," he said.

Most of the centre's nine teachers, including several of the world's top pipers, regularly use the Skype videophone system, he said. It is a "natural extension" for the piping centre.

The teaching of bagpipes banned after Culloden barred  formal trainingin place for centuries. But now, about 700 people take lessons in Scotland with the centre, and it has pupils from 41 countries on its books.         Courtesy: http://www.thepipingcentre.co.uk/tuition/online-tuition/

Mr MacLeod teaches an American pupil, a martial arts expert living in Japan, with regular piobaireachd lessons. "He sits in Japan and I sit in my office here and I have successfully taught him three pieces – The Little Spree, Sir James MacDonald of the Isles Lament and Glengarry's Lament," he said. "I send him the manuscript down the line. If I'm teaching him a new tune, I would play through the microphone and we progress through it line by line. He will try and play back what he thinks he is hearing, and I will pick up of points of expression or timing of technique as we go."

While critics say web teaching loses the subtlety and atmosphere of in-person playing, musicians such as the renowned violinist Pinchas Zuckerman have run master classes via the web for several years. It is only recently that bagpipe courses have taken off, as the technology has improved. New technology is also set to bring webcams that track a teacher as he moves, rather than forcing him to sit stock-still.

Enter the bendy pipes

Omani piper: Courtesy: http://i.pbase.com

Two military pipe bands belonging to the Sultan of Oman, who ply their trade seated upon the backs of camels, are suffering badly for their art. Proud men, resplendent in white uniforms and seated on bedecked and braided camels, they look magnificent until they smile, when they reveal large numbers of missing teeth.
This is the inevitable result of their mounts lurching unexpectedly when they are playing, thrusting 18 inches of rigid hardwood into their mouths.

The Sultan, a lover of the pipes - he has five other more fortunate bands which are not camel-mounted - has now asked Scots craftsmen to redesign the bagpipes with a bendy blowpipe to save his musicians from injury.

Kilmarnock based manufacturers McCallum Bagipes, has developed something that flexes as the camels sway graciously across the sands. Stuart McCallum, a director of the company making the camel- friendly pipes, said:
“I was amazed when I got the request, but I designed the device using computer technology. It's a flexible plastic tube that bends as the camel moves and can be adjusted in length, depending on how tall the piper is. There's a padded bit on the tip as well for extra comfort.”

Kenny MacLeod, a fellow director said: “One of the Royal Guard's three pipe bands play on camels and the Royal Oman Police also have camel-mounted pipers. “The Omanis were delighted with the prototype. Since we've got back they've asked for more samples to be sent over. Hopefully, we'll get an order for about 150.”

The bendy blowpipes are also being beta tested by the Scots group, the Red Hot Chilli Pipers, who, although they do not ride camels, play rock tunes on the pipes and jump around on stage, incurring mouth injuries. MacLeod said: “They were intrigued when they heard about the device.”

The “Bendy” pipes start at about £600 a set  going up to £4,000 depending on type, quality and trim. The Highland bagpipes became famous when they were used by Scottish soldiers serving the British Empire. But are familiar in many mountain regions worldwide,  Bedouin tribesmen called them the habban; in Germany (the dudelsack); in Spain and Portugal (the gaitas); and in Italy (the zampagna).

Compressor and computer behind robotic piper            

McBlare is essentially a traditional set of Highland bagpipes – drones, chanter and bag – fixed to a wooden board and powered by a custom-built air compressor with electro-magnetic "fingers" that open and close the tone holes on the chanter. It is controlled by a computer stored with around 50 MIDI (Musical Instrument Digital Interface) files of traditional bagpipe tunes and was developed at Carnegie Mellon University.

 "We are close to getting it right but not close enough," says Roger Dannenberg, the university professor who has led the McBlare project. "If the pressure is too low the chanter will stop playing and if it’s too high then we get what pipers call gurgling.

"It plays an ordinary set of bagpipes using an air compressor to provide air and electro-magnetic devices to power the ‘fingers’ that open and close tone holes that determine the musical pitch." ( McBlare: robotic bagpipe player. Courtesy Carnegie Mellon University)

Computer sets tartan to star at Cannes
Lauren Tempany models the specially designed SHIFC tartan dress. A recently commissioned tartan made in Moray for the Scottish Highlands and Islands Film Commission (SHIFC) was unveiled  at the Cannes Film Festival.The new SHIFC tartan and a specially designed dress, worn by Scottish model Lauren Tempany, was the product of a collaboration between Johnstons of Elgin and top Inverness designer Sandra Murray.

Johnstons' tartan brings to life the hills, glens, mountains and seascapes of the Highlands. It is based on the Royal Stewart tartan, and an evocative blend of Highland colours incorporates green for the ferns, forest and pastures; blue for the skies; pink and purple for heathers in bloom and white for the myriad burns and surf-swept beaches.

Murray, who designed the  dress worn by Ivanka Trump at New York's Tartan Week last year, has a reputation for bespoke designs of the highest quality, combining traditional Scottish cloths like Harris Tweed and tartan juxtaposed with the exotic, such as sequins, velvet and lace.

Her work this time incorporated a figure of Lady Macbeth digitally copied from a 19th century portrait painting by John Singer Sargent. The 11th century ruler of Moray, Macbeth, who went on to become King of Alba, was adopted as the theme for the SHIFC delegation's visit to Cannes, with his connections spearheading a special drive to attract movie makers and TV and commercial producers to Moray for filming.

Johnstons of Elgin captured the essence of the Highlands in the specially commissioned tartan unveiled at the prestigious film festival week. The firm was assigned to design and manufacture a tartan on behalf of the Scottish Highlands and Islands Film Commission, to be launched at Cannes.

The tartan is to be used, both at the festival and afterwards, as a tool to help promote the Scottish Highlands and Islands as a film location. It has been registered with the Scottish Tartans Authority and issued with a certificate of authenticity, so the individual design becomes the exclusive property of the Film Commission.

The remit given to Johnstons was that the colours within the tartan should reflect the colours of the Highland landscape. Designer Fiona Thomson was given the project and produced some computer designs which were shown to the Commission. After approval, a limited run of 250 scarves was produced, as well as 60 metres of fabric which will be used at Cannes and afterwards.

Alastair Macdonald, divisional director of merchandising, said: "Johnstons are very pleased to have been involved in this project, as we are keen to help in promoting our area of Scotland.

"Any increase in visitors, be it from film companies, film-related tourism or tourism brought about by media attention can only help local business. We are also very proud of our 211-year association with the area, and proud that our product is still wholly made in Scotland, from raw fibre right through to the final shop-ready product.

"It is also nice to be able to highlight one of the core traditional areas of Johnstons' production, as while our business is fashion-driven to a great extent, and we supply prestige brands all over the world, there is a balance and we do still manufacture traditional tartan and tweed of exceptional quality."

Lauren Tempany models the specially designed SHIFC tartan dress.

Web: http://www.thepipingcentre.co.uk/tuition/online-tuition/
Source: http://news.scotsman.com/
Source: http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/crime/article4045907.ece
web: http://www.mccallumbagpipes.com/
Source: blogs.zdnet.com/emergingtech//?p=278
Source: http://www.northern-scot.co.uk