A question for Mr Mackie

Just finished watching the BBC coverage of the Edinburgh Tattoo. It was as entertaining as it was when Mrs FEEG and I were there in person 10 years ago. Absolutely stunning.

There is still one question that arises from it, though. When you are in Auld Reekie, the atmosphere around Festival time is great except for all the “bagpipe buskers”.

So, my question for Mr Mackie is, “Why is it that bagpipe solos sound like a particularly sadistic version of cat strangulation, whereas a massed pipe and drum band is one of the greatest sounds on Earth?”

6 thoughts on “A question for Mr Mackie”

  3. For obvious reasons we don’t do massed pipe and drum bands down here, in fact the soloists / pairs are few and far between, however …

    I do enjoy the sound of the pipes when on the odd occasion I hear them, a friend of my father was an ex champion player of some sorts, he was highly in demand back in the 60’s, 70”s and 80’s, his son continues the tradition down here.

  4. Well a lot of bagpipe solos are ‘laments’ (or dirges, depending on which side of the border you are on, but you may have partially answered the question yourself. The accompanying drumming gives a percussive accent to the tunes and is most stirring. I guess a single piper and drummer would raise the blood pressure a few notches. But my best take on this is to compare it with an amateur women’s choir. No single voice would cut the mustard but 30 voices in flow gives a more pleasant edge to the delivery … or am I being an old wind-bag?

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