Bagpiping requires ear for music and a good set of lungs
Maria Canton
Northern News Services
Pangnirtung (Nov 27/00) - It doesn't hurt to have a good set of lungs when you tackle the bagpipes, says Donald Mearns.
He has piped for the better part of 30 years, and making his way to the capital from his home in Pangnirtung to play at the Remembrance Day services for the last five years.
"It's like trying to fill a bath with four plug holes," said Mearns.
"You have to blow air into the bag to create pressure and then squeeze the bag while playing the three drones and the chanter."
The drones produce the background music, usually one sustained note. The chanter pipe produces the melody through a combination of nimble finger movements.
Mearns started lessons when he was a 10-year-old in Edinburgh, Scotland. His father bought the pipes Mearns plays in an an antique shop in Aberdeen.
"He thought he just found a cheap set of pipes," said Mearns, but the instrument is thought to be at least 200 years old.
"My private tutor recognized the style of the bagpipes and knew they were from the era of the Battle of Waterloo," he said.
Mearns plays at the Pangnirtung Music Festival and whenever the occasion allows for it.
"I usually take my bagpipes with me whenever I go anywhere," he said.
"But you know, the bagpipes are hard to practise because everyone knows you are practising.
"You either have to wait until the house is empty or go out yourself."
Although he doesn't read music that well, Mearns has a good ear for tunes and says that "diddling by ear" is traditional way for pipes to learn new songs.
During the Remembrance Day ceremonies, Mearns played Amazing Grace, Mist Covered Mountains and parts of Battle's Over.
