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Looking for any bagpipe-related records,could be either cylinder or disc.


One thing I am specifically looking for is any of The Kilties Band records on Canadian Berliner or Victor Monarch utilizing the tartan label.

Try to get hold of Edison disc 50724 or Blue Amberol no. 4217 "Annie, My Own" Harry Raderman's Jazz Orch., circa 1920. That's got some really nice, loud and clear bagpipe in it.

Valecnik wrote:Try to get hold of Edison disc 50724 or Blue Amberol no. 4217 "Annie, My Own" Harry Raderman's Jazz Orch., circa 1920. That's got some really nice, loud and clear bagpipe in it.

I do have that one, Bruce. One of my favorite BA's!

It's one of my favorites too Brandon. I've got a couple mint copies on etched label disc and also the cylinder version.

I've often wondered who the bagpiper is. That's a very unique instrument so it seems unlikely that the clarinetist or the trombonist just grabbed the pipes for his solo. Also it just sounds too good. Does not sound like an amateurish rendition imho.

There are two Blue Amberol Scotch bagpipe cylinders in the British 23000 series. The pity is, they are not very good recordings - the drones overpower the chanters and so the tunes are harder to hear than they should have been.

VintageTechnologies wrote:There are two Blue Amberol Scotch bagpipe cylinders in the British 23000 series. The pity is, they are not very good recordings - the drones overpower the chanters and so the tunes are harder to hear than they should have been.

I'll probably still look for them nonetheless, it's interesting to listen to even the bad recordings (most of them were). I have to imagine bagpipes weren't the easiest instrument to record acoustically.

HisMastersVoice wrote:

VintageTechnologies wrote:There are two Blue Amberol Scotch bagpipe cylinders in the British 23000 series. The pity is, they are not very good recordings - the drones overpower the chanters and so the tunes are harder to hear than they should have been.

I'll probably still look for them nonetheless, it's interesting to listen to even the bad recordings (most of them were). I have to imagine bagpipes weren't the easiest instrument to record acoustically.

Oh, the recordings aren't terrible, but if half the drones had been muted, the chanters might have been more distinct. Watch eBay long enough and they will show up as they did for me. In the meantime, you can listen online:

http://cylinders.library.ucsb.edu/mp3s/ ... l7593d.mp3
http://cylinders.library.ucsb.edu/mp3s/ ... l6978d.mp3

HisMastersVoice wrote:

VintageTechnologies wrote:There are two Blue Amberol Scotch bagpipe cylinders in the British 23000 series. The pity is, they are not very good recordings - the drones overpower the chanters and so the tunes are harder to hear than they should have been.

I'll probably still look for them nonetheless, it's interesting to listen to even the bad recordings (most of them were). I have to imagine bagpipes weren't the easiest instrument to record acoustically.

If you decide to venture into Diamond Disc land at some point, get "Annie My Own" on disc. Comparing them, the disc stunningly outperforms the cylinder, even though the dubbed cylinder is excellent.

Valecnik wrote:
If you decide to venture into Diamond Disc land at some point, get "Annie My Own" on disc. Comparing them, the disc stunningly outperforms the cylinder, even though the dubbed cylinder is excellent.

Hopefully that will be soon, I have a nice C-19 with my name on it as soon as I can get to New York to pick it up!

Here's a bagpipe solo on Edison brown wax. This one happens to be on a Concert cylinder, but the same title was available as a standard-size cylinder.

I must admit this performance sounds a little bizarre to me - - and I like bagpipes! The arrangement is what you'd expect to hear by a fiddler...but it's a bagpipe. The drones are there in the choruses for two beats per measure as you'd expect, but then McAuliffe soars off on the chanter with no drones for 2 or 3 measures in what must be a virtuosic display of dexterity. Imagine Dizzy Gillespie on a bagpipe. The performance is repeated for 3 verses. An odd cylinder, which is why I bought it back in 1977.

If you don't already have this, set an eBay search to "Edison 7230" and maybe another one will pop up!

George P.