Pipe Band Forum

Response to tartan weight for band kilts

I've made two kilts and am working on a third right now.

I have taken two classes from Elsie Stuehmeyer author of the book The Art of Kiltmaking. She is very opinionated about kilts and has literally made thousands of kilts for all purposes.

The first kilt I made in her class was a 13 oz. Colquhoun weathered. Being my first kilt I didn't want to put out a lot of money for material. I love the kilt and it swings every bit as good as my 16 oz. band kilt. The main problem with light weight kilts is that they don't hide the stitching and minor flaws as well. By the way I'm wearing this kilt in my avatar picture.

The second kilt I made was from a 15 oz. tartan (Highland Granite). It's a beautiful kilt and one I'm very proud of. I made it for my wife who has perfect curves (hour glass shape). Unfortunately it's a lot tougher to get the pleats and aprons to fit these beautiful lines. I think if I'd used a lighter weight it would have been a tough to get the fabric to move the way I needed it to while stitching it. In the end it turned out very nice.

I'm also making two more kilts of this same fabric for my son who is nearly straight (waist to hips), and me (the opposite of my wifes curves). I'm happy with my light weight kilt, and if it was being professionally done, I wouldn't have much concern about the weight.

BTW: There is a photo on this page of me working on my son's kilt.

Pipe Band Forum - response to thread about Recording the Bagpipes

A few years ago my oldest daughter was dating a guy who played in a local rock band. His band had been together for several years and were mostly working local clubs and saving money to do their own CD.

On their first date he popped a CD into his car stereo and out came bagpipe music. My daughter asked him about it and he said he was a big fan of bagpipes.

A few weeks later he came over while I was practicing and knew several of the tunes I was playing (besides STB and AG). Just after my daughter and he broke up he called me and asked me if I would be willing to play the pipes on an intro to one of the tunes on their CD. He was willing to pay me, but he had treated my daughter well and they were still friends so I decided to do it as a favor and to have some fun.

The studio was fairly small and they had been recording each song in parts (vocals, precussion, guitar, etc.). I came in after much of the precussion had been recorded, so I had a beat to follow. I played a fairly simple tune (Farewell to Camraw by Robert Mathieson) for the intro.

By the way, knowing that they would be selling this CD, I wrote to Robert Mathieson and got permission to record it. He was very obliging.

To get the best recording, the technician miked the chanter and drones seperately and then put an additional mic in an adjacent room with the door open. I recorded several tracks with the drums playing through headphones.

In the end, I got a copy of the CD and it sounded pretty good although there was one spot where the drum beat was a little ahead of the tune (probably only noticed by me).

FYI: my daughter got married in September - to someone else