404 - Reddit Q&A: What's The Hardest Tune Ever Written and much more (Dojo Conversations Ep 74)

What's the hardest tune ever written? What's the best pipe band performance ever? How should you travel with pipes? How do you choose tunes for your MSR? And what's the best way to fix a funky-sounding high G?

What do all these questions have in common? They're burning questions Reddit users wanted answered!

This week, Jim poses some of the most commonly requested questions from the r/bagpipes forum on Reddit to Andrew. They discuss chanter reeds' inconsistencies, the preference for modern vs. older bagpipes, and methods for learning and playing tunes by ear.

Got a question of your own? Leave a comment or send it to us at [email protected] to see it answered in a future episode!

Here's what we cover this week: 

00:00 Introduction to Dojo U Insider: The Ultimate Bagpipe Education
02:38 Exploring Reddit's Bagpipe Community
03:34 Deep Dive into MSR Competitions and Bagpipe Music Nuances
09:49 The Debate: Old vs. New Bagpipes
14:55 Navigating Sheet Music and Learning by Ear
21:13 Addressing a Piping Conundrum: The Flat High G Mystery
21:50 Decoding the Mystery of Bagpipe Tuning
23:09 The Art of Trial and Error in Tuning
24:30 Understanding the Unique Tuning of Bagpipes
25:03 Navigating Bagpipe Tuning with Digital Tuners
29:56 Travel Tips for Bagpipers: Carrying Pipes on Planes
33:35 Solving the Bass Drone Tuning Puzzle
37:03 Simplifying Bagpipe Tunes: A Hot Take
40:02 Celebrating the Best in Pipe Band Performances