Roddy MacLeod,

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(born August 26, 1962) is a Scottish bagpiper, director of the annual

Piping Live! Festival The Piping Live! Festival (a.k.a. Piping Hot Festival) is an annual bagpiping event held in Glasgow by the National Piping Centre. The festival was created in 2003 and occurs on the run-up to the World Pipe Band Championships. It is estimated th ...

and former principal of the

National Piping Centre The National Piping Centre is an institution in Glasgow, Scotland, dedicated to the playing of the bagpipes, to include not only the Great Highland Bagpipes, but also the Scottish smallpipes and Irish uileann pipes, as well as other traditional ...

. He is known to be vocal against Scottish reforms in the realm of piping. In 2006, when the government ordered pipers to play quietly, and protect their ears whilst practising, he was quoted as saying; ''""If you are practising to become a serious piper, you cannot do so within these kinds of limits."'' In the same year he campaigned to introduce means-testing to acquire a busker's licence in

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...

. After speaking out against the lack of piping teachers in Scottish schools, he introduced

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lessons in 2008 for would-be pipers as a potential solution to the problem. He also suggested that the

chanter The chanter is the part of the bagpipe upon which the player creates the melody. It consists of a number of finger-holes, and in its simpler forms looks similar to a recorder. On more elaborate bagpipes, such as the Northumbrian bagpipes or the ...

replace the

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in primary schools. He is a ten-time winner of the

Piobaireachd Pibroch, or is an art music genre associated primarily with the Scottish Highlands that is characterised by extended compositions with a melodic theme and elaborate formal variations. Strictly meaning "piping" in Scottish Gaelic, has for some f ...

at the Glenfiddich Solo Piping Championship; a record, and has won the overall title five times. In 2012 he was inducted into the

Scottish Traditional Hall of Fame Scottish usually refers to something of, from, or related to Scotland, including: *Scottish Gaelic, a Celtic Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family native to Scotland *Scottish English *Scottish national identity, the Scottish ide ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:MacLeod, Roddy Living people Great Highland bagpipe players Festival directors Place of birth missing (living people) 1962 births Gold Medal winners (bagpipes) Members of the Order of the British Empire