End of piping era for Bain McGregor of Waipu

Bain McGregor, seen here playing at the Waitangi Treaty Grounds during the flag-raising ceremony on Waitangi Day, is stepping down as pipe major for the NorthCal/Whangārei Pipe Band after 33 years.

It was the end of a piping era when Waipū's Bain McGregor announced he was stepping down as pipe major of the NorthCal/Whangārei Pipe Band, handing the reins to David Picketts.

McGregor has led the band for 33 years, and his distinctive tall figure has been a familiar sight at the front of the band at hundreds of public celebrations throughout the region.

McGregor was aged 28 in 1986 and working as the piper in residence for the 10th Duke of Atholl in Scotland when the invitation came to lead the band.

McGregor's piping career began at 4, when the local Waipū doctor advised blowing up balloons to help cure his asthma.

McGregor's father, Gregor McGregor, a veteran of El Alamein and Cassino, was a renowned piper and thought bagpipes would do the job just as well as balloons.

Bain McGregor playing the bagpipes during the service for the Field of Remembrance crosses in Laurie Hall Park for Anzac Day commemorations.

"After Dad had been piping he would hand me the blow stick and make me blow … I haven't had asthma since then."

At 9, once young McGregor's fingers grew long enough to handle a chanter (the pipe of a bagpipe with finger holes, on which the melody is played), he began to learn the pipes in earnest – mostly alongside his dad, but also gaining tips from some of the best pipers in the country.

"They would come back to our place after the New Year's games, play bagpipes on the deck and drink whisky."

McGregor soaked it all in and was soon playing alongside his father in the Waipū Pipe Band, and at 17 joined the Whangārei Pipe Band too.

Pipe Major Bain McGregor regularly led many civic or social, events, here leading the march into the Cameron St Mall, Whangārei, for the NorthTec graduation ceremony.

He took private lessons from iconic pipers like Angus Macaulay from Scotland and climbed the ranks from C to A grade, winning his first gold medal at a piping competition in Hastings at 26.

Shortly after that he headed to Scotland, where he met his future wife Helen, who spoke fluent French and German and worked as a tour guide at the Duke of Atholl's castle.

Helen played the tenor horn and learned the tenor drum to play in pipe bands too.

McGregor returned to New Zealand at the end of 1987, bringing Helen with him.

The pair had three daughters, Briar, Rowan and Sian – but in 1999 Helen was diagnosed with breast cancer and died in June 2003, the day before her 37th birthday.

Whangārei Pipe Band Pipe Major Bain McGregor leading the march of the clans at the Caledonian Games, in Waipū.

"She was a lovely girl, very witty and incredibly strong – she put up with me," said McGregor. "She was my soulmate. It's hard to replace that."

He now has two grandchildren and they are part of his decision to step down, to spend more time with family, fishing and tinkering with his old car, Gerty, a 1929 Chevrolet tourer.

"David Picketts was keen to have a go at pipe major, and the thought had crossed my mind," he said.

"When you're a pipe major it's not just about managing the band musically, it's managing people as well, and committees, fundraising, instruments, organising equipment and music – medleys, sets and so on. It's time to enjoy life."

With news of his retirement, the offers have already started coming in – invitations to play with other pipe bands; and the Royal New Zealand Pipe Band Association is keen to recruit him to judge band competitions (he's been judging solo competitions since he won his first gold clasp, the year after he won that first gold medal).

He'll miss the comradeship of the pipe band most of all, but has great memories from the past 33 years, playing alongside some of the world's best pipers; winning mini-band competitions against Auckland bands; and in the past few years, coaching talented younger players through the ranks and seeing them develop and go on to play in Auckland.

He has plenty to look back on, but he's looking forward, too. "I won't stop playing, though I will probably play more for my own enjoyment now."

WHAT ARE BAGPIPES?

Bagpipes are a woodwind instrument using enclosed reeds fed from a constant reservoir of air in the form of a bag.

The Scottish Great Highland bagpipes are the best known in the Anglophone world; however, bagpipes have been played for a millennium or more throughout large parts of Europe, northern Africa, and western Asia, including Turkey, the Caucasus, and around the Persian Gulf.

The term bagpipe is equally correct in the singular or plural, though pipers usually refer to the bagpipes as "the pipes", "a set of pipes" or "a stand of pipes".

Bagpipers blow air through a blowpipe into a bag, which could be made of animal skin or more modern synthetic materials. The bag can provide a steady flow of air while playing music. This allows a player to create a continuous sound for some time. While playing, though, the player must regularly blow more air into the bag to keep it full.

The chanter is a pipe played with two hands. It produces the melody and contains either a single or double reed. It's also open-ended, which means that players cannot easily make the chanter stop sounding once it's started. This is why most bagpipe music has no rests (pauses) in the music.