> I am from Malta, as a child my father had recorded a piece of scottish > music from the BFBS (British Forces Broadcasting Service) radio. I > remember it was recorded on our christmas tape (reel to reel). At the > time I wasn't aware it was scottish music. That was about 30 years ago. > Is there a site with at least excerpts of music which I can browse > through?
Try the BBC website (www.bbc.co.uk), go to Radio Scotland and look for "Take the Floor" and "The Reel Blend". They're available by streaming audio. I think they are also broadcast on a satellite whose footprint covers Malta, but don't know the details - the website should say. For singing, you are better off with "Travelling Folk", but they mix in a lot of non-Scottish music too. > About 8 years ago I was studying in Lusaka, Zambia and I took up > Scottish dancing as a means of leisure. The leader called out the moves > which I followed. I enjoyed that time immensely and would like to start > a dancing group in my own country but don't know how to start. Do you > have any ideas? There are lots of Scottish charter flights to Malta. It must often happen that a planeload of tourists has enough people who know Scottish dances on it to get something going. Just a matter of telling each other they exist and letting Chris in on the secret as well; how the heck do they do that? The one time I've been on a charter flight to Malta the other people on the plane could have been going there to perform child sacrifices for all I'd have known; I hardly talked to them. Slightly trickier question for you: where do I find recordings of Maltese bagpipe (zaqq) music? The nice woman in Carabott's shop just shook her head sadly and said there weren't any. Camilleri and Pullicino's book appears to draw its only zaqq tune from a transcription published in the Galpin Society Journal in 1977 by two British authors including P.W. Cooke (presumably he of the Shetland music research, taking the opportunity to do some fieldwork in a place with rather more sensible weather). ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Jack Campin * 11 Third Street, Newtongrange, Midlothian EH22 4PU, Scotland tel 0131 660 4760 * fax 0870 055 4975 * http://www.purr.demon.co.uk/jack/ food intolerance data & recipes, freeware Mac logic fonts, and Scottish music Posted to Scots-L - The Traditional Scottish Music & Culture List - To subscribe/unsubscribe, point your browser to: http://www.tullochgorm.com/lists.html
