Festival of Hobbies - Bagpipes (Featuring Chris Halstead)
“I have a very early memory of sitting and drawing as my mum scraped away at a violin, and the next thing I knew I was scraping away as well! My dad must have been through merry hell. He certainly went to the pub or went off fishing a lot and I think I know why!”
Chris Halstead, Harland Works tenant and archetier extraordinaire, lives a life surrounded by music. Archetier is a french word commonly used in the business which refers to someone who makes and repairs bows for stringed instruments such as violins, violas and cellos - and this is exactly what Chris does for a living. He admits that he has found himself a very specific area of employment and laughs, saying “It’s a niche market job. I’m very much a niche market person. Niche job, niche instrument choice and niche facial hair!”
From very early on, music has played a big part in Chris’ life - and there is one instrument that has always brought him the most joy. Violins and other stringed instruments are significant because they provide him with his livelihood, but when it comes down to it, there’s really no competition.
“I play the great highland bagpipe”, says Chris. After a beat he adds “...for my sins!”
“There are a few of us around Sheffield, but these days it’s a bit of a dying art. Once upon a time, there used to be loads of pipe bands in this country - after the war there were loads of people who had gone and joined the Scottish regiments and learned to play the pipes. Where I grew up, there were about five pipe bands, within a five mile radius. I didn't know this until they had all disappeared bar one. I eventually found one and started piping there when I was around 17, having looked since I was about 7”.
When you think of a young boy wanting to learn an instrument, the first thing that springs to mind is seldom bagpipes; the guitar, drums or keyboard perhaps - but not for Chris. So how did it all start?
“I’m not actually sure”, Chris admits. “We used to have a caravan in Dumfriesshire when I was little and that went when I was about 8 years old. I remember we used to watch the Tattoo on the telly every year and so my parents obviously enjoyed it. I don’t know, I think I’ve always just liked it for as long as I can remember, I always thought they were a wonderful instrument. I didn’t know about any of the pipe bands that were around me when I was that age because they just didn’t make themselves known. My Mum and Dad were looking for somewhere for me to learn in East Lancashire, where I grew up, and they couldn’t. So, I ended up learning the violin instead, as a substitute for the bagpipes. It wasn’t until I was about 17 or 18 that there was a notice in the local library that my Dad found, advertising the fact that a local pipe band was wanting new members...and so off I went. I learned to play the pipes for a year and I half. Then I moved to London and didn’t play again for ages”
The violin, then, came first for Chris; but rather by chance than choice. “I learned to play the violin first. My Mum was also learning to play the violin at the time, so she found out what the music classes were like. I always knew I wanted to play something. I have a very early memory of sitting and drawing as my mum scraped away at a violin, and the next thing I knew I was scraping away as well! My dad must have been through merry hell. He certainly went to the pub or went off fishing a lot and I think I know why!”
Though the violin still plays an important part in Chris’ life, it seems that the focus is now on the craft of the bows than the songs of the strings.
“I don’t play the violin anymore - I started my job through playing the violin. Again, I was probably around 17 or 18 when my violin teacher at the time put the idea of making them into my head. I think he was maybe trying to tell me that I wasn’t that good of a player and not to think about playing as a career! There was no disappointment there of course...it’s always just been for my own enjoyment. I think if I’d have been more driven I would have practiced the violin more”.
“Sometimes you just need something to take your attention away from it all. I think more and more in the medical world, they’re starting to look into diet and lifestyle and realising that you need entertainment and you need things to focus on that aren’t going to work, eating your food, bringing up the kids, whatever it is”
There seems to be a theme emerging when talking to people about their hobbies, which is that a hobby (whatever it might be) offers a certain clarity. It’s something that is good for the soul and for the mind because there is a meditative element involved. You get get wrapped up in a hobby and lose yourself for a while - something that Chris agrees with.
“There is a meditative nature to hobbies. There can be about anything really - even something as simple as a repetitive task like hammering something - if you do it for long enough it becomes a meditative thing. You can lose yourself in it quite happily. I think it’s sort of the same principle with playing an instrument - when you get to a certain level and once you’ve stopped thinking about everything you’re doing in order to get it right, you find a little zone and that’s it - you’re off. It’s wonderful”
Where learning an instrument is concerned, there is a lot of concentration and practice involved, especially at the start, but Chris thinks there is more to it than this. Of course, the sense of accomplishment is rewarding and learning a skill will always give you a boost - but Chris believes that playing music for yourself can also be good for your mental wellbeing.
“You can’t just work all the time. Sometimes, you just have to have some solitude and something to focus on that isn’t the real world. Because if that’s all there is, there really is no hope. Good news doesn’t sell media and so it’s all doom and gloom. Sometimes you just need something to take your attention away from it all. I think more and more in the medical world they’re starting to look into diet and lifestyle and realising that you need entertainment and you need things to focus on that aren’t going to work, eating your food, bringing up the kids, whatever it is”.
It’s notoriously difficult to maintain the motivation to practice your chosen instrument, and there is always improvement to be made, but don’t let that put you off. Chris notes; “A lot of time it can be difficult because it’s not as good as I’d like it to be - but, when it’s good it’s just brilliant. There’s nothing better than music and when you’re doing it and you do it well, it’s fabulous. There are guys out there in the bands that are out there doing it all day every day - it’s not always going to be perfect, but when they come off stage and it’s gone well, you’re buzzing. You go and you do a gig and it just goes so well and the audience response is fantastic and you can’t go to sleep for ages because you’re so full of adrenaline”.
“If you can find a band to play in, that makes a world of difference. It’s like a little club and so you’re more inclined to carry on because you’ve got a bit of support, you’ve got people to ask if you’re struggling”
So what advice would Chris offer to aspiring pipers? It seems that there are avenues out there - if you know where to look.
“Good luck! It’s not the easiest thing in the world to do” Chris laughs.
“Like most other things in my life I seem to have chosen the things that aren’t easy to do! From making violin bows for a living to playing the bagpipes. I think now, you can probably learn a lot more from the internet, but you really need to find a good online tutor if you’re going to do that. There’s probably stuff on YouTube - I know of one channel called Piper’s Dojo University that basically does instruction online. You may well not find someone in your local vicinity, but always go and do your research first. All you need to get started is a little practice chanter that might set you back £80-£100, but I’d always recommend buying the most expensive stuff you can afford. If you buy something cheap that doesn’t work properly, you will get fed up with it and not want to practice. You can’t hear yourself getting better with a cheap instrument and you’ll want to quit. There are bands around - I know there’s at least one in Sheffield and maybe three in Manchester. If you can find a band to play in, that makes a world of difference. It’s like a little club and so you’re more inclined to carry on because you’ve got a bit of support, you’ve got people to ask if you’re struggling. At the end of the day, there’s no substitute for having one-to-one tuition, but you may struggle to find that”
Chris’ playing has taken him around the world and given him a myriad of new and exciting experiences, so what’s next?
“I do still play with The Scotts Guard Association in Manchester. They are affiliated to The Scotts Guard Regiment, so there’s that. In 2014 we did the Tattoo as a band in our own right - we had a file to ourselves in the mass pipe band. I don’t know where there is to go really - I’m never going to be a grade one piper, I just didn’t put the work in when I was younger. I only officially had around a year taught. I do it well enough for my own satisfaction and for the bands that I play in - I can certainly hold my own. For about five or six years we did a special memorial parade for the guards regiments and we stood in for the regimental pipe band because they were stationed in Germany. In 2002 I went to New York as part of a pipe band, and Shaun Connery was leading the parade. Unfortunately I was the back so I saw hide nor hair of him! I’ve got to do all sorts of great stuff. You do get to go and do good jobs that other people just wouldn’t have a cat in hells chance of doing. I feel like I’m happy where I am. There is a chance I will get to go to Moscow next year and there’s talk of going to Australia at the end of the year. These opportunities do pop up, it’s just who is available to do them. It’s a big commitment”
If you are interested in learning to play the bagpipes, why not check out the YouTube channel Chris mentioned, Pipers Dojo University, here.