Anders spent the weekend at my place for our second rehearsal. We got a lot more done this time around than last; we discussed some song choices, and then rolled up our sleeves and did sets.

We worked through pretty much all the instrumental sets save "The Family Gow" (which we had worked on before) and "Teviot Brig", and we didn't get to the two slow airs played alone. But we got through everything else, getting a feel for the tunes and finding each other's "pulse". I sent Anders home with some MP3s for research into the more particular Scottish idiom, and the sheet music (with all corrections to the chords we'd made).

We did run some tape, but I had the recording level set way to high, and with all the clipping, the recording was unusable. But we did listen to it, and we were sounding pretty damned good. I expected that from Anders, but I was surprised how good I sounded. Half-way through, Anders decided to switch from standard tuning to DADGAD, and he was very happy with the results (and I have to admit, the sound was fatter).

Next time, which will probably be in late January or early February, we'll record all the sets first, possibly with an improved recording setup, and then start discussing arrangements: instruments, intros, bridges, solos, and the like.

We also played around with my pipes in A, and I think I've found a reed I can work with. The more I play it, the more "pleasant" the high G is, it's now down to a normal level of crow, rather than a terrible rattle. A little more breaking in, and I think this will be a good setup. I'm still not happy with my drone reeds, but tomorrow my instructor and I will make some custom cane drone reeds for it, and that should improve things a lot.