Singing Canntaireachd – with Barnaby Brown (ISH 3, May 2026)

In this episode of the Imaginary Song Hunt, we go hunting for Scottish Canntaireachd – the practice of singing Pibroch (the musical tradition of the Great Highland Bagpipe). Piping maestro, Lotos Lab’s own Barnaby Brown guides us through the murky undergrowth of Scottish bagpiping history, and explains how pipers have traditionally learned their craft through singing. After delving into cultural history, notation and traditional practices, we focus on a single pibroch, the stunningly beautiful lament, Cumha Alasdair Dheirg ("Lament for Alasdair Dearg"). If you'd like to try singing this gorgeous piece, you can access the Urlar (its main section, arranged to suit easy aural leaning) for free here: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.32190912 Or you can head over to the Lotos Lab shop or join our Patreon for the full piece. By the end we try to answer the question: how can (or perhaps should) we sing canntaireachd today?   For everything Imaginary Song Hunt including side trails, bonus performances and Stef’s zoom choir join the Lotos Lab Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/Lotos_Lab 👯‍♀️ For all the news and updates sign up for the Imaginary Song Hunt mailing list: https://song.stefconner.com/sign-up-imaginary-song-hunt   Next full episode (3rd June 2026): we head to Lesbos to explore the (now) fragmentary world of Sapphic song...