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About the society

What the NPS Does

The NPS supports players of the Northumbrian Smallpipes and Border pipes and promotes awareness of our instruments, their history, and the local musical tradition. It

  • Provides and supports regular competitions, concerts, public demonstrations and try-outs.
  • Organises and publicises regular playing sessions
  • Provides information for and about playing groups, teachers , course providers, events and their organisers, performers, pipemakers, reed makers, and fettlers (ie instrument maintainers).
  • Responds to enquiries about pipes and performers
  • Provides access to historical tapes, and stores other archive material.
  • Sells tune books for the instruments and guides to pipemaking and maintenance

Details of our history, trustees and annual reports are at:

Benefits of membership of the Northumbrian Pipers’ Society

If you become a member you not only support these activities, you get additional benefits.

  • A regular e-newsletter about pipers and events, reviews, ideas, tips on maintaining your pipes, plus much more, including pipes wanted and for sale.
  • A pdf copy of NPS Tunebook 1.
  • An Annual Journal in pdf format (A printed version can also be bought.) It has articles about
    • significant people of the piping world, both past and present
    • historical research
    • technical matters about pipes and pipemaking
    • music – tunes, techniques and interpretation
  • Big discounts on Society tunebooks and other publications
  • The NPS operates a pipe hire scheme which is exclusively for members, and a buddy scheme for pipers who are new to the instrument.
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