Scottish pipes and Australian didjeridoo fit this international studies major

By Brooke Barker

May 18, 2005 | It's Sunday night and familiar sounds can be heard echoing through the halls and walls of Bridgerland Apartments. The vibrating sounds almost transport listeners to the highlands of Scotland where a skirted man plays certain musical instrument: the bagpipes.

There's another sound, the sound of the didjeridoo, which reminds one of the Australian Outback.

"I got the didjeridoo for Christmas one year. I had heard of it before, but I had never expressed much interest," Josh Law said. "I come from a very musical family, and they gave me it for Christmas and said learn it. I only had a few months before going on my mission."

A didjeridoo is a long pipe that is blown into, to make a deep bellowing sound. It can be seen in movies such as Rescuers Down Under.

"The hardest part is the circular breathing. You have to be able to breathe and make a constant sound. So you breathe through your nose, while at the same time pushing out through your mouth. That's been really hard to get down," Law said.

Behind his brown, eye length hair, Law is a man of many hidden talents. He plays the drums, bagpipes, clarinet, saxophone, harmonica and the aborigine instrument, didjeridoo. Although he can't play all of these instruments at the same time, the bagpipes are his favorite.

"One day my mom was asking all of us kids what we wanted our hobbies to be, one of my sisters wanted to learn karate, another sister wanted to ice skate and I wanted to learn the bagpipes," Law said.

Law's mom told him she'd try to find someone who taught the bagpipes, and actually found a 75 year-old man who had been playing the bagpipes for over 40 years just down the street in Kaysville.

Law took lessons for four years and has been playing for six.

"It's an instrument you can be learning your whole life," he said.

His instructor knew what good pipes were and had him practice on a chanter for the first six months before settling down on a real bagpipe. A chanter is usually less expensive and a good form of practice for beginners.

"Bagpipes are kind of expensive and so it's good to make sure that you really want to play them," Law said.

One of the hardest things Law found after beginning was "it takes a lot of wind and understandings of how they even get them running. It's like tuning four clarinets."

The bagpipes are a reed instrument and the reeds must be moistened, otherwise they won't vibrate.

"It takes quite a bit of time to get them tuned and sit down and play them," he said.

After a lot of practice, Law began playing the bagpipes in a band. The group of bagpipers played at festivals in Salt Lake. The members of this group ranged in ages 40 to 17. Law was the youngest.

Law also performed in school assemblies, at a man's 90th birthday party. He recently performed in a rest home after overhearing three women from Scotland talking at a Chinese restaurant. He introduced himself and told them he could play the bagpipes. The women were excited and told him they'd call him if they ever needed him to play, and they called a few weeks later.

When a man begins playing the bagpipes in public, he must step out of his comfort zone. He needs to wear the kilt, sporran and vest: a traditional Scottish outfit.

A kilt is a tartan, or plaid, knee length skirt. It is usually worn with a Scottish belt buckle. The sporran is a leather purse.

"A kilt is basically a man's way of saying he's wearing a skirt. They're the same thing. It was weird sitting down and having to worry about it bunching up when I first started. It's fun to wear the whole outfit and get into the spirit," Law said.

After playing the bagpipes for a few years, Josh left them at home as he went to serve an LDS mission in China. He came home to a dusty, out of tune and stiff set of bagpipes.

"After I got back from my mission, I had lost all my air. I wanted to play but couldn't," Law said. "The bagpipes had changed as well as me."

Law now plays about once a week. He's had to limit the time he spends on it because of attending school and the close living quarters of his apartment complex in Logan.

Law is majoring in international studies at Utah State University. "I don't want to drive my neighbors crazy by playing all the time," he said.

Contrary to Law's beliefs, most of his neighbors enjoy the music on Sunday nights, and think Law's talent is impressive.

"I think it's really neat that he can play the bagpipes, I haven't ever personally known anyone who could do that," said Lauren Hillstead, a neighbor of Josh's.

"It's something that obviously takes a lot of work, because it's really hard to play. He let us try once," another neighbor said.

"It has to take a lot of air to sound really good. I watched someone else try, and they couldn't do it. Even Josh's face turned bright red while filling it up with air," Ashley Johnson said. Johnson has lived downstairs from Law for almost a year, and thinks he's one of the most creative people ever.

"I think it's awesome, because it's not something that everyone can do," said Lisa Luke, another neighbor of Josh's.

"I was walking home from school, sick of doing my homework, and heard bagpipes blasting out the window. I ran upstairs, and sure enough, Josh was playing the bagpipes. There were a few other neighbors sitting there watching him play and telling him what to play next. It was cool," Johnson said.

While most of his friends think his musical talent is neat, not everyone Law knows thinks bagpipes are cool.

"I had a boss who hated the bagpipes, and he'd always make fun of me for playing," Law said.

No matter what people think of the bagpipes, Law has continued to play and practice them. When the bagpipes come out on Sunday nights, his roommates cheer him on and his music makes the girls want to dance.

"I think it's one of those instruments that once you get the hang of playing, it's easy to pick up and add more," Law said.

Everyone will just have to wait and see what Law learns to play next. Will it be the violin, trombone, or accordion? The possibilities are endless.

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