Member profile – Martin Hatcher
ByWhere do you live: Albany
What is your job or major if a student? Sculptor
Where did you learn to play? I learned from Anne Spencer now Anne McLean Bell 
in the Taconic Pipe Band, Hoosic Falls, NY.
Instrument: Pipes
How long have you been playing? 14 years
What got you interested? My dad took me to see the Scot’s Guards in Denver when I was 16. Ever since then I have wanted to play but there weren’t any teachers in driving distance so I gave up. I was living in North Adams 29 years later when I saw an ad in the local paper saying the Taconic Pipe Band would teach interested people.
How did you go about learning/finding – private teacher, class, band, parent or relative? I just happened to see the ad in the paper. Donald Lindsay was teaching the band and after a while I started taking lessons from him. Later I started lessons from Nancy Tunnicliffe.Teachers that had a big influence: Donald and Nancy both in very different ways. Nancy is probably the best teacher I have had for consistent week after week lessons. Donald was great for the more esoteric “out there” stuff.
How long did you take lessons? 10 years once or twice a month and since then off and on depending on time and money.
How long did you play practice chanter/pad before moving to pipes/drum? How long from start to marching with the band? I started the class and at the end of the 22 week class period I moved to pipes. I was in my first parade within a year of starting the class.
How long does it take you to get to practice? About 10 minutes.
Favorite bagpipe player or drummer? Not counting players in CRC Jim McGillivray is the piper I love to listen to. He just has a sweet sound and makes it look and sound so effortless. Harvey Dawson for a drummer. He has a presence when he is playing – you can’t stop listening or watching him.
Favorite bagpipe band? 78th Frasers. They are always pushing things a bit. They aren’t the nicest group to hang with though or weren’t a few years back anyway.
What other instruments do/did you play? I played cornet and French horn in school. I messed around with a banjo on my own and I have a fiddle my wife’s grandfather played for country dances that I am eyeing. I might take up the hurdy gurdy when I can’t play pipes anymore.
Do you compete? In the grade 4 band. I competed solo up until I became the pipe major (for two years) of the grade 4 three years ago. I might start up again but . . . . .
What is the one thing you would tell a beginner about learning? Stick out the many bad times when you are so frustrated with your practice chanter, pipes or fingers you want to smash them to bits -piping might be worth the misery.
Do you play solo events like weddings and funerals? I don’t actively seek them out but I do play them when one comes my way.What hobbies or other pursuits do you have? I am building my house inside an old garage. I like to read and watch movies.
