Play it yet again, Sam

Practice apparently (allegedly) makes perfect. My fan conceived the idea of making me a nice recording - him on half a dozen instruments and me on pipes. My main problem with this was speed - he plays much faster than me. When he went out to play music with a friend for an afternoon I played Lochanside again, and again, and again. I don't know that I got any more accurate, and I stripped out nearly all the gracenoting, but I got faster. I also got rid of the elbow-pumping imp - all I have to do to stop pumping is...to stop pumping. The world doesn't stop, nor does the music, and I end up feeling less hot and bothered. My fan spent today laying down tracks, and all I had to do was play along, listening to the other instruments through headphones. Very tricky to get the balance so I could hear myself and the other instruments. Learning to pick up cues, play along with others, and also make mistakes, and carry on are all new to me, but I'm getting there. The usual red-button horrors meant I eventually gave up, recorded my own version (complete with abysmal timing and some fluffed notes) and the fan stuck on a backing track. So here it is – don’t listen too closely – Lochanside. (Musically pleasing version here – no pipes, but you can’t have everything in life.)