10 March—Story head in yesterday’s Republican-American about the Academy Awards: “Who, what will win vs. who, what should win.” We don’t hesitate to add: Who should give a damn—except people in the business, of course, who stand to profit from the box-office éclat generated by the purely political awards?

Getting down to serious business, then, The Monitor can’t let International Bagpipe Day pass without a delightful sampling of international bagpipes. Today you’ll be treated first to a solo performance on a zampogna, an Italian double-chantered but droneless instrument that comes in a number of sizes. The selfsame bass zampogna playing the selection is illustrated for your edification.

Second is a performance by three Cornish bagpipes (pibow sagh kernewek)—call them alto, tenor, and bass. Like the zampogna, the Cornish bagpipes don’t use drones but have two chanters. That must be why the trio calls itself a sextet.

Last is a track of two Welsh bagpipes (pipa cŵd) accompanied by a drum, which may or may not be a traditional Welsh drum called a tabwrrd (which actually means tray).