A pity for the Army, because he was an excellent piper, a winner of the state Silver Chanter competition at least once.
His teaching worked heavily on expression through timing, just about the only way to expression in the pipes. The Gaels say they can hear the difference between a Gael-taught piper and the rest -- the latter have an almost slavish attention to rigid timing, the former almost an aversion to same. I think my teacher was midway between the two schools (the Gaelic school is VERY small), but what he taught helped me win a lot of competitions, despite lacking the mechanical (though sometimes downright incredible) perfect meter of Canadian piping that judges usually prize.
Very interesting. I’m inclined to be creative with timing when I sing, which annoys one’s accompanist.