Wasn’t it Tony Cuffe who died of cancer?
Yes Bill, you’re right. It’s been too long. Billy Jackson was the harp player and Tony was the guitar player and vocalist who died of cancer. Thanks. 
Billy played the uilleann pipes to on their albums. He had a reed made by Finbar Furry.
If you mean the two-drone version of the Highland pipe (with or without Brian Boru system chanter), then they are probably equal in size and volume. If you mean those monsters with the drones larger than some WWII artillery, those are probably louder but I’ve never heard or seen one nor know anybody who has.
The group Patrick mentioned, Na Cabar Feidh, became Rare Air. They did some very innovative stuff and Grier Coppins was no slouch on GHB whether it was funky or traditional. You’ll probably have an easier time of finding Rare Air CDs than Na Cabar Feidh. Cabar feidh is actually a good example of how GHB pipers get innovative. The tune is traditionally a 4/4 march, a strathspey, and a reel and has also been turned into a hornpipe and jig with countless variations in each format.
Iain MacDonald comes from a family of great pipers. His brothers, Angus and Allan are both medal winners (i.e. highly capable as traditional pipers) and great innovators too. They come from a Gaelic speaking background and have incorporated Gaelic song into (or back into as they would say) piping. Allan especially has been doing a lot of research and experimentation with the connections between Gaelic song and Piobaireachd. I got to hear him try a Gaelicised piobaireachd for one of the first times in a competition setting. The tune was Lament for the Harp Tree. The melody goes back to a song about Finn MacCumhal and the burial of one of his hounds (one of only 2 times in which he cried). Angus (called Dr. Angus to differentiate from their cousin who is also an Angus) is both a great piobaireachd and light music player. His CD A Sireadh Spors is one of my favorites. A lot of tunes from that CD are in Allan’s book, The Moidart Collection.
As for changes in note patterns in Highland piping the most notable is the Open C. Nowadays a piper is taught to play a C by lifting only the middle and ring fingers of the bottom hand while leaving the pinky on the chanter (closed). In the past the pinky came up as well (open). Now you can’t play it open because the modern chanters won’t sound a good C with the pinky off the chanter.
I agree with Patrick about comparing UP and GHB. It’s like comparing monkeys and apes to see which is funnier. I like them both.
Cheers,
Aaron
I recently found out that New Zealand has a very active GHB scene. A couple of Kiwis I met are learning to play, and told me that every half decent sized town has a band.
A native New Zealander, Murray Henderson, just recently won the Clasp at Inverness which is one of the most highly coveted prizes in competitve piping. Murray was one of the juggernauts of Highland piping back in the 1980’s. He had been on a 10 year hiatus from competing but got back into the loop a few years ago and it appears he is in full form. He lives in Scotland now and sells pipes. I just bought a set from him this spring.
One of his compatriots, Greg Wilson, won some big prizes in recent years but due to his military career has had to step back his participation in competitions.
New Zealanders have also made a recent impact in pipe bands. This year at the World Pipe Band Championships a band from New Zealand, Manawatu Scottish Pipe Band, were on of 6 Grade 1 bands to qualify for the final along with 2 Scottish bands, 1 Canadian band, 1 Irish band, and another from Northern Ireland.
Another New Zealand sensation is Fiona Manson who won the Silver Medal last year. She is one of few women to win the pretigous prize which is a catapult for competing pipers into the higher ranks of solo piping.
Cheers,
Aaron