A Huge Part of Pipe Band Ensemble

There seems to be a fair bit of upset these days about ruling that came to be as a result of a vote at the recent Annual General Meeting of the Royal Scottish Pipe Band Association. Apparently members in attendance voted to remove the “best bass section” prize from the list of those awarded at major pipe band championships. The upset appears to be coming mainly from bass and tenor drummers caught off-guard by the rule change. Like most meetings of this kind attendance was reportedly sparse and a poor representation of general membership. What transpired is a good reminder for next year’s meeting: turn up if you want a voice. I have to admit, to be fair, that not turning up at an AGM never stopped me from crabbing about what I viewed was an ill-conceived rule or policy change.
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Building Medleys: 7 Principles

So before we begin this musical adventure – this virtual attempt at creating an interesting competitive selection of music – it might be a good idea to establish a few principles to help move us along.

Consultants and David Letterman love lists: “3 reasons for this” and “top ten” for that; so let’s keep it simple and try a list.
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Pipe Band Medleys

There might be some serious practical limitations when it comes to creating original and engaging competitive pipe band shows these days but I still have to think we’re being too timid in reaching for the hazy boundary and physical limits of pipe band instrumentation (meaning the bagpipe and the usual competitive instruments of percussion). Continue reading Pipe Band Medleys…

Pipe Bands: How to Breakthrough

The original subject was “breakthrough to win”. I thought that a bit crass, knowing that in making music it’s all about the performance, right?

Like competitive figure skaters (part of a subjectively judged sort of thing that is often compared to competitive solo and band piping) we’re so often heard to say (publicly), “I was happy with that. I did it for me. I got through it. It felt good” – regardless of the outcome.
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1987 World Pipe Band Championships – II

This is the second video in the set. This time the march, strathspey and reel, ‘Brig. Ronald Cheape of Tiroran’, ‘Blair Drummond’ and ‘Charlie’s Welcome’.

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1987 World Pipe Band Championships – I

You can learn a lot from the old tapes, the old recordings. You can hear what’s changed and what hasn’t. The sound of bands has come a way in 20 years. The size of bands, too (this band: 11 pipers, 6 snares, 2 tenor drums and bass).

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A Great Bass Drummer

I’ve been thinking a lot about the current phenomenon of what is now called the “mid section”. More later.
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