JOHN-ANGUS SMITH
piping scene
Fashion an issue at British Pipe Band Championships!
I was at the British Pipe Band Championships in Birmingham at the end of June — a competition which was won by the St Lawrence O'Toole Pipe Band from Dublin, following up their win at the Scottish Championships in May. There were two things that made this performance special — a tremendous broad chanter tone, blended well into a deep drone harmonic, and an excellent mix between the different sections of the band, all playing together as one unit. This was an outstanding musical experience.
What was interesting from my perspective, and perhaps at this level somewhat surprising, was that very few of the top bands achieved a good overall sound mix between the different sections of the band. It was as if the pipe, snare drum and mid sections were functioning well individually, but not quite blending together as a unit.
I was standing at the top of each band, theoretically where the sound mix should be at its optimum. But frankly speaking, for some bands, the bass drum was overpowering, for others, far too light, and one band in particular, I could not hear the tenor drums at all, although there was plenty of activity as the sticks were swung in all manner of ways during the performance. Ironic, really, given the current debate about mid section contribution and prizes — I guess that for me, it brought home the point that the contribution of the mid section is critical to the overall pipe band performance, and getting it right is clearly very difficult.
The piping of the Field Marshall Montgomery Pipe Band from Northern Ireland was, as always, rather special — crisp, defined technique, controlled and musical playing but not with the same tonal quality that they have had in previous years — it seems as if this has gone south to their friends in Dublin. Their performance also provided one of the talking-points of the day — a first and last place in piping awarded by the two piping judges, caused by the band's Pipe Major virtually conducting the performance without playing, as one of his drone stocks had worked its way loose from the pipe bag, losing the airtight seal needed to manage the air regulation in his instrument. One of the judges stopped judging and retired for a few minutes to the judging tent, before coming out for the performance finale. There has been some debate on various internet sites as to whether he had a right to do this and whether he should have judged the performance on its merits, leaving the administration decision to the Royal Scottish Pipe Band Association. It has never happened before, so this is something new for the association to deal with — I guess that some clarity will emerge on this issue over the summer.
The other highlight of the day was the fashion style on display by the Shotts and Dykehead Pipe Band, with the mid section sporting pink heads on their drum sticks. It is only recently that some bands have moved away from bright white socks, with the Strathclyde Police leading the way in going green — very smart they are, too, and this certainly adds some colour to the day. A couple of years ago I did see an excellent up-and-coming piper deliver some prize-winning performances at the Aberdeen Highland Games in pink socks, yellow flashes and light brown hush puppies.
On this subject, in Brittany pipe bands compete in matching t-shirts and jeans — and some of the bands are excellent. Check out www. bas29.com for online performances at the recent competition at Menez Meur where you will see performances from perhaps the two best Breton bands — Bagads Cap Caval and Brieg. One very well- known Breton piper explained to me that they are more interested in the music than the dress that goes with it, and arguably it contributes to a more relaxed and informal style. WHICH does raise the interesting question of why competition organisers insist on the wearing of the kilt in an increasingly international piping world, and will this ever be relaxed?
Many allow the abandonment of the jacket, but many insist on pipers wearing one. Funny how we are interested in the music but require pipers to dress in a typecast manner. I wonder what would happen if competitive pipers started appearing in tartan trews, or a suit, or even jeans and a t-shirt? In some parts of the world, and certainly in other musical idioms, this would be considered perfectly acceptable as the focus is on the music; in Scotland this would be a non-starter. Personally, for competitive piping, I am in the "kilts on" camp — they do add a touch of style to the event and enable the presentation of the art form in a unique way. I wonder how for long this will last? I thought I should clarify my comments on the pentatonic scale of A major that were made in my last column. If you are unfamiliar with the bagpipe scale, you will rightly be asking why, in the context of this scale, C and F are included and not C# and F#. The answer is that on the bagpipe scale C and F are natural sharps, but every note is just referred to by its note assignment. It is only in recent times, when pipers have tried to add more notes to the scale, mainly through playing natural Cs and Fs, that there has been a need to augment the notation — interestingly these C and F natural notes are assigned as flat notes in the bagpipe scale. You can see why a non-piper could get confused.
Many of the leading pipers will be in Skye on 5th and 6th August playing in front of some of the most revered judges in the piping world. The primary event, the Dunvegan Medal, is held on 5th August, a unique competition in that it re- quires pipers to submit four piobaireachd either composed by, or very closely associated with, the MacCrimmon piping dynasty from Boreraig — honorary pipers to the MacLeods during the sixteenth to nineteenth centuries. One tune is selected by the judges to be performed, and the winner will qualify for the Masters' event in the evening, when the performers will play some of the great MacCrimmon compositions.
After the light music competitions on the 6th, there is an invitational event at Dunvegan Castle when a select group of the world's top pipers will play MacCrimmon pieces in the main drawing room of the castle, a location where in years past, the hereditary pipers performed — a historically fitting climax to the annual Skye Gathering, certainly from a piping perspective. If you can get along to listen, or perhaps encourage young pipers to attend, this is a great festival of pipe music.
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