ZEN PIPING

NOTES FROM PIPEY'S CORNER

Volume VII Number 6 - June 2001

ZEN AND THE ART OF PIPING

Ah, yes, boghopper, come sit at the feet of the ancients and learn the secrets of the pipe . . . no, you blow into it, dummy! . . . Self and three of my students are off to the Balmoral School of Piping in Oakland this month; we'll see what George Balderose has put together in his program, available at several different venues this summer. Main instructors here are Jack Lee (saw him at the Dan Reid last month) and Jimmy MacColl. Yes, THAT Jack Lee; Jimmy has more piping knowledge in his little toe than virtually all the players in this country put together; a true font of knowledge regarding the music and its interpretation. And for your next lesson, boghopper:

THE FOUR NOBLE VIRTUES OF PIPING ARE TONE, TIMING, EXECUTION, AND EXPRESSION

...and if you don't believe me, look at a judging sheet some time. Of these, the most important is EXPRESSION. A competitor can have a beautifully tuned pipe, be right on the beat, and play the embellishments flawlessly, but if he hasn't got the EXPRESSION down, it's just colourless 'wind-up' piping, of which there's WAY too much on the boards these days. One of the disadvantages of pipe band playing is a tendancy to 'wash out' any expression or phrasing in the music, all for the sake of getting through the set and keeping the tempo up. This first appreared in the sixties as a Canadian phenomenon, and has spread over the years to the US. Interesting how Scottish judges seem to notice these things, but American and Canadian judges, for the most part, overlook them . . . .

BE THE CHUNE

Probably the best way to understand the music is to dissect the phrasing in a tune - beginning with the 2/4 march. One of the later developments in piping, the 2/4 march was first played in the 1840s (reputedly 'invented' by Donald Cameron) and has evolved from a relatively simple reel-like tune played at a fast tempo - or at least that's the way it was done in the 1880s - into the embellishment-riddled hybrid played today. The melodies in the early days had very few heavy embellishments, and the judging was based more on strict timing than anything else. Michael Grey's 'Victorian set' in 'Cuts From Traditional Cloth' is an excellent example of the older playing style. To better understand the phrasing of the 2/4, I suggest John MacLellan's PipingTape series, now reissued, his Music For The Highland Bagpipe, which has really good tips on tune playing, and Roderick Cannon's The Highland Bagpipe And Its Music, now unfortunately out of print.

One of the more flagrant (and fragrant) errors made by pipe majors these days is overestimating the ability of their corps; in other words, they try to get their band to play tunes that are beyond the scope of their pipers. As a result, most bands in the lower grades are struggling with music that is too difficult for them; the result of this unfortunate syndrome is the new 'March Medley' allotted to Grade IV bands in lieu of an MSR. My question is, 'How is a band ever going to make the jump to Grade III with NO MSR experience under their belts?'

We here include some pictures from the Dan Reid Memorial, presented by the St. Andrews Society of San Francisco on May 19. The event was, as usual, impeccable. The most prestigious venue in the U.S., the DRM was again a brilliant example of what piping is all about - exquisite music, expertly played. Ozzie Reid and his committee are to be congratulated on the best piping recital contest in North America. Willie McCallum was first overall, with Jack Lee second and Mike Rogers third. Iain Speirs won the Cameron-Gillies event; fine performances were given by Greg Wilson and Hector MacDonald. We'll see you all there next year:

Many thanks for these photos from Mark Frost:

left, the competitors get ANOTHER harangue from Ozzie; Willie McCallum, quite chuffed again; Greg Wilson, winner of the Urlar; Jack Lee gave an EXPLOSIVE performance at dinner; Bruce Frost with Jack

Karen, Mark Frost, Jack, and BLACK PART himself; Karen and Iain; Karen again, this time with Sabrina Brown; the 'Piobaireachd Police,' hard at work

Rumour has it that a certain WUSPBA executive and band PM tried to depth bomb a burgeoning police pipe band in his vicinity by attending a city council meeting and badgering the council members about '...wasting taxpayers' money on a frivolous expenditure...that was only meant to boost the ego of the Police Chief....' Needless to say said PM did NOT mention that he was neither a resident of the city in question NOR that he was pipe major of a competing band. Lo, how the mighty do demean themselves! Later on he even sent a rep over to the police band practice to try to lure away players! WOW! I didn't know that 'Borg tactics' were legal in the States; I thought that was only kosher in Canadian Universities....

AND YES, KAREN AND I HAVE BEEN MARRIED NOW FOR TWO YEARS AS OF JUNE 1 AND WE STILL HAVEN'T HAD A RECEPTION

Those of you who wish to send late presents may do so . . . HA!

Proof positive that there's more rumour than truth in the bagpipe business - just had a phone call (June 1) from Iain Macleod, to say that there's no truth that Gillanders and Macleod is out of business as was reported recently by us (SORRY!). Rather, they are thriving in Edinburgh and they've just put up a new website at www.gandmbagpipes.co.uk which fully dispels the 'rumours of their demise [which are] grossly exaggerated....' (sorry, Mr. Clemens, I jes' couldn't resist). We may have more good things to say about G&M pipes and products in the near future!

BLACK PART SPEAKS OUT ON THE DAN REID:

Having attended the 10^th Annual Dan Reid Memorial Recital and Contest I respectfully submit the following remarks:

First of all the level of performance was excellent, and better than last year's. Two styles of playing were evident: the 'Old School, Scottish Style,' with big movements and an open flow to the music; and the 'Canadian Style,' with chirpy small movements and mechanical music. From the results, neither style prevailed. Most of the Piobaireachd performances lacked passion, and this is unfortunate as Piobaireachd without passion becomes little more than an a 7 to 15 minute finger exercise.

THERE MUST BE PASSION IN PIOBAIREACHD FOR IT TO BE PIOBAIREACHD!

Ozzie Reid and his staff are to be congratulated again for their efforts. This was a splendid event. Give us many more!! A suggestion though for what it is worth, would be to eliminate the seemingly endless bits of 'Dudaireachd' during tuning. Have the performers play slow aires, portions of Piobaireachd, anything but what they are doing. I believe this would greatly enhance the grandeur of this event.

I'll refrain from individual comments of the performers' presentations during the contest, and instead evaluate their performances at dinner. Jack Lee's set was amazing! First place for Mr. Lee. Willie McCallum's set was wonderful! Second for Mr. MacCallum. Third for Mr. Wilson with his solid performance. Fourth for Mr. Rogers who did have a small slip on one of his marches. Fifth for Mr. Livingston whose set included a wholly unacceptable arrangement of 'The Mackintosh's Lament.' If anyone else had played this, Ozzie would have pronounced it 'Rubbish!'. I say rubbish is still rubbish no matter who puts it out on the curb.

BLACK PART SPEAKS OUT ON JUI'S:

JUI stands for 'Judging Under the Influence'

In the past nearly two years of the Hossack administration of the WUSPBA there have been numerous instances where this has occurred. The WUSPBA, with it’s so called high standards of conduct for its members and for adjudicators has done NOTHING about this This is an INSULT to every solo competitor, every band, every instructor, every Pipe Major or band manager, every contest sponsor, to every other qualified individual on or off the adjudicator roll, and to the general public that pays money to attend contests.

Here are some specific instances:

1) At a recent contest in Southern California, one of the adjudicators, and a member of a Grade I band, hung over, and half asleep, told Grade IV solo pipers he '... didn't even want to be there....'
2) At a recent contest in Southern California, one of the adjudicators was actually high on drugs or alcohol, and numerous people noted this.
3) At a recent contest in Northern California, the adjudicators checked out the beer tent BEFORE they even checked in at the contest sponsor’s table and with the WUSPBA. These same 'adjudicators,' if given a sobriety test before the band contest would have failed as they proceeded to check out the beer tent on many more occasions before the contest as well as numerous 'raids' on a certain pipe band supply of brew. I wonder how one of them could even write out a score sheet by contest time.

And the Contest Season is only half through, and this does not take in numerous similar incidents from last year! Where is the WUSPBA on this issue? Obviously looking the other way!! Too busy making rules for solo competitors. And too busy making it difficult for those who would approach the duties of adjudication in a responsible and SOBER manner, to become adjudicators.

Here are few suggestions for the WUSPBA concerning JUI’s - these will be submitted for adoption as amendments to the WUSPBA bylaws:

1) All adjudicators must check in with the Games Sponsor AND the WUSPBA 30 minutes BEFORE the start of any solo or band contest. It shall be the WUSPBA’s responsibility to determine if the adjudicators are fit to carry out their duties. If an adjudicator is found to be unfit, the WUSPBA shall immediately find an appropriate replacement to judge the unfit adjudicator’s contests.
2) Criteria to determine the fitness of an adjudicator shall include the following: Sobriety and appropriate dress and hygiene. If an adjudicator at check in time is 'hung over,' that adjudicator is STILL UNDER THE INFLUENCE, and shall be deemed unfit! You cannot judge when you are drunk and you cannot judge when you are hung over because your attention to the competitors will not be 100 percent!!
3) Adjudicators determined to be unfit to perform their duties at check in time shall be suspended for 1 year, with NO EXCEPTIONS!!! This means the unfit adjudicator will not judge at any WUSPBA contest, compete in any WUSPBA contest, or compete with a WUSPBA registered band at a WUSPBA contest for 1 full year.
4) WUSPBA officials derelict in their responsibilities to determine the fitness of adjudicators shall also be suspended from office, and from solo and band competitions for 1 year. You pass up your responsibilities for one of your 'buddies,' and you can sit it out for a year with your 'buddy.' NO EXCEPTIONS!!!

Unfortunately, it is unlikely that the WUSPBA will do anything about JUI’s, so I’m giving you all fair notice that I will. If I see another adjudicator unfit to perform their duties and responsibilities in the future I will personally file a protest. If you are unfit and sitting at a table to judge, or standing on the field with a WUSPBA clip board in your hands I will see to it that you receive the public embarrasement that you deserve. (How difficult could it be to obtain a few field sobriety tests with all of the law enforcement bands now in the WUSPBA? Bet I can also find a few qualified law enforcement officers to administer these tests as well). WUSPBA: CLEAN UP YOUR ACT, or BLACK PART WILL DO IT FOR YOU!

BLACK PART

- NEXT MONTH BLACK PART REVIEWS INVERAN BAGPIPES -

until next month . . . .

Back to "The Plot Sickens"

Return to Table of contents