Pipers article from Boston magazine

[IrishSean]

http://www.bostonmagazine.com/news/a...-bagpipe-band/

[Blupiper]

Not a bad article. If you can separate the weeds (drinking, snark, some stereotypes) from the grain (long hours of hard work, temperamental instruments, dedication to playing, pressure,) you can really glean some good stuff from this article. While I don't play in a band, I do know the hard work top units put into their play, what can go right and wrong and how competitions can hinge on the tiniest thing. This was a worthwhile read.

JMB

[Dughlas mor]

A very interesting article. Thanks for sharing, and Blupiper, thanks for your insight.

[OC Richard]

What strikes me first is the zillion references to alcoholic drinks (the first five paragraphs of the second page have them). Makes me wonder why the author is obsessed with that. Maybe he should visit a teatotalling band from Utah to adjust his preconceptions a bit.

I really like those jackets! Dark bluish grey with ordinary buttons, not silver or staghorn.

The bulk of the article is pretty good, discussing all the stuff a band goes through, the ridiculous new US ivory ban, etc.

Some quibbles:

The World Pipe Band Championships are live streamed worldwide, not just in the UK.

This is utter nonsense:

Performers who’ve perfected the art of circular breathing are able to feed air from their lungs into the blowpipe, which fills a bag...

You don't do circular breathing when playing the pipes. That's precisely what the bag does for you!

And so is this:

First in drumming
Last in piping.
Last in ensemble.
Last overall.

It’s all poor Charly’s fault. Charly Slagle, the piper who flew in from Denver, blew the attack.

One piper hitting an "early E" does not put the pipe corps last and the ensemble corps last. The judges notice it, it's a blemish, but a small one in the overall score.

[Profane James]

Perhaps the tunes weren't the only things with embellishments LoL

[crash]

I was there and saw that performance. When they came to the line and hit that "early E" the whole crowd went "oooh". That being said they just didn't measure up to the other three bands. One thing I found odd though, that had nothing to do with their performance was their kit was kind of ragged and thread bare. You don't have to look good to sound good. It just seemed odd for a grade 1 band.