Srathclyde Police

[R.S.L. Kiltwearer]

i am shore this has been posted before, or at the very least most members have seen it. but wow i think this is the best piping i have ever heard!! and i love the first part of the medley

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WOOjH...yer_detailpage

[FatherWilliam57]

Could someone identify the tunes they played?

[R.S.L. Kiltwearer]

its, The Delmenhorst Standoff. and its freckn BADA@# sorry i really like it

[FatherWilliam57]

I know nothing about pipe bands, but am I to assume that the piper front left in the video is the director, but the drum captain (bass drum) is actually conducting or cuing the group when set up in a configuration like this?

[FatherWilliam57]

And I agree with you, R.S.L., that tune really :buttkick: !

[R.S.L. Kiltwearer]

I know nothing about pipe bands, but am I to assume that the piper front left in the video is the director, but the drum captain (bass drum) is actually conducting or cuing the group when set up in a configuration like this?

i don't know anything about the dynamic of pipe bands ether, just been a musician most of my life and when i listen to pipe bands i just look away and listen to the tone and the music. but there are member's of band's on here hopefully one can answer your question

[gasbag]

As far as i am aware, the piper front left as you look at them head on is the pipe major, he is the one in charge of evrybody out there. The bass drum keeps the beat. Watch the pipe majors foot, the bass drummer is watching the foot to keep the tempo where it needs to be.

[OC Richard]

Yes the Pipe Major "conducts" the band with his fingers and his foot. Many of the pipers will be watching his fingers the entire time to lock in, in as perfect unison as possible.

Some PMs insist that all the pipers watch his fingers, some do not. Some pipers, including in Grade One bands, stare off into space or play with their eyes closed, listening rather than watching.

The three people who most need to be "on the same page" are the PM, the "lead tip", and the bass drummer. The lead tip is the leader of the snare corps and he is entirely focused on being in complete agreement with the PM. The rest of the snare drummers are focused on being in unison with the lead tip.

One major change that's been happening in pipe band music over the last decade or so is the increase in the size, complexity, and musical importance of the "midsection".

When I started in pipe bands in the 1970s the tenor drummers had little musical value and mostly were there for visual show, doing their fancy "swinging".

Nowadays pipe bands have a large number of tenor drums tuned to various notes and the midsection scores are quite complex, often following the harmonic structure of the pipe tunes. Some tenor drummers have plastic tubing going from their mouth to a hole in the side of the drum allowing them to change the internal pressure of the drum and therefore its pitch.

Also Grade One pipe bands have been increasing in size recently, some now going into the circle with 25 to 30 pipers, a dozen snare drums, 8 or so tenor drums of various pitches, and even two bass drums tuned to different notes. Quite a change from the 1960s when a band could be competitive with 10 pipers.

It's wonderful that the BBC streams the World Pipe Band Championships live worldwide each year. It's a "must see" for pipe band people.

Here's a taste or overview of The Worlds live broadcast, with its commentary. At 6:16 you can see the tenor drummer's plastic tubing and shortly afterwards hear the effect of the tenor drum changing pitch.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7bj7W_v6TGE

[FatherWilliam57]

Fascinating about the tenor drums. I had thought that only timpani could change pitch during a performance. Thanks for the on-going education, Richard. This is an interesting forum on so many subjects.

(Each morning as my children head off to school, the last thing I tell them is "Learn something new." People who stop learning in life are dead...they have just forgotten to fall down. Having learned something new about tenor drums, I may now go about my business for the day!)

[OC Richard]

By the way the Irish drum, the bodhran (pronounced BOW-ron) is continually changing pitch during playing.

The bodhran is played with a single stick, both ends of which are used, so that triplets and even rolls can be played. The other hand is inside the drum continually changing its pitch and timbre.

People oftentimes think that the bodhran changes pitch like a timpani does, by changing head tension, but instead the player is changing the size of the vibrating portion of the head. It's like having a collection of toms of various sizes at your disposal, in a single drum.