Rab Matheison interview

http://www.bbc.co.uk/scotland/music/worlds/bands/house_of_edgar/ Click on the interview section down the righthand side .

Some good points here for bootin' around the forum. Listen to the interview and suggestions RM has put forward regarding the future format for bands playing medley.
( no need fer me to post, y'all know my feelings
)

while i agree about the showboating perhaps , i also think the pipe band world need to move on , we have a huge audience now and perhaps should be looking for a concert piece and positioning instead of a medley,
I stood in george square and wondered why all the bands, suposedly playing for the audience were still standing in their own wee tight circle ???

I am with you on this Richard, and whilst a lot has been said about Shotts and their "wee" display? but the crowd loved it, and lets be honest, surely if you wish to get that interest flowing, you should be as you say, playing TO the Crowd, not with your back to them.
Perhaps not ALL the time? I dont know, I do feel however that to make Pipe bands attractive to onlookers, you have to do something?

Piping Connections wrote:while i agree about the showboating perhaps , i also think the pipe band world need to move on , we have a huge audience now and perhaps should be looking for a concert piece and positioning instead of a medley,
I stood in george square and wondered why all the bands, suposedly playing for the audience were still standing in their own wee tight circle ???

The only exception I saw in George Square was when SFU played Pachelbel's Canon. I know some people didn't like it at all, but I thought it was beautiful!! Of course, I adore classical music anyway and Canon has always been one of my favourites, so it was interesting to hear it interpreted on pipes.

And Dai, I was in the stands when Shotts did their little turn-around bit.... the crowd went wild!! I'm not totally sure it was appropriate for competition, but from an entertainment standpoint it was a winner!

As you all know, my band is not a competition band.... so it bothers me when we go to festivals and such and make our little circle. They say it's the best way to hear each other, but we are shutting out our audience, which is the only reason my band is at the event!

Gotta agree wi all the comments so far, however he stated NOT for MSR. What's so different?, either one way or the other.

There was a vast sound differance once they turned to face the crowd, very evident even from the BBC recording.
This facing the crowd would sort the men out from the boys too, think about it.......no PM da see / follow via his fingers and leads into breaks. The playing would have to be so spot on. Maybe a semi circle would be better ( as we do playing our gigs ) the seating would then need to reflect this though, but if they are looking to change, reorganisation of the seating plan would be a minor thing IMO.

Still, am kinda 50/50 on this, but would be willing to give it a try at a few minor contests.

BIG QUESTION................will they do it at Cowal?.

Sorry but you're going to hate me....

The medleys started off in the championships as a good thing, but over the years have descended into a complete and utter nonsense.

Harmony upon harmony, piping that has as much pointing as an Amsterdam barrel organ and hornpipes, jigs and reels...which sound the same, and leave you wondering when one tune ends and another starts. And how many have nothing whatsoever to do with "Scottish melodies/music".

And don't even get me started on those breaks between tune after tune.

And even worse re. Shotts performance....do bands really need to lower the pipe band world into some sort of majorette, silent drill competition? A wee twirl here and a wee twirl there?

If you need to play to the crowd and get spoken about for years, that's fine, but if so.....then give at least 75% of the marks to proper pipe band music....the MSR.

And last but not least, either have proper drum majors or get rid of them....it's time that "I'm a drum major from N Ireland" realised that in days of yore, drum majoring meant more than showing off and dropping your mace on the silverware.

There was no need to go further into modernity than that of the Invergordon Distillery, the Edinburgh City Police or even, in later years.....the Grorud Polkemmet Pipe Band.

And now....do I turn left or right to Jurassic Park ?

Will I have to meetn Susuan MacLeod before joining the 93rds at Modder River on the way to my Highland Wedding at Mrs MacPherson's wee place? Or does every single pipe band know the way?

Ya got a hangover m8?.........

And thats him on a good day??

nope....just wondering how many years it'll be when I turn up at a pipe band competition to see pipers wearing kilts on their hips with underwear sticking up and glengarries on their heads worn back to front.........

During the first minute of the medley, the pipers will stop playing and shout out "yo mother f*cker, kill the pigs"......and then start playing again.....

The entire band will then get down on their arses and swivel round and round again....whilst the tenor drummers, all thirty of them....will be beating out, dum, dum, dum dummer, dum, mother f*cker....

If there is an upside to the whole thing in the future however, it will be that the British Government will introduce a Mace licence and that all maces will have to be licenced and kept in some sort of firearms cabinet.

A year later, drum-majoring will be banned as at least 30% of drum majors will have to be lesbians, 30% muslim and the remainder will have to possess a PhD in mickey mouse, an MSc in miney mouse and a BA in Chopin's fifth concerto......and have shares in Shephard and Sons Bagpipe Makers.

AAAArrrrgggghh.....

So OK......I've calmed down....for now.

You sure you haven't moved to California to live with your alter-ego there?

DavidH wrote:You sure you haven't moved to California to live with your alter-ego there?

Jeeze that'd be some craic, him 'n Mitchell in the same room, Stormy 'n me guardin' the carry out 'n placin' bets who's gonna throw the first wobbler at Shotts new medley................Forkin' classsssssss.

Just be damn sure you get it on video, Iain!!!!!

True_Blue_Piper wrote:nope....just wondering how many years it'll be when I turn up at a pipe band competition to see pipers wearing kilts on their hips with underwear sticking up and glengarries on their heads worn back to front.........

During the first minute of the medley, the pipers will stop playing and shout out "yo mother f*cker, kill the pigs"......and then start playing again.....

The entire band will then get down on their arses and swivel round and round again....whilst the tenor drummers, all thirty of them....will be beating out, dum, dum, dum dummer, dum, mother f*cker....

If there is an upside to the whole thing in the future however, it will be that the British Government will introduce a Mace licence and that all maces will have to be licenced and kept in some sort of firearms cabinet.

A year later, drum-majoring will be banned as at least 30% of drum majors will have to be lesbians, 30% muslim and the remainder will have to possess a PhD in mickey mouse, an MSc in miney mouse and a BA in Chopin's fifth concerto......and have shares in Shephard and Sons Bagpipe Makers.

AAAArrrrgggghh.....

So OK......I've calmed down....for now.

Ron.. i <3 you

True_Blue_Piper wrote:nope....just wondering how many years it'll be when I turn up at a pipe band competition to see pipers wearing kilts on their hips with underwear sticking up and glengarries on their heads worn back to front.........

During the first minute of the medley, the pipers will stop playing and shout out "yo mother f*cker, kill the pigs"......and then start playing again.....

The entire band will then get down on their arses and swivel round and round again....whilst the tenor drummers, all thirty of them....will be beating out, dum, dum, dum dummer, dum, mother f*cker....

If there is an upside to the whole thing in the future however, it will be that the British Government will introduce a Mace licence and that all maces will have to be licenced and kept in some sort of firearms cabinet.

A year later, drum-majoring will be banned as at least 30% of drum majors will have to be lesbians, 30% muslim and the remainder will have to possess a PhD in mickey mouse, an MSc in miney mouse and a BA in Chopin's fifth concerto......and have shares in Shephard and Sons Bagpipe Makers.

AAAArrrrgggghh.....

So OK......I've calmed down....for now.

Post of the year m8

OK ban all the tutoring of youngsters cause the young upstarts will want to start writing music when they can , n just leave it to the past masters !!! ban all the medleys and just allow pipe bands to play MSR,s this will cure the vast numbers of Bands in the association, no need to split the grades, or Qualify for the final at the worlds. With that plan the marchpast and the prize giving will be over by 3.30 and we will all be in the pub by 4, total number of bands in the RSPBA by 2020, 22 and dropping !!!!!! average age of player 88!!!

DM,s well i agree with yeh there !!!!!

DavidH wrote:You sure you haven't moved to California to live with your alter-ego there?

blasphemy....wash your mouth out with soap and water....

nope....just wondering how many years it'll be when I turn up at a pipe
band competition to see pipers wearing kilts on their hips with
underwear sticking up and glengarries on their heads worn back to
front.........

During the first minute of the medley, the
pipers will stop playing and shout out "yo mother f*cker, kill the
pigs"......and then start playing again.....

The entire band
will then get down on their arses and swivel round and round
again....whilst the tenor drummers, all thirty of them....will be
beating out, dum, dum, dum dummer, dum, mother f*cker....

Ha, you'll probably find it youtube if you look hard enough

As you all know, my band is not a competition band.... so it bothers me
when we go to festivals and such and make our little circle. They say
it's the best way to hear each other, but we are shutting out our
audience, which is the only reason my band is at the event!

Katie, our non competition band is restricted to what it can do. Simply because most don't have the skills to keep time properly in an open formation.

I'm still on the fence about this. Here, we're desperate for a bigger audience to keep the competitions going. Yet the bulk of competitors are G4, who are the least likely to be able to play in anything other a circle or Arc.

Btw I can't listen to the interview, not available.

.

Piping Connections wrote:

True_Blue_Piper wrote:nope....just wondering how many years it'll be when I turn up at a pipe band competition to see pipers wearing kilts on their hips with underwear sticking up and glengarries on their heads worn back to front.........

During the first minute of the medley, the pipers will stop playing and shout out "yo mother f*cker, kill the pigs"......and then start playing again.....

The entire band will then get down on their arses and swivel round and round again....whilst the tenor drummers, all thirty of them....will be beating out, dum, dum, dum dummer, dum, mother f*cker....

If there is an upside to the whole thing in the future however, it will be that the British Government will introduce a Mace licence and that all maces will have to be licenced and kept in some sort of firearms cabinet.

A year later, drum-majoring will be banned as at least 30% of drum majors will have to be lesbians, 30% muslim and the remainder will have to possess a PhD in mickey mouse, an MSc in miney mouse and a BA in Chopin's fifth concerto......and have shares in Shephard and Sons Bagpipe Makers.

AAAArrrrgggghh.....

So OK......I've calmed down....for now.

Post of the year m8

OK ban all the tutoring of youngsters cause the young upstarts will want to start writing music when they can , n just leave it to the past masters !!! ban all the medleys and just allow pipe bands to play MSR,s this will cure the vast numbers of Bands in the association, no need to split the grades, or Qualify for the final at the worlds. With that plan the marchpast and the prize giving will be over by 3.30 and we will all be in the pub by 4, total number of bands in the RSPBA by 2020, 22 and dropping !!!!!! average age of player 88!!!

DM,s well i agree with yeh there !!!!!

Ruby, read and digest.
Whilst I am a known as bein' onea the ole han's, I agree wi Richard on this one. Piping has reached a vast amount of people now days..........was it through MSR's?.........naw, far from it.

The biggest buzz I ever got was the first time I played on stage wi a folk group at Queen's Uni'. Then it was a novelty for a piper to be playing in this situation, but now it's the norm'............advancement in piping.

Rab has some good points, but I still will prefer my MSR's over medley's which I love playing too. Wyhen medleys were first used people were buzzing wi excitment, now it's the norm..........radical changes just for the sake of it I'm not in favour of, but changes to improve / enhance piping in any way I'm all for it, even if it means me learning new skills, even now.........why?, 'cause I love my piping.

janelle wrote:

As you all know, my band is not a competition band.... so it bothers me
when we go to festivals and such and make our little circle. They say
it's the best way to hear each other, but we are shutting out our
audience, which is the only reason my band is at the event!

Katie, our non competition band is restricted to what it can do. Simply because most don't have the skills to keep time properly in an open formation.

I'm still on the fence about this. Here, we're desperate for a bigger audience to keep the competitions going. Yet the bulk of competitors are G4, who are the least likely to be able to play in anything other a circle or Arc.

Btw I can't listen to the interview, not available.

.

Jen, our band's the same way. But we do fine in a semi-circle with our P/M at one end so everyone can see her. That, to me, is a much more crowd-friendly formation. I'm still not sure that would be appropriate for competition, though, since obviously a band would need to be at their very best then, which probably means staying in a circle. Besides, the primary purpose of a competition is not necessarily to entertain the crowd.

We have CelticFest next weekend (Sept 6) and at band this Saturday I am going to suggest not playing in a circle. I'm not sure how it will go over, but we'll see. CelticFest is a fun, informal festival, and we are the only pipe band there. With only about 20 pipers in the entire state of Mississippi, and most of them not playing in a band, bagpipes are still very much a novelty to lots of people... I didn't even know they existed here until about four years ago!! I think our audience will be more pleased if we play facing them rather than making a tight circle where all they can really see is the pleats of our kilts!

After watching the Worlds on the TV on Sunday night I'm sorry to say I didnt know exactly what this topic was about when it was raised and hadn't watched the Shotts performance. Not being the biggest fan of the band or RM I was astounded at what I saw in the performance. In fact my chin hit the floor. The tenor drummer blowing air in to the tenor drum to alter the pitch was very affective and the ending, they always some to come out with something different.

True_Blue_Piper wrote:nope....just wondering how many years it'll be when I turn up at a pipe band competition to see pipers wearing kilts on their hips with underwear sticking up and glengarries on their heads worn back to front.........

During the first minute of the medley, the pipers will stop playing and shout out "yo mother f*cker, kill the pigs"......and then start playing again.....

The entire band will then get down on their arses and swivel round and round again....whilst the tenor drummers, all thirty of them....will be beating out, dum, dum, dum dummer, dum, mother f*cker....

If there is an upside to the whole thing in the future however, it will be that the British Government will introduce a Mace licence and that all maces will have to be licenced and kept in some sort of firearms cabinet.

A year later, drum-majoring will be banned as at least 30% of drum majors will have to be lesbians, 30% muslim and the remainder will have to possess a PhD in mickey mouse, an MSc in miney mouse and a BA in Chopin's fifth concerto......and have shares in Shephard and Sons Bagpipe Makers.

AAAArrrrgggghh.....

So OK......I've calmed down....for now.

Cracker!!!!!

Can just see that happening. Would they all be dressed as Rab C in the pipeband and hail fae Govan.

Good thread this,

I think change can be a good thing, but not necessarily always.

There are a lot of people in Pipe bands who want things to change for the sake of change, very similar to what is happening in society as a whole.

One of the biggest aspects of Pipe bands is tradition, the make up of the band, marching, rank structure etc, that is in danger of gettin swept aside on a wave of moderninity.

Do we need change? do we want change?

I'm not a Luddite by any manner of means, and I personally have a great respect for tradition, (Especially in July, ),

The MSR is IMO the traditional contest piece, I know Pibroc' is a more traditional music, but thats a side issue.

An MSR played properly is a rare thing, an awful lot of bands can't do it, and I'm not just talking about lower grades here either, AND an MSR is also half your medley, just add a slow air a jig and a hornpipe and you're away.

It is my opinion that there is far too much harmony and bridging theses days, but, it has become the accepted norm, so if you don't do it, you are likely to get cut, not so good.

The tenor drumming issue is another one, how many is too many?

I have always followed the 2 to 1 ratio, 2 pipers to 1 side drummer, 2 sides to 1 tenor,

ie 20 pipers, 10 sides 5 tenors, 16, 6 and 4, that sort of thing, anything well away from that will upset the ensemble of a band,

You can't have 16 pipers, 8 sides and 8 tenors, there is no balance in the band, that is a time where Tenors would have to be cut, not nice, but the overall band must come before personal ego.

Interestly enough, early military pipe bands didnt have tenor drummers, they were introduced to make the band more square and military looking, and in fact, early tenor drummers were not classed by the army as musicians, but were drawn from the ranks on a rotation basis

The crowd seemed to like the Shotts gimmick, fair enough, I have often heard non pipe banders judge a band purely on appearance, there you go, some people also like colonic irrigation, i think I'll give it a miss!

There was a video on you tube of it, and a guy in the crowd turned to the camera and made the dickhead gesture from his forehead, I reckon he got it right