History Needed!

Right ya auld fogies

i'm writing an essay ins chool about pipebands, and i need some comparisons about how pipebands have changed over the years.

i'm looking for anything that will help me really

so if ye have any examples, can ye post them here?

thanks

ruby

Tell them about how drummers have started to think they are musicians!!

Ya want us da dae yer homework fer ya?...........get away da redneck's act of reproduction.

naw.... they told me to look up old things, books, thing that are worn and old they shou ld tell me.. i thought they ment you lot!!

Aww geeez.... my eyes lit up when I saw Robbie's initial post.... I thought I was gonna get to learn something while he gets information for his essay. Looks like I was wrong...

never fear katie.. you might..

You can learn away Katie,

I'll PM it to you !!

Ruby will have to crawl a bit more

They used to wear No1s now they dont !!!

end of essay !!!!

They used to be all men,

Now there's girls too,

And Ruby

Gordy88 wrote:You can learn away Katie,

I'll PM it to you !!

You promise? I don't have a PM yet!

Gordy88 wrote:You can learn away Katie,

I'll PM it to you !!

Ruby will have to crawl a bit more

cheeky bassa! ano what ma new essay is called "How to poach players" 'n all am gonna write is "join ballycoan"

Piping Connections wrote:They used to wear No1s now they dont !!!

end of essay !!!!

tried that one already.. :D

Gordy88 wrote:They used to be all men,

Now there's girls too,

And Ruby

4 spieces if i'm not mistaken

Male, Female, Rubie's + sheepshaggers :D

...they used to play proper music. I don't know what it is that they play nowadays. The majority sounds (a) awful and (b) the same.

...they used to have people who knew how to tune dones, set up chanters, season bags, etc., now they have robots and bags made out of bullet resistant vests.

...they used to have drum majors, normally ex military men, who were in charge of discipline, of dress and turn out, who could actually play a drum and who doubled as quartermasters and band administrators. Now they have wee lassies who can't even salute properly.

...they used to have people who would remain in one or two bands for their entire life and not just one season. It is an old thing.....sometimes referred to as loyalty, dedication and/or commitment....

Robbie.Crow wrote:

Gordy88 wrote:You can learn away Katie,

I'll PM it to you !!

Ruby will have to crawl a bit more

cheeky bassa! ano what ma new essay is called "How to poach players" 'n all am gonna write is "join ballycoan"

now Ruby, be nice...........class. BTW, talk about kickin' someone when they're down.....that wee rat Barney stole our last drummer.

Wonder why I hate the 'Coan so much

True_Blue_Piper wrote:

...they used to have people who would remain in one or two bands for their entire life and not just one season. It is an old thing.....sometimes referred to as loyalty, dedication and/or commitment....

Glory hunters m8, fill someone's head fulla crap, make 'em out to be world beaters fer yer own band 'n ferk the band yer poachin' 'em from.
That's a side of piping/drumming I LOATH. Seen it all to often this last year or two......guys who were quite happy 'n content untill some bassa starts da unsettle 'em. Fill their heads fulla smelly broon stuff, then pounce........

smelly brown stuff.....sounds like the mutton rogan josh I had for lunch on Friday.....within about two hours of eating it....I was on the loo for the next ten....

then again......don't suppose you really wanted to know that.....

Redneck wrote:

Robbie.Crow wrote:

Gordy88 wrote:You can learn away Katie,

I'll PM it to you !!

Ruby will have to crawl a bit more

cheeky bassa! ano what ma new essay is called "How to poach players" 'n all am gonna write is "join ballycoan"

now Ruby, be nice...........class. BTW, talk about kickin' someone when they're down.....that wee rat Barney stole our last drummer.

Wonder why I hate the 'Coan so much

Stole???

Bollox, he has been down since last July,

You only hate the Coan cuz the 'wee man' learned all his poaching tricks from Willie Woods

He was a great PM, a great wee man, And a feckin great poacher too

You should come and help Brian with the grade 3 band, good input for you,spirit of reconciliation an' all that

, aye right. That grade3 band has been gettin' out the last 4 years.... , supposed da be Ballycoan jnr,,,,ballix they'll be older than me by the time they get out.

Redneck wrote: , aye right. That grade3 band has been gettin' out the last 4 years.... , supposed da be Ballycoan jnr,,,,ballix they'll be older than me by the time they get out.

They'll never be that old

Pipe Bands are old fashioned and consigned to the short bread tin


Pipe Bands are portrayed in a certain light in Scotland – that being one of “only old people play in them”, this is highly inaccurate and very un-factual in my opinion. In fact – one of the best occasions in my life was when I competed in the World Pipe Band Championships this year for the very first time. What made it so special to me? It was the whole atmosphere, there were approximately; 8000 pipers and drummers representing 206 pipe bands from 16 countries. Put together all of these musicians gave 262 performances across the 8 competitive grades to make this A truly international event. 79 Drum Majors also competed in the Adult, Juvenile and Junior grades. How could anything else in the world compare to this? The best musical performers of the magical instruments in the world, all brought together in one place!

Pipe bands are very much criticized in this day and age for being a “mainly male orientated hobby”, but in today’s society this is just simply not true. In fact, in the last 30 years there has even been an all female pipe band – the Wick Girls Pipe Band – which won several major prizes back in the 70s and whose members still survive today. We also have people like Gail Brown who was the very first woman to play in a grade 1 pipe band – Shotts & Dykehead – back in 1973, she is now a very well respected judge and teacher in Canada. We also have the grade 1 pipe bands of Simon Fraser University (the current grade 1 world champions) and Scottish Power who have numerous female pipers, but also have female bass drummers. Furthermore through the years, the mid sections of pipe bands have – to an extent – become over populated with female players, as the tenor drum is seen more as a feminine drum – with of course the exception of Tyler Fry playing it! So in today’s day and age, recent figures suggest that in fact – 40% of pipe band members are in fact female, with some bands being well over this percentage! Another major argument against pipe bands is that it is mainly old people who play in them, this in actual fact is very incorrect. In the World Pipe Band championships this year there were 33 bands of Novice Juvenile and Juvenile members, this means that a minimum of 396 (or just under 5% of the total number) people under the age of 18 entered this years WPBC. This can be increased dramatically when you see the amount of players playing in lower grade bands and higher grade bands who are under the age of 18 – this figure is at least 15% of all members, and this can be increased to 30% for the total number of people under 25. So as you can see, although the Bagpipes and pipe bands as a whole are portrayed as an “old man’s game” in fact, the figures show – that it is not!

Pipe Bands are believed to stretch back to the 1600s and even further back, but the earliest civilian pipe band in existence in Scotland – as far as I am aware – is that of Torphichen and Bathgate which was established in 1906. This pipe band still exists to this day and has this year just been upgraded to grade 1. The history of the Royal Scottish Pipe Band Association stretches back to the small village of Fallin Stirling. It has – to this day – very close ties with the R.S.P.B.A. that go back to the very beginning. Along with Fallin, the village of Millhall (Situated 1/2 a mile from Fallin) also has a close association. They were both coal mining communities, and back in the 1920/30s all of the “pits” had pipe bands that involved the workers and really was a hobby for them and the local community itself. Both villages had their own pipe bands funded by a weekly donation of "thrupence" from each miner working in the mines. Millhall Colliery Pipe Band was the top grade 1 band in the 1930`s and
Fallin Colliery Pipe Band was the top Juvenile band. In fact – both bands won The World Pipe Band Championships in their respective grades
in the 1930s. How did this lead to the introduction of the RSPBA I hear you ask? The Pipe Major of Millhall Pipe Band George MacDonald along with other pipe band enthusiasts got together in the 1930`s and founded the Scottish Pipe Band Association. Which of course became the RSPBA when the Queen gave it it’s royal title in the year 1980. Pipe band’s have however changed a lot over the years, for example – back in the 1980s pipe bands used to compete in “full number one dress”, now it is very rare to even see a band put on a performance wearing this – all competing is done in standard “day wear” or “numbers 2’s”. Also, until the year 1970 pipe bands were still competing only using “MSRs” or “March, Strathspey’s and Reels” but in the year of 1970 the “Medley round” was introduced, and bands could play what ever they wanted, how they wanted. With the MSR and Medley rounds both counting towards the overall winner. Also, drumming has changed over the years – this has been largely due to the “big man” aka Alex Duthart. Duthart is and was considered the best pipe band drummer of all time and was once described by Buddy Rich as “A far better drummer than I”. Sadly though, Duthart died on the 27th of Novemeber 1986 doing what he loved – playing drums! He was playing during a Macies day parade in New York when he passed away during a break in the parade, but it was said that he was showing other drummers some of his stuff literally 10 minutes before he passed on. Duthart might not live on to this day, but his Drum Scores, rudiments and Fanfares are still played to this day by the top players in this Fraternity and his name will live on throughout the years! There has also been a major breakthrough in pipe bands with the Materials that are used to make things, many of them are synthetic now-a-days and many people complain that they don’t get the sound they want, but inevitably they have to move with the times, and this has had to happen to keep the life of pipe bands alive.

Many people criticise pipe bands for portraying Scotland in an outdated image – along with shortbread and kilts – but this is simply not true. If this was true, and people saw it as “tacky” then why would there be so many pipe bands abroad? Especially in the places where Scots have emigrated too – such as Canada, Australia and New Zeland? If the Scottish people did think that these bands were outdated and tacky then they would not start them, and they would not teach their descendants to play these wonderful instruments. In fact, in my opinion it is pipe bands, kilts and bagpipes that keep Scottish heritage alive in the hearts of so many people through out the world today, and it is part of the reason why Scotland is loved in – more or less – every country that you go to. If ever asked where you’re from and you say “Scotland” you will always get a warm reception!

It is not only Scotland that has traditional music, look at Ireland and Wales. They have traditional instruments, and bands who play these but these countries are not as widely criticised. Why is this? It is my belief that this is because these bands and national instruments are not as widely spread as the bagpipes and Scottish pipe bands. No matter where you are in the world, I guarantee that you will always find a pipe band in that country, there is one in every part of the world – can this be said for other instruments? I think not.

In conclusion, pipe bands are not an outdated idiom of Scotland, and they are defiantly not going to die out soon. Sure, many people think that they are old fashioned but other people think that they are not, and it is these people – like me – who keep these bands going. Without the participation of people, these bands will not grow and will not form, and if this happens, that will truly be the end of the pipe band fraternity, but this will only be through choice of the people. Pipe bands have made me who I am. The social life (not just the drink…) is second to none as you are out every weekend during the summer, with people who share your love for this instrument competing against each other, but at the end of the day – you all meet in the beer tent to have a drink! Pipe bands are a way of life, not a hobby – and they are here to stay!
____________________________________________________

just incase anyone is interested.....

Very good indeed m8, just got one wee gripe though.......ya never mentioned ULSTER once. Seeing as we hold more world champion titles than anyone else a wee mention wouldn't be unkind Eh?.

Your essay is very nice, Robs! I wanted to say so elsewhere, but everyone was so busy correcting your syntax, colloquialisms, thesis statements and conclusions, that I just decided to stay out of it!

the Wick Girls Pipe Band?

Just one?

What about the Deeside Dogs?

The Aberdeen Ladies?

syntax??? colloquialisms???????? thesis?????????????????

I think you did a pretty good job with it Robbie. I do think young Kaitlin had some relevant points.

Robbie.Crow wrote:.......Pipe Bands are believed to stretch back to the 1600s and even further back, but the earliest civilian pipe band in existence in Scotland – as far as I am aware – is that of Torphichen and Bathgate which was established in 1906.

Ach Robbie, yiv let me doon!!!!! Never checked out my website or that of SPPB. Did yi?????

Other than that, a well written, enjoyable and educational read.