Potential new RSPBA rules could also impact judging worldwide

The old adage “When America sneezes, the world catches a cold” might be adapted to the pipe band world and the Royal Scottish Pipe Band Association, given the organization’s influence on how other associations operate their band events.

The Royal Scottish Pipe Band Association’s 2025 annual general meeting, held in person in Glasgow and online on March 8th, will include votes on significant rule changes on pipe band judging.

Both motions are submitted by Grade 1 Closkelt of Northern Ireland:

At all RSPBA Major Championships and where practicably possible and not out with local branch rules, at Minor Competitions, the judging panel will consist of five adjudicators:

2 Piping
1 Drumming
1 Ensemble (Drumming)
1 Ensemble (Piping)

The Ensemble (Drumming) judge should be a qualified drumming judge with the required Ensemble training. The Ensemble (Piping) judge should be a qualified piping judge with the required Ensemble training. The Ensemble placing will be a combined total of both Ensemble placings but should be detailed on the Summary sheets separately and as a combined placing.

If attending member bands approve the motion, it would be the most significant change to RSPBA judging format since the addition of a single Ensemble judge in decades. The current two piping, one ensemble and one drumming judge system has been in place at championships since the early 1970s.

“If there is one piper and one drummer judging Ensemble they will be able to draw heavily on their actual skill set and hopefully a better result.” – Closkelt Pipe-Major David Chesney

“If there is one piper and one drummer judging Ensemble they will be able to draw heavily on their actual skill set and hopefully a better result,” said Closkelt Pipe-Major David Chesney when asked to elaborate on the thinking behind the motion. “We’ve argued [the single ensemble judge] should be scrapped as we don’t have the people who have the skillset on each instrument to be able to judge it properly.

“The bar to qualify as, say, a piping judge is high. If someone were then to ask me to judge Ensemble, I really don’t think attending a few seminars would equip me to be competent to tell a very technical drum score from a basic one so I could assess fairly the performances and have the correct band first.”

Adding another judge to a competition circle has obvious cost implications, but fielding enough pipers and drummers certified in Ensemble could be more challenging. Of the 73 judges comprising the RSPBA adjudication panel, 23 are Ensemble-certified.

Both motions would have sweeping implications for associations worldwide that often look to RSPBA rules and policies to dictate their approaches. “Overseas” bands travelling to Scotland to compete generally want their home association to use the same rules and formats, allowing them to prepare in realistic conditions.

“[Changing the judging format] would be a difficult task in the immediate future for the EUSPBA due to the rather small number of Ensemble-qualified drumming judges we currently have, their geographical locations in relation to contests, and the fact that we occasionally have multiple contests occurring on the same day within different regions or branches of our large geographical scope,” Eastern United States Pipe Band Association President Bill Caudill said.

Chesney added that the change would render more accurate results.

“I’ve been in band halls for 40 years and I couldn’t tell you what rudiments the drummers use to make up a score,” he said. “If we were to ask, say, a piping judge to commit to learning the drum then get himself into a corps, go up through the ranks, play in Grade 1 for 10 years, he’d be the oldest drummer in the grade. When he had the relevant experience and ready to come on the panel, he’d be 75 years old and have to retire.”

The second significant proposal:

“Adjudicators’ critique will be carried out by audio recording using headsets provided, and this will be done in real time. All audio recordings of critiques will be collectively available to all competing bands.”

If carried, the organizations will join a growing list of associations worldwide using technology that enables judges to record their critiques verbally and immediately upload completed assessments to the cloud, with compiled accurate final results downloaded with a mouse click.

“It is 2025, and we need to move with the times,” Chesney said, adding that verbal comments in real time make a judge’s task more straightforward than writing, allowing them to focus solely on the band’s performance as it happens without thinking about their written comment about a past element while also trying to listen to what’s being played at the moment.

The RSPBA’s 44-page Order Paper submitted to member bands includes the association’s 2024 Financial Statement before the meeting. At the end of 2024, the organization reported £431,886 in “cash and cash equivalents.”

Despite the association’s apparent good financial health, Adjudicators’ Panel Management Board Convener Robert Mathieson, in his report, highlighted “cost efficiency” impacts:

“The standard rotational allocation process for 2025 will no doubt be impacted by cost efficiency, being the main driving force, to help protect the future and continuity of our competition circuit. We will however endeavour to stick to the historical allocation working template with a view to adhere to the intended rotational model of adjudicator allocation.”

The sentiment was echoed by the report from Malcolm Brown-Scott, convener of the Finance Insurance & Maintenance Committee:

“Our office bearers have met with the Chief Executive, Chairman and various Directors on several occasions during the closed season. The logistical and financial challenges are greater than ever, as we try to evolve into a more robust business model, that can weather the current business climate. With that in mind the APMB has recognized that we must deliver within a tight budget, often with an even shorter timeline, than we previously enjoyed.”

The Financial Statement showed that the RSPBA took in £562,039 from competition sponsorship, which the organization labels as “charitable activities.” The most considerable contest income was £254,419 from the World Championships.

By contrast, the British and UK Championships brought only £2,760 and £1,878, respectively. At the same time, the association spent £81,071 to stage the British and £72,712 to put on the UK Championships—a total deficit of £149,145.

The British Championships were not scheduled until February 2024, when Forres, Scotland, was secured as the venue. The RSPBA said the British Championships will not be held in 2025 “due to unforeseen circumstances.”

The association’s Chief Executive Colin Mulhern has not responded to a query in January asking if he could shed light on what is meant by “unforeseen circumstances” and whether the RSPBA would subsidize its own event instead, as appears to have occurred with last year’s British and UK Championships.

The RSPBA’s system allows one vote per member band attending the March 8th annual general meeting in person or online, or via proxy.