Opinion: Humble, invisible judges are bestJune 27, 2024 The contest that spotlights only the performances, not the judging, before, during or after the event occurs is invariably the most appealing to the contestants and the audience. All they remember is the good playing and the fair result.
Read more » | 2 CommentsFor the parents (from our archive)May 24, 2024 The world of piping and drumming can be a strange and unusual place for non-piping/drumming parents of young kids who become involved with the art. As a child of a mother and father who knew nothing about the mysterious and exclusive club before allowing their boy to become involved, I now recognize how difficult it can be, even more so after teaching young pipers plunging into our pool of competition, decorum, and tradition.
Read more » | 1 CommentOpinion: Tenor drummers – is the pipe band world going backwards?May 7, 2024 “If they don’t understand flourishing, cannot perform flourishing, and are not experts at it, why do they think they have the qualifications to comment on it?”
Read more » | 3 CommentsOpinion: Why do this?May 5, 2024 I love merging two passions into a publication that gets daily positive feedback from readers and, judging from its ever-increasing readership, is appreciated by thousands daily.
Read more » | 1 CommentOpinion: Breaking tie-breakersMarch 21, 2024 The tiebreakers we use were made for a different era. Today, they make little sense, and, like so much in piping and drumming, they’re perpetually used either out of habit or sheer laziness.
Read more » | No CommentsComments from a Highland games organizerMarch 4, 2024 “Highland games are a partnership between the band association, bands and local organizers. Each is important to the end result, and none is more important than the others.” Dave Bruning, Pipes and Drums Chair for the Wisconsin Highland Games, discusses the challenges many of today’s competition organizers face.
Read more » | 6 CommentsOpinion: The RSPBA deserves due creditFebruary 13, 2024 The Royal Scottish Pipe Band Association’s ability to secure all five major championships is nothing less than remarkable. The organization deserves full credit for voluntary hard work, determination, and savvy business acumen.
Read more » | 2 CommentsOpinion: A good song is a good song – familiarity breeds popularityJanuary 22, 2024 There’s a saying in the music industry: a good song is a good song, no matter who covers it or how it’s done. That’s true. Think of all those renditions of familiar hits you like. They may not be as good as the original, but they’re generally good and often even better. You recognize them. They immediately attract you with their familiarity. At Christmastime, we hear arrangements ad infinitum of classic carols and holiday songs done by pop stars. This is intentional. Artists and their labels know that the music-buying public will at least give them a listen.
Read more » | 2 CommentsOpinion: The future of 75-plus years of UK pipe band activity stands in the balanceDecember 23, 2023 Editor’s note: pipes|drums welcomes all fair persp …
Read more » | No CommentsOpinion: Why can’t we retain most older pipers and drummers?November 8, 2023 Editor’s note: with an aging population in most pa …
Read more » | No CommentsOpinion: Association leaders who haven’t competed with intensity simply can’t understandOctober 25, 2023 Because they have not done it, they can’t appreciate it, so they treat the competitors with a cavalier, it-doesn’t-matter attitude.
Read more » | 5 CommentsOpinion: The sorrow and the glory of aging in piping and drummingSeptember 8, 2023 I’ve spent 50 years now trying to figure out pipin …
Read more » | No CommentsOpinion: the World’s Grade 1 debacle and the need for utmost clarityAugust 20, 2023 Unless it emerges that there was some other extraordinary circumstance to make this decision obviously and irrefutably correct, it’s yet another bad move by the RSPBA – not necessarily to reject Russell’s scores, but not to be completely detailed and transparent and open about the exact reasons for their decision.
Read more » | 5 CommentsOpinion: No more having to pay your dues. The world is listening.July 4, 2023 In pre-internet days, only those who heard the contest live were aware of the insidious dues-paying system of judging. Those days are thankfully gone.
Read more » | 2 CommentsOpinion: The future for piping and drumming must put an emphasis on performance, not perfectionJune 1, 2023 A fundamental change must occur if piping and drum …
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