After disappointing showings at Glasgowlands and Quechee (blowing/reed/warmup issues and warmup/tuning issues, respectively), the band found its stride at the New Hampshire games. We took home “Most Improved Grade V Band,” as well as the group’s first 1st place ever! There are still some issues to iron out, but all in all, it’s an encouraging sign coming just as we start prepping to go to Glasgow for the World’s next year. The band should place somewhere in the top 10 for the Grade V season standings.
I’ve been working with my teacher to get advice on what to do to prepare, and and helping out P/M coordinate with him. We’re going to standardize our drone reeds and bags going into next season, and it looks like we’ve gotten hold of a good set of new (used) chanters – an upgrade over our current McCallum Mk. 1s(?). We're also trying to secure a coach to work with us over there.
On my setup, I’m hoping to enter the Clasp amateur championship over there. If I do so, I'll need to decide on one set of pipes to play for both band and solo. This year's setups were:
- Band: 2007 McCallums, band-issue Mk. 1 chanter, G1 platinum reed, X-Treme bass, Ezeedrone tenors, Bannatyne hybrid bag with Drone-Dri moisture control.
- Solo (first two games): Late-90s Naills, Bannatyne hybrid bag and Drone-Dri, Naill chanter, MacPhee chanter reed, Henderson Harmonic Deluxe Bass, and short Ezeedrone tenors.
- Solo (last four games): Vintage Hendersons, X-Treme bass, Ezeedrone tenors, Bannatyne hybrid bag with Drone-Dri moisture control, Trap-Dri tube trap, and alternating Naill and Kron Medallist chanters with G1 platinum reeds.
Right now, I’m thinking I'll bring the Hendersons to Glasgow, although I’m a little skittish about flying with them. The alternative is to go with the Naills. My McCallums are decent pipes, but they’re a little less steady and stable. I’ve just started testing out bass reeds to match the new band setup. We’re probably going with Kinnaird basses and Ezeedrone tenors. I picked up a Kinnaird Edge reed to try out, and plugged it into the Hendersons yesterday for an initial blaw. Impressive: very similar sound to the X-Treme I’ve been using, but a bit brighter and noticeably less finicky. I’ve also got an Evolution bass on the way. I’d tried Evos when they first came out, and – frankly – didn’t like them. They’re very harmonic reeds, but not clean sounding to my ear and they gave off a distracting, high-pitched whine. That being said, one of my band mates just got a set of Evos, and they sound fantastic in his pipes. It’s been several years (and I didn’t have the Hendies at that point), so they may surprise me. If not, I’ll have a spare reed in case it’s needed. I’m waiting on figuring out the chanter until I see what the band will be playing, since I want something in the same pitch range. Odds are, it’ll either be my Naill or McC2, although I’m also considering picking up one of Bruce and Alex Gandy’s McCallum chanters.
In addition to the prep going on with my band, I’ve started teaching a fledgling group. They’ve been around for almost 20 years, but they’re small and the pipers are mostly beginners. A friend has been working with the drum corps for some time, and asked me to come in and work with the pipe corps. I’m having a lot of fun working with them, and I’m looking forward to working with them more over the winter. It’s also looking like I may end up coaching the pipers in a third band - the band I started out with almost 20 years ago. Their lead drummer is hoping to field a competition group for next season, although I’m skeptical they’ll have enough people to do so (I think they only have one snare right now). He wants to have me on board to play, but I'm not planning on it unless a) they’re competing in Canadian events (which I may do a few of) or b) my current band moves to Grade IV, which is unlikely to happen for next season. But, we’ll see. In any case, while the season may be over, things aren’t slowing down.
