It’s been a while since I’ve posted, and I figured it was time for an
end of season wrap up. And what a season! Six highland games and three
grades, starting in IV Sr. at the indoor games in April, moving to III
for Rhode Island and Glasgowlands, and II for the remainder of the year.
I’m well ahead of where I thought I’d be at this point, and I’d figured
I’d be applying for a move to grade III after my final events for the
year. Instead, I finished the season not only competitive in Grade II,
but medalling at each games I played, including a gold and a silver in
New Hampshire. With only half a season in Grade II under my belt, I
should end up somewhere in the high 20s or low 30s in the season
standings.
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.
