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Folks love the pomp of the decked out piper in full regalia, don’t they. Sometimes the image of the performing piper looking the part in a well pressed kilt and flags on the drone cords is enough for an appreciative audience—even if he/she sounds like rubbish on the bagpipe.
The RSPBA regradings are up on their website and it seems some eastern US bands have seen some impact. The North Coast Pipe Band of Cleveland, Ohio sees their standing improved to Grade 3B for competitions with the RSPBA sphere while the City of Washington Pipe Band of Washington, D.C., for a decade the EUSPBA’s only Grade 1 band, sees a downgrade to Grade 2 for RSPBA competitions. Given the explicit reciprocity among the worldwide pipe band associations, it will be interesting to see what will develop as a result of this decision.
Back in the day, the gooey black bits of “cobbler’s wax” were oftentimes a melted mess in a piper’s maintenance kit awaiting their next turn at a strand of hemp. What is simply globs of pine resin and pitch (otherwise known by the scientific name “soot”), the stuff was crumbly, sticky, and infuriating at the same time but has always been ideal for sticking that first wrap of hemp on your pipe tenons. But what do you do when your chunk of black wax has crumbled to nothing?
Over the years, I have acquired many sets of drone reeds. Right now, I’ve got two combination sets going for solo and band playing that comprise three different makes. It has been an ongoing challenge keeping them packed safe and sound while they are not being played or transported in my pipe case.
Over the many years I have spent teaching and playing with pipers of all levels, one thing has always been consistent: Too many pipers choose chanter reeds that are too stiff and thus too hard to play for them personally.
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