Ethnography on the Culture of Scottish Pipe and Drum Bands

Introduction
This paper’s goal is to describe the music culture of the Scottish pipe and drum bands. It will accomplish this by first covering how I obtained my information followed by a discussion on the different musical elements of this culture. These elements of music will be discussed first starting with the ideas about this music culture along with the activities involving this music and how it is being preserved. Finally the material culture and the repertoires of this music culture will be explained.

Methodology
The research done on this paper was for the most part unconsciously done over the past fourteen years. This is because the small private school I attended from kindergarten to senior year of high school was world renown for its juvenile Scottish pipe and drum bands. Thus I was saturated with music from a young age and later came to be a competitive Scottish snare drummer who competed in multiple competitions ranging from grade five to grade three. There was also some required Scottish dancing performances but I’d rather not talk about those (dancing is not one of my strong points). So with this base knowledge my sources mainly were for exact numbers, historical facts, and other details that one would not pick up from hearing and performing this music. For this I mainly used sources such as the RSPBA rules and the historical info of bands such as The London Scottish Regiment.

Aspects of the Music Culture
The first record of a pipe and drum band was in the records of military officers. However as these records only made passing reference to the bands they employed I was unable to find any further details on this music cultures beginnings. As such it wasn’t till around 1860 and the creation of local nonmilitary bands that this music form begins to be heavily documented.

Now with the increase of nonmilitary pipe and drum bands the community began holding competitions (as nonmilitary bands weren’t going to be tasked with the tasks as the official bands). Over time these competitions began to overtake the military use of pipe bands till in World War I piping in the trenches was banned. As such most modern pipe and drum bands focus on preparing numbers to perform at local, national, and maybe even world competitions.

These competitions while possibly just competitions at their beginning have evolved into more of a local festival. As with the Houston Highland Games and Salado Clan Gathering and Highland games these events while still being heavily focused on the band and single competitions have shown an influx of vendors selling everything from Scottish apparel and weaponry to really good kettle corn. As such many of the visitors treat them more as a cheerful bazaar/festival/competition than a serious event.
Now this culture has not only managed to survive all these years but has managed to spread to the point that North American bands are able to compete competitively and win against with native grown Scottish bands in the worlds as seen with the 78th Fraser Highlanders. The reasons for this, as stated above, are each band’s drive to be the best and the festive nature of the competitions. The festive nature of these competitions naturally attracts visitors from outside the normal sphere of the music culture who then get pulled into the music culture (or at least return for later competitions). The bands on the other hand are always looking to better themselves. This is usually done by constant weekly practice and local performances (ranging from stage performances to marching in parades such as the Saint Patrick’s Day parade). Pipe and drum bands (depending on their size and skill) also occasionally hold workshops aiming at teaching others how to play the instruments involved in this music culture. Also it should be noted that as there are no real max size rules for a pipe and drum band it is unlikely that someone will be turned away from a band if they can play at that band’s level of skill.

Now this level of skill is determined by a number of things however first and foremost is your control over your instrument. Depending on which section of the band you are in your instrument will either be the bagpipe, the snare drum, the tenor drum, or the bass drum. As such the skills needed to play each instrument differ significantly. Bagpipers need to under go lung training so that they are able to keep their bag constantly inflated and also need to master the ability of keeping a constant flow of air so that they don’t have to pause mid-song to catch their breath. Tenor drummers on the other hand need to focus more on stick control as many of their moves involve intricate stick twirling and other crowd pleasing tactics (also it is quite hard to play a song when your sticks fly out from your hands). Snare drummers focus a lot more in pure technique and most have to go through multiple practice scores before they can attempt their first music piece (for example I had to master over twelve different concepts before I was ready to attempt my first piece while pipers and tenor drummers only had around four different preparatory pages). Finally the biggest thing a bass drummer has to get over is the fact that they can not see the road in front of them. Now while this may seem like a small matter compared to the rest consider the fact that most pipe and drum bands tend to march during the entrance and exit of their competitions and a bass drummer must put the utmost faith in the people ahead of him and that the ground is flat (as he/she can see neither).

After ones skill with their instrument the next object that is judged is the band’s ability to keep itself in time. To accomplish this the band uses a multitude of tricks and techniques. The first of these is the bass drummer. As the bass drummer’s notes usually happen only on the beat he/she tends to act as the timing anchor for the band. Also to note is that the bass drummer plays a special set of notes at the end of some songs signaling to the band to be prepared for the ending. After the bass drummer comes the pipe sergeant’s foot. The pipe sergeant will always stomp his/her foot to the beat that is currently being played. Finally if neither of those are working one should watch the snare and tenor drummers to try to decipher the beat.

Finally the last major thing that is judged is the repertoire of the band. Most competitions require that the band plays a medley or an MSR during their time in the circle (judging arena). A MSR, which by name is comprised of a march (a steady marching song which the band usually marches in playing) followed by a strathpeys (a more hornpipe sounding type of song) and ending with a reel (a quick passed song), generally are the rarer of the two. A medley on the hand beginnings with a march and has a slow air (as the name implies this song’s tempo is quite slow) in it somewhere. The rest of a medley however can be anything from more marches to jigs, strathpeys, and reels. The judges then consider the difficulty of the songs along with the bands ability to change between the different tempos to determine their skill.

Also while on the topic of judging the judges in a competition will take note of ones attire and how one presents themselves upon entering and during the competition. Most competitions require a performer to wear a kilt, sporran (a sort of purse worn around the waist), high wool socks (which also are often used by snare drummers to house spare sticks) with flashes attached to the sock, black shoes, and a jacket, vest plus tie, or some traditional top garment. The band also must march in a respectable manner when entering and exiting the arena. This marching is usually lead by a pipe major who can be identified by the large cane he is carrying.

Conclusion
So as I have explained above while pipe and drum bands began as a part of the military due to the evolution of war they eventually became a competitive citizen form of music. To also further the longevity of this music culture the competitions have become festivals of sorts. However these competitions, while being lively, have many rules ranging from the music that is needed to how one needs to dress and require many hours of practice beforehand.


Works Citied
Economic expert.com. Pipe band. Thurs. 11 March 2010. http://www.economicexpert.com/a/Pipe:band.htm

The 78th Fraser Highlanders Pipe Band. Thurs. 11 March 2010. http://www.78thfrasers.net/index.asp

The London Scottish Regiment. The Pipes and Drums of the London Scottish. Thurs. 11 March 2010. http://www.londonscottishregt.org/band.cfm

The Royal Scottish Pipe Band Association . Rules and Constitution of the Royal Scottish Pipe Band Association. Thurs. 11 March 2010. http://www.rspba.org/html/rules.php


(performances and competitions attended not counting practice sessions I don’t have dates)

Houston Highland Games

Saint Thomas Episcopal Scottish Festival

Salado Clan Gathering and Highland games

(some of my instructors and a roommate)

Bert Barr

Blair Brown

Erik Lee

Gordon Sampson

Mike Cusack