Back from Ulster where I must say I was impressed with the standard of piobaireachd playing, at least in the A grade. The chap who played Salute to Donald to win the B Piob was out on his own and would have not been out of place in the As. Ashley McMichael of FM won the A Piob with Corrienessan. A good performance on a steady pipe. Crunluath could do with a wee bit brushing up, but apart from that good ceol mor. James Gore was second with Lady Margaret. Didn’t really have the correct rhythm in the ground and singlings but the fingering and pipe were good. Peter Donnan had the best instrument in the contest, but darado in MacCrimmon’s Sweetheart and some overpointing nudged him down. Of the others, Andy  Wilson of Ballycoan had strong technique (best in the contest) but his Donald of Laggan was let down by a pipe that wasn’t on with low A. Ben Greeves had a good go at Lady MacDonald’s Lament but there was a choke and his timing and general presentation lacked finesse. Alastair Murray timed his Big Bridge well but the fingering was not up to standard with far too many misses. Ronan Madden had a good Queen Anne spoiled by timing and technique lapses. Richard McGrath’s Black Donald suffered from 4/4 disease. Its nearer 3/4 if you want to keep the tune moving Richard. Clan Chattan was Kris Coyle’s tune and though he started quite well, a staid sameness prevailed after the ground producing no kind of gathering at all. All of that said, every player had some merit in what he did and Ulster piobaireachd playing has come on leaps since I first heard it in the Province 30 odd years ago.
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That’s not to say there’s still work to be done in convincing the pipe band world of ceol mor’s merit. At the close one steward said to me ‘You must be some kind of fanatic being able to sit for 10 hours listening to that ……’. (This is a family blog.)
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I was sitting judging when word came through of Donald MacPherson’s death. Hard to concentrate after that but needs must. The wee maestro would have expected nothing less. I don’t have details of the funeral just yet but I figure it could be Thursday or Friday of this week. Will post on Fast News as soon as I hear.
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They take their piping very seriously over the water. As I was leaving the Monkstown Community Centre Brian Rea asked me how the playing had been. I said there had been some very good piping and the guy on the path in front turned in a flash and said with heartfelt vehemance ‘aye, and some very bad judging’. Some things never change.
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The following day I ran a piobaireachd class with a good attendance. We went through Earl of Seaforth, Phantom Piper, Desperate Battle, Mary MacLeod, Fingerlock and all the exercises. In the afternoon we had four tunes on the pipes and the participants were up for criticism and comment. Healthy attitude.
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Will someone tell the security people at Belfast International that the Troubles are over? Talk about over zealous. The guy who groped me – sorry searched me – was a fingernail away from an indecency complaint. And they confiscated a half empty tube of Colgate too.
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I’m told the secret is to go through the metal detector archway thing with the kilt buckles to the front and rear and take off the garter flashes (metal adjusters) and the sporran.
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BC Pipers Director Todd Schiele has sent this to fill everyone in on what happened during the recent  ’bagpipe ban’ in Vancouver: ‘There was a lot of news this month about piping and drumming in Vancouver. BCPA believes it’s valuable to share with the community some perspective and information about the activities during the week of the bagpipe ban leading up to and following the BCPA 80^th Annual Gathering, as well as links to some of the mostly positive articles and attention piping and drumming received from the media as a part of this ban. The week before the 80^th Annual Gathering of the British Columbia Pipers’ Association, the Engineering Department of the City of Vancouver issued a new bylaw to ban bagpipes, drums tambourines, bongos and other percussion instruments from receiving busking permits in the city of Vancouver, BC, Canada. The story was brought to the attention of the media in part by British Columbia Pipers’ Association Grade 1 piper Kyle Banta, and received positive Canadian and international attention, including the CBC, who attended the Annual Gathering, interviewing BCPA President Robert MacNeil and filmed many pipers at the event http://www.cbc.ca/news/offbeat/story/2012/04/09/bc-bagpipe-drum-busking-ban.html. The story was featured on most Vancouver television and radio including CityTV Breakfast Television, as well as the Huffington Post Canada http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2012/04/09/vancouver-busker-bagpipe-bongo-ban_n_1413226.html. The ban captured the attention of the community, generating hundreds of comments on the news stories on the Globe and Mail story featuring Kyle Banta and Jack Lee, Pipe Sergeant of Simon Fraser University Pipe Band.  The comments were overwhelmingly in support of bagpipes and drums on city streets and parks.  SFU Pipe Band Pipe Sergeant Jack Lee pointed out that lawnmowers can be louder than bagpipes, who also said “To ban bagpipes is so short-sighted – one of the great instruments of the world, and one of the oldest instruments of the world.”  British Columbia Pipers’ Association was repeatedly contacted for comment and feedback, and Vancouver Area Grade 1 bands Simon Fraser University Pipe Band and Dowco Triumph Street Pipe Band were regularly featured on both television and radio interviews and stories about the bagpipe ban.  On April 10^th, the Mayor’s office issued a statement indicating the council would be very unlikely to allow the ban to stand and shortly afterward lifted the ban after working with Engineering Services Director of Transportation Jerry Dobrovolny: http://www.mayorofvancouver.ca/?p=2300#more-2300. The British Columbia Pipers’ Association supports responsible bagpiping and Scottish drumming that respects the instruments, Scottish Highland dress, the audience, as well as local businesses, dwellings, and local government.  The BCPA supports reasonable restrictions and rules about busking locations, times, and performances that do not interfere with local business or residences, and was in contact with the Mayor’s office shortly after the ban. Within a week of the ban being announced, thanks in large part to local pipers and drummers speaking out, as well as the general wide support in the community and Vancouver Mayor Gregor Robertson who celebrates his Scottish Heritage, the ban was overturned, also receiving further widespread news coverage, some of which are linked below. Most of the news cast piping and drumming in a positive light, speaking to the heritage of the music and the positive impact it can make both for the players and the general public. Royal Scottish Pipe Band Association Executive Ian Embelton was quoted in this story from Scotlandhttp://www.heraldscotland.com/news/home-news/canadian-bagpipe-busking-ban-lifted.17243269 and other stories ran discussing the ban in Scotland: http://www.scotsman.com/news/arts/sound-day-s-work-as-vancouver-bagpipe-ban-is-overturned-1-2227665 & http://news.stv.tv/scotland/303201-/

http://www.theprovince.com/news/vancouver/6443076/story.html
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/british-columbia/vancouver-changes-its-tune-lets-buskers-play-bagpipes/article2399258/?utm_medium=Feeds%3A%20RSS%2FAtom&utm_source=Home&utm_content=2399258 http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/story/2012/04/11/bc-bagpipe-ban-reversed.html
The Scottish Government even got involved when the ban was lifted in this press release: http://www.scotland.gov.uk/News/Releases/2012/04/vancouver-bagpipe-ban11042012 The British Columbia Pipers’ Association thanked Mayor Gregor Robertson and Engineering Services Director of Transportation Jerry Dobrovolny , who rescinded the ban for their thoughtful reconsideration and revision of the policy after a week long ban.  Representatives of the British Columbia Pipers’ Association hand delivered this letter[attachment: Letter to Mayor Gregor Robertson on reversing ban on bagpiping and drumming busking permits.pdf] to the mayor’s office thanking them for the prompt reconsideration of the ban.’