Acer wrote:
>you do realise we fully expect to see LOTS of photos (ob. oly content)
I'll try. Problem is, I'm so excited, visiting with relatives, listening so
hard, and watching for stuff, that the OM just kinda becomes an afterthought.
I take photos because I brought the OM along, not because I'm there to
photograph, ya know? Being given the deceased Uncle's practice chanter last
year just got me all excited & emotional, on top of what I was already. I
headed right to a vendor tent for a couple reeds for it. Don't want to
practice without lessons, though. Proper fingering is crucial. Don't want to
develop bad habits.
I have SOME prints from last year and year before I'll try to post to photo.net
one o' these days.
snip
>hearing them full blast, close range, indoors, what a thrill!
Uncle invited us to the house night before the games last year and played his
"new" set of pipes (2nd hand, $2,000 -- he regrets selling his original set for
$4,000). Wow! A) He's good, and b) inside a living room, there's really
nothing else you CAN pay attention to when the pipes are goin'. Not something
you can practice in or near an apartment building. They would be my
marching-to-battle instrument of choice, to announce "We're a-comin' ya
verrrrmin!" (picture Yosemite Sam in a kilt...). To heck with puny little
cavalry bugles.
And Mike wrote:
>Well, I'm not turning in my tickets to hear the Battlefield Band in two
>weeks. Great group from Edinbourgh.
>And I've got to get over to the Highland Games in B'ham. Sounds good.
I first heard the Battlefield Band on the "Prairie Home Companion" show, with
Garrison Keillor. Yep, good. Where are they appearing? Friday Harbor?
Bellingham Games is the best Highland Games in the NW, Mike. Hovander Park in
Ferndale, June 7. Usually cool & pleasant. Enumclaw Games, end of July, are
hotter than blazes. I went to Tacoma Games last summer instead. They were
good, but Bellingham IS the BEST. There is also Mt. Vernon, Whidbey Is. games
in our neighborhood, but you'll catch SFU Pipe band at Bellingham or Enumclaw
only, to my knowledge, unless you wander north across the border or follow them
around the world. Fantastic meat pies, beer!
John Hudson wrote:
> I have seen and heard the SFU pipeband in the open air on their home
>turf atop Burnaby Mountain. You would be much more impressed with the
>massed pipe bands of the Black Watch for example playing on the ramparts
>of Edinburgh Castle
Yeah, there's a difference between one band and massed bands. But the
perfection in the playing of the world's best is something to behold. Perfect
tuning. NO fingering mistakes or sloppy drumming. Adding a castle to the mix
would certainly add atmosphere. A set of pipes that will hold its tune over a
10-15 minute period is not easy to obtain. It's a whole world of wood
complexity, temperature, humidity, reed choice(s), bag seasoning/conditioning.
They now have a tuner fella that walks around with an electronic tuner, tuning
up each set of pipes in turn during warmup. But once they step out of the
bushes and onto the parade grounds, all bets are off. If they're in the middle
of piobreachdt (solo classical) piece and a drone starts to wander off tune,
nothing they can do about it, they have to play on as originally tuned, it's
part of the competition. It's heartbreaking (not to mention
fingernails-on-a-blackboard horrible, sometimes) to witness. Hence, $4,000 to
$10,000 pipes, years of practice, playing. The best have truly paid their
dues, physically, mentally, and financially. And the cost of the full
uniform... my GAWD.
OM: the 300/4.5 goes this year, and the 28/2.8, along with a monopod. I'm
gonna TRY for better/unique/closer pics.
Rich
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