Sunday, June 20, 2004
Not Bad for a First Pipe Competition
I competed on pipes for the first time yesterday, at the Harrisburg Pipes and Drums festival, and am fairly happy with my results. Summarizing my competition results, from worst to best:
Gr IV Slow March: Leaving Rhu Vaternish, 82/100, next to last in a pack of 10. Though the judge commented on my unsteady blowing, he liked my execution (& my marching), but hated my tempo. I get the impression that he thought it was less of a Slow March contest than a Slow Air contest (and even called it that at one point), and I played at way too high of a tempo for his tastes. That cost me severely. He didn't like my tuning either, but no other judge faulted it. The chances of me competing in Slow March again are small (since this contest is so rarely held), so I'm not worrying too much about this one - had it not been for the huge mismatch in expectations as to what the contest was about, I probably would have done much better.
Gr IV Piobaireachd (Urlar only): Lament for the Old Sword, 84/100, middle of the pack (3-way tie for 7th) of 13. The judge liked it overall, but my slightly unsteady blowing cost me. Also, he couldn't hear one of my gracings. I wish the judge had made more comments, honestly - there's not much guidance on his score sheet.
Gr IV 6/8 March: Cock of the North, 88/100, 3rd in a pack of 9. The judge liked it, but thought I was crushing some of my tachums, and had some unsteady blowing. Said I wasn't "musical enough". Maybe I was slipping from compound time a bit, and that's how he's expressing it. He also thought I was too fast, presumably because I was playing at close to a band tempo.
Gr IV 2/4 March: Prince Charles' Welcome to Lochaber, 88/100, 3rd in a pack of 16. The judge liked it, thought I was very bold in the 3rd part, but also that I had some blowing issues, that I was "losing D-throws" (I'll concede they were crushed). He also stated that I'd played too fast, suggesting that I was playing at a band tempo, and should slow it down. Judge liked my pipes, thought my chanter was a tad "coarse". Everyone else described it as "bright & balanced".
No above grade level marks this time.
So the lessons I take from this:
1) Tempo. Playing band tunes can hurt me in this area - because I'm accustomed to the faster tempo - unless I consciously slow myself down,
2) Steady blowing. Spending all this time on practice & electronic chanter has hurt me. Back to full time on the big pipes.
3) Some executional problems, but fairly minor ones. Crushed tachums, probably caused by an over-sized d-grace note. I also miss f-doublings (which no judge noticed, but I did).
All in all, a very respectable performance for the first time out. The other Gr IV contestants seemed to agree there were a lot more contestants than anyone was expecting. I was running with the "late registrants" pack - the first performers in every contest - and they all seemed to like my playing a lot.
Hopefully I'll do better at Grandfather Mountain. There's just Piobaireachd and 2/4 there.
Gr IV Slow March: Leaving Rhu Vaternish, 82/100, next to last in a pack of 10. Though the judge commented on my unsteady blowing, he liked my execution (& my marching), but hated my tempo. I get the impression that he thought it was less of a Slow March contest than a Slow Air contest (and even called it that at one point), and I played at way too high of a tempo for his tastes. That cost me severely. He didn't like my tuning either, but no other judge faulted it. The chances of me competing in Slow March again are small (since this contest is so rarely held), so I'm not worrying too much about this one - had it not been for the huge mismatch in expectations as to what the contest was about, I probably would have done much better.
Gr IV Piobaireachd (Urlar only): Lament for the Old Sword, 84/100, middle of the pack (3-way tie for 7th) of 13. The judge liked it overall, but my slightly unsteady blowing cost me. Also, he couldn't hear one of my gracings. I wish the judge had made more comments, honestly - there's not much guidance on his score sheet.
Gr IV 6/8 March: Cock of the North, 88/100, 3rd in a pack of 9. The judge liked it, but thought I was crushing some of my tachums, and had some unsteady blowing. Said I wasn't "musical enough". Maybe I was slipping from compound time a bit, and that's how he's expressing it. He also thought I was too fast, presumably because I was playing at close to a band tempo.
Gr IV 2/4 March: Prince Charles' Welcome to Lochaber, 88/100, 3rd in a pack of 16. The judge liked it, thought I was very bold in the 3rd part, but also that I had some blowing issues, that I was "losing D-throws" (I'll concede they were crushed). He also stated that I'd played too fast, suggesting that I was playing at a band tempo, and should slow it down. Judge liked my pipes, thought my chanter was a tad "coarse". Everyone else described it as "bright & balanced".
No above grade level marks this time.
So the lessons I take from this:
1) Tempo. Playing band tunes can hurt me in this area - because I'm accustomed to the faster tempo - unless I consciously slow myself down,
2) Steady blowing. Spending all this time on practice & electronic chanter has hurt me. Back to full time on the big pipes.
3) Some executional problems, but fairly minor ones. Crushed tachums, probably caused by an over-sized d-grace note. I also miss f-doublings (which no judge noticed, but I did).
All in all, a very respectable performance for the first time out. The other Gr IV contestants seemed to agree there were a lot more contestants than anyone was expecting. I was running with the "late registrants" pack - the first performers in every contest - and they all seemed to like my playing a lot.
Hopefully I'll do better at Grandfather Mountain. There's just Piobaireachd and 2/4 there.
# posted by Peter @ 9:37 AM 
