Glasgow - Tuesday - Practice

I awoke to sunshine this morning and a then a hot cup of coffee in the kitchen! 

The focus of the trip here is to have the band compete at the worlds so this means practice!  Initially the band sections start with group practices in the various rooms. The drummers have taken over our kitchen with the pipers on chanter, in the Troy's kitchen.

Drumming

Tenors

Pipers

Each group goes through the various music that compromises the competition "set" that they will play in front of the judges. It is an MSR that consists of three different time signatures. The tunes are the March - Donald Mclean's Farewell to Oban, Strathspey - Susan MacLeod and Reel - Lachlan Macphail

The judges will be looking for clarity of notes, unison, tempo and clean breaks (change between tunes) and overall musicality of the performance. With this in mind, each section practices separately and then joins together as an ensemble on their respective instruments

There are many bands staying in and around the University so I am treated to music from 10 am through to 7 pm should I stay in my room.

My view out my window :-)

The morning practice finished off with the band playing in between the dorms. Tuning the band is always a bit tricking as the weather can significantly effect the instruments. First each pipe chanter is tuned to each other and then the drones are adjusted to reach a specific pitch. Once all done the pipes sound identical and this is where tuning comes into play. The idea is to sound like one set of very loud pipes and if everyone plays the notes the same then unison is achieved.

Tuning the chanters...

After the practice there was a brief announcement on the bands departure time on the day along with some instructions on personal behavior expected during the run up to the competition day. All very straight forward stuff.  More work ensued on individual pipes to get them up to the standard required.  

We made some bacon sandwiches at the flat and then Kelly and I launch off in an Uber to Clydebank about 11 km to the west of Glasgow. This is the once proud home of one of the largest shipbuilding areas and the Singer Sewing Machine factory that employed thousands of people back in the day. There is a museum in City Hall that Kelly wanted to see as her Singer 222 was built here. Unfortunately the museum was closed for renovations but there was a small... very small... collection on the wall :-)

The sewing machine on display was no match for the condition of Kelly's so it was a bit of a bust... oh well... we grabbed a geocache close by, popped into a cab and ended up back at Buchanan St in short order. 

A walk up the street to the Whisky Shoppe and then around the corner to Tesco's for some supplies. A short walk up to the National Piping Center to hopefully watch the Piping Idol Competition. With more bands pouring into the city as the weekend approached, the crowds grew and we could not get in to see it. Oh well we pulled up a chair in the refreshment area and shortly thereafter pretty much the whole band showed up. 

Warren dons his old City Of Victoria Jacket

Lots of fun as we had a good social.

The local TV station was doing a promotional video and the gals helped out.

We all returned to the dorm and got ready for our dinner. Bobby G had arranged for Indian food at one of the many restaurants in the area. About 25 of us descended on the place and enjoyed a great meal.

A quick stop at the Station Pub and we returned to the dorm for a small social... including card tricks by AJ's daughter Cailidh. 


 Done for the day.