Modern Pipe Band Drums

[Tim Little]

I recall a few years back hearing an episode of either BBC's "Pipeline" or the Lorne MacDougall's PlanetPipe podcast in which the show's guest discussed the change in pipe pitch over the years, using representative recordings to illustrate the transition. I wish I could find a link now, assuming the show was archived somewhere....

[ASinclair]

Of course! Bagpipes have always existed in a wide range of pitches. The average pitch of bagpipes, all countries taken into consideration, is somewhat lower than Highland pipes, but bagpipes exist an octave higher than the Highland pipes (the Breton Biniou) and over an octave and a half lower (the Grand Cornemuse of Central France).

Remember that bagpipes exploded in popularity in Europe during the Renaissance period, at a time when it was standard for instruments (shawms, recorders, sackbuts, what have you) to be played in same-instrument ensembles featuring various pitches bass, tenor, alto, soprano. Bagpipes were, and still are, played in that way, especially in France and in Spain (in France trios and quartets of pipes in three different pitches, in Spain with groups featuring a number of pipes in C and one bass pipe in low G).

To get a flavor of that sound, here are the old Cornish Doublepipes (an octave an a half lower than the Highland pipes) played with another English pipe

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pBaE546R9h8

Then there are traditions in which the standard bagpipe pitch is very low, for example the pipes of another sort of Highlanders, the people who live in the Rhodope Mountains of Bulgaria, who have their very own sort of bagpipe, the Kaba Gaida ('deep bagpipe'). It's sound is incredibly soulful and expresses the beauty of the mountains superbly. Here it is, played solo... just listen, and let the soul of the Rhodope Mountains come to you...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=elOkNCu9Zbs

It's common for the Kaba Gaida to be played in large groups, of pipes only. Here they are. The bass drones are amazing, the coolest drones on Earth in my opinion

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bVPKzsG_8fA

Closely related to the Bulgarian Kaba Gaida is the Macedonian Gaida. It's higher pitched, but still over an octave lower than the Highland pipes. Here you can hear it very traditionally at the start, in its typical role of playing with a drummer for dancing. But then! It's brilliantly used in a modern pop arrangement that blends the old and the new. (Moral of the story: get drunk with the Father and marry the beautiful daughter?)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7fXoiGB3mAI

Wonderful sounds. I particularly like the Bulgarian Kaba Gaida, played solo. Thanks for the links, Richard.

[imrichmond]

I'm amazed that you say that rope tension drums had mostly disappeared in 1958. I was a member of two bands in 1971, and both still had rope tension drums (both snare and tenor).

I did qualify my statement by saying that I was referring specifically to the situation in Ontario, although several northern U.S. bands often competed in Ontario in those days, from Detroit, for example, and the excellent Worcester Kilties from Massachussets that gave Ontario's top bands a run for their money. None used rope tension drums. Perhaps Ontario and the north-eastern U.S. were early adopters, but if you listen to pipe band recordings (mostly Scottish) from the late 1950s/early 1960s -- e.g. Muirhead & Sons, Shotts & Dykehead, Edinburgh Police (under PM Iain MacLeod), Powell River Company P & D (from British Columbia but whose drum corps was led by the recently deceased George Pryde, previously Leading Drummer of the Edinburgh Police) -- you will find that they all used modern snare drums. No doubt rope-tension side drums survived longer outside the competition circuit, and, perhaps, outside the main centres of piping, but for serious competition bands and especially amongst the "big boys", the top-grade bands around the world, they were definitely passé by the late 1950s. Except for historical re-enactments and a few old recordings (mostly on 78 rpm, but the Black Watch, I believe, did play rope-tension drums on their 1957 LP Highland Pageantry), I can honestly say that I have not seen or heard a pipe band with rope-tension side drums since I began in 1958. The band I started with was a juvenile band sponsored by the 3M Company and, although it was formed a couple of years before I joined it, it had modern snare drums from the start. We played at the then-standard pitch of 466 Hz. I can well understand, though, that an already established band that was not particularly focused on competition might have hung on to its rope-tension drums for as long as possible rather than commit to the considerable expense of replacing them.

[Steve Ashton]

We had a guy here in Victoria who is a very talented instrument maker and piper. He has done some very interesting things and some of them have been well received by the piping community here locally.

In my days before FK I had a chance to hear him perform where he was previewing a few new instruments. Can you imagine a set of Ullian style pipes made from copper tubing and PVC pipe?

Well during this performance he took a very unusual set of pipes out of a box and said that he was still working on them and wanted to know what people thought.

He called them his "Rumble Pipes".

Here is basically what he had.

A normal looking set of GHB bag and drones.
The Drones had a bulb sort or arrangement down low, near the bag. This was hollow and had a round cork ball inside sort of like a police whistle. This created a 'warbling' effect in the drones that was quit surprising and pleasant. This is where the 'rumble' part came from. His drones were set at 3-2-and 1 octave below the primary note of his chanter.
The rumble effect was really striking and pleasant. You could feel the rumble in your chest. Sort of like standing next to an avalanche of rocks.

For a Chanter he had inserted what started out as an oboe. He had the full set of keys except for the high octave thumb keys. The tone was Oboe like and in the lower range of a normal Oboe.

This guy played two or three quick bagpipe tunes just to show how different they sounded.

And then came the surprise -

He played three tunes that had a very slow beat. Almost dirge like. The sound was not loud but filled the entire room like a big velvet pillow, and I think every piece of pottery and every picture on the walls was vibrating.

He then ended with Amazing Grace. This was something like I have never heard before. I was totally blown away. I never knew Amazing Grace had more than 9 notes to it. I have heard Amazing Grace sung and played on about every instrument imaginable but this piece on these pipes woke this piece up like I have never heard before or since.

I don't see this guy around town anymore. I don't know what happened to him or where he is. But if I ever see him I will make sure I get more information on his Rumble Pipes.

[Nathan]

We had a guy here in Victoria who is a very talented instrument maker and piper. He has done some very interesting things and some of them have been well received by the piping community here locally.

In my days before FK I had a chance to hear him perform where he was previewing a few new instruments. Can you imagine a set of Ullian style pipes made from copper tubing and PVC pipe?

Well during this performance he took a very unusual set of pipes out of a box and said that he was still working on them and wanted to know what people thought.

He called them his "Rumble Pipes".

Here is basically what he had.

A normal looking set of GHB bag and drones.
The Drones had a bulb sort or arrangement down low, near the bag. This was hollow and had a round cork ball inside sort of like a police whistle. This created a 'warbling' effect in the drones that was quit surprising and pleasant. This is where the 'rumble' part came from. His drones were set at 3-2-and 1 octave below the primary note of his chanter.
The rumble effect was really striking and pleasant. You could feel the rumble in your chest. Sort of like standing next to an avalanche of rocks.

For a Chanter he had inserted what started out as an oboe. He had the full set of keys except for the high octave thumb keys. The tone was Oboe like and in the lower range of a normal Oboe.

This guy played two or three quick bagpipe tunes just to show how different they sounded.

And then came the surprise -

He played three tunes that had a very slow beat. Almost dirge like. The sound was not loud but filled the entire room like a big velvet pillow, and I think every piece of pottery and every picture on the walls was vibrating.

He then ended with Amazing Grace. This was something like I have never heard before. I was totally blown away. I never knew Amazing Grace had more than 9 notes to it. I have heard Amazing Grace sung and played on about every instrument imaginable but this piece on these pipes woke this piece up like I have never heard before or since.

I don't see this guy around town anymore. I don't know what happened to him or where he is. But if I ever see him I will make sure I get more information on his Rumble Pipes.

Sounds like you have a local mad genius. It would be very interesting to hear these pipes!

[Piper]

My old piping instructor always used to bemoan the disappearance of the old rope tension drums. He always thought they sounded much more impressive then the modern tightly strung snares. He referred to the modern style as "buzz drumming". His daughter used to compete in a fife and drum band, most of which still used the rope tension drums, so he had a constant reminder of the difference. And yes, the pipes have climbed a bit over the years. My instructor and I couldn't tune our regular sets together as mine was a modern set of Dunbars, and his were a 40's vintage set of Robertsons. I picked up a 40's - 50's era Forbes chanter, then we were able to tune together. There are some modern alternatives. I picked up a "Gael" chanter, Jim McGillivray's design, for my Kintails which gives me the lower pitch I prefer.

[OC Richard]

I don't know how many people are aware of it, but rope-tensioned drums are alive and well in the United States Marine Corps! And not just part of a historical band, but used in an ordinary Marine Band.

Here is the Marine Band San Diego performing at Disneyland with their rope-tensioned drum corps. You can really hear it at 1:08

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ROKMQRuA_HY

(the cold night weather seems to be affecting their bass drum... it sounds much better in person!)

I saw this band perform live many times, and at one point got a chance to chat with the drummers about their drums. They said that they were out at some performance and the truck carrying their drums was delayed... and for whatever reason the venue had a set of 18th century reproduction rope-tensioned drums just sitting around, so they did the gig with them. Everyone involved thought these drums sounded better than the modern drums they had been using, and it stuck.

Each Marine Band seems to be somewhat of a law unto itself, for example I noticed one of the local Marine Bands having the female Marines wearing the same 'cover' (hat) as the men, and I chatted with a couple of these women about it. Obviously it makes for a more uniform appearance.

[MacGumerait]

Here is a vid of some enthusiastic young men playing rope-tensioned drums .

Brodie Adams grads playing Black Bear .

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CtrhCqwGZmI


Cheers , Mike

[eagle43172]

Since I love the "old" sound, again forgive my ignorance, but what is stopping an innovative pipe band from going retro and switching to rope tension drums? Is it against competition rules? Can the pipes be re-pitched?
So many questions!
Dave

[EagleJCS]

It might be possible, but it would probably not be in a competition band’s best interests to ‘go retro’ and use rope-tensioned drums, at least in a competition setting. There's nothing in the rules that says they can't, but some of the techniques now in use by drummers would not be possible with the lower tension and the drummers would likely have to re-learn how to play. (They rely on the stick rebound from the higher tension to be able to play with more expression.)

Another factor is indeed getting the pipes to pitch lower. The drones wouldn't likely be as much of an issue as the chanters, though I've read that newer drones (made in the last 10 years or so) won’t go down below a certain threshold pitch. It has to do with the length of the drones, the size of the bore and the types of reeds in use.