Category: History

Editor’s Notebook: The Never Decreasing Circle/ Develop the Worlds Medley/ Bob McFie/ Miscellany

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For all the detailed, cogent explanation given by Alistair Aitken for judging inconsistency in pipe band competition the main culprit, in my view, is the circle formation used virtually unchanged by the RSPBA for not far off 100 years. I’ve droned on about this long and weary, but with judges wandering about the playing area seemingly at random, different walking patterns for every band, is it any wonder there’s a…

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Inveraray Pipe Band Concert Confirmed for Worlds Week

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The Glasgow Skye Association Pipe Band is delighted to announce that our ‘Pre-Worlds’ concert will be returning this year to the Glasgow Royal Concert Hall on Wednesday, 10th August 2022, writes Kurt Mackintosh.  After the disappointment of the last two years we are thrilled to confirm that Inveraray & District Pipe Band will at last be able to take centre stage. Pipe Major Stuart Liddell commented, ‘We were scheduled to…

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Why There Can Be Anomalies in Pipe Band Competition Results

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We continue our build up to the the 2022 pipe band season, the first in three years. This article was first published in Pipe Band Magazine ‘Judge’s Journal’ in November 2010 but is no less relevant twelve years on……. I feel I must respond on behalf of the RSPBA Adjudicators’ Panel to the email letter regarding the wide differences in the results of piping adjudicators in which the question was…

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Why There Can Be Anomalies in Pipe Band Competition Results – Part 2

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The circle formation for pipe band competitions has remained constant since the early days of the original SPBA.  The concept was based on the principle of the arena allowing bands space to enter and leave whilst also allowing spectators maximum opportunity to see and hear the performances, in effect from three sides of a roughly square arena.  The other principle was to allow bands to march into a circle to…

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Editor’s Notebook: Florida Academy/ Ukraine Piper/ Helensburgh Band Recruiting/ Tomintoul Losses/ March for Norman/ SPA AGM

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The 2022 Florida Pipe & Drum Academy has concluded successfully with noticeable improvements in performance and knowledge. The school was the first since the ending of lockdown and, in 2019, the last before the pandemic hit. We only lost one year. Organiser Chris McKeown has expansion plans for next year. We finished with a visit to the North Florida games where many of the students competed with success in the…

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