Meanwhile, Seasoned Pipers winner Jim Buchanan offers some

hints on how to get the most out of the LBPS Competition

HAVING ONLY won the Garvie Bagpipes seasoned pipers' trophy (the “golden drone”) and thereby disqualified myself from taking part in the Open classes, I'm hardly qualified to prognosticate on winning. However, surfing the web I came across an interesting article by Andrew Lenz on his “Bagpipe Journey” website (see www.bagpipeiourney.com) which I am now about to plagiarise in the hope that it will attract new participants to our competition. This is aimed at beginners, but there is also much more for the more experienced piper to take on board.

First, join the LBPS. It offers outstanding value for money and the Society needs to know who you are and your background. You can look back on previous reports on competitions in Common Stock and get the feel of the event.

Register in advance for the categories in which you intend to compete. This makes the organiser's life much easier. We have ten classes now and you will need to study the notes for competitors carefully.

Make sure that your tunes are appropriate and don't overreach your capabilities.

Be comfortable with your choice

and try to make it “bombproof”.

Record yourself. This will be a salutary experience. Video yourself if you can and you will probably be surprised. Take some time to watch notable Border pipers and Scottish smallpipers on Youtube and you will learn a lot.

Prepare mentally. Close your eyes and visualise yourself going through your performance just like an athlete at the Olympics, greeting the judge, announcing your tune, tuning, starting playing and finishing, all in real time.

Internalise your piece. Andrew says try this: play and read at the same time. Grab a magazine and read for comprehension while playing your tune, the tune should be secondary in your head. When you are done, make sure you remember the entire article. If you can successfully play well and read well simultaneously, you have internalised the tune and will be better prepared for any distractions. Of course, this doesn't work for piobaireachd playing, where the fingers shouldn't move automatically to the next note but that is not what this competition is about.

Practice with a metronome. Again this won't work for piobareachd but does work well for marches.

Practice as you intend to play, if the tune has repeats, play repeats. If you have to play the tune twice, do so.

Hold a mock competition. If you can get a few other pipers to watch your mock competition, or if you have an instructor convince him to hold one with a table, chair and paper to write comments.

Have a back-up chanter reed. You probably won't need it but it will improve your confidence. As an oboe player I carry at least six - but that's ridiculous.

Double check your pipes. If you have tape on your chanter make sure it is tidy (not slimy or peeling up) make sure your tuning pins are sliding correctly and that the joints are tight.

Posture. Think about your posture when you are playing. What are your feet doing? Is

your bellows technique up to scratch?

Get directions to the venue and find out about parking. Arriving late does not help the competitor. If you have a computer, Google it and print out the map or directions you need. Arrive in plenty of time.

Get some help with tuning, but be considerate when practising before you go on.

Relax. This, of course, is the hardest part, but remember that you are doing this for fun.

Nobody is going to repossess your home or abduct your children.

Going on stage. Wait until the judge has stopped shuffling papers and when they make eye contact take the stand and then formally introduce yourself with your tunes.

Take your time and know the first notes. Play more slowly, because the adrenaline usually makes you play in a quicker tempo than you want, but whatever you do don't change tempo in the middle of your tune if you realise you are playing too fast. Just stick to it.

Focus. Avoid looking at the audience or the judge. Don't think about embellishments but focus on where you are in the tune. Don't let the judge or the timekeeper freak you out when they start to write.

Exit gracefully. Don't swear, shake your head or give any other negative signs.

Finally, don't forget to check your results and get your evaluation. That wasn't so bad was it? See you next year!

More power to their elbows

Jock Agnew makes some observations on bellows technique during the competition

IN CONNECTION with some work with which I am currently engrossed, the competition provided a good opportunity to watch the different bellows techniques displayed. I noticed that some pipers provided a hearty input of air with a full bellows stroke. This, coupled with a controlled deflation of the bag, allowed them to concentrate on musical expression before replenishing that reservoir of air.

However these players were in the minority. Most gave less than a full stroke of the bellows, with some maintaining a near continuous (nervous?) movement to keep the bag stretched to its maximum capacity

A lot of the pumping activity looked to be automated and barely under control. Some, and I include myself here, were suffering from stage fright, and it showed. Some over- zealous pumping was necessitated by air leakage, though whether from faulty valves, poor wrappings, porous bags or leaking reeds it was impossible, as an onlooker, to ascertain.

Sitting as I did in the front row of the excellent College of Piping auditorium, I was able to (and did!) count the average number of bellows strokes each player gave during a sixty- second period. This rate varied enormously. The maximum was 85 strokes to the minute.

The minimum was 14. The majority operated in a band between 20 and 35. It didn't seem to matter whether the pipes were in A or D, or whether they were smallpipes or Border pipes.

When looking at these figures it must be remembered that some used full strokes of the bellows. Some topped up the bag with only half a stroke. Some gave nervous movements of their elbow that hardly injected any air. Many kept their bags at full stretch, while others allowed the bag to partially deflate. Some of the pipes were patently efficient in their use of

that valuable commodity, air. Others were shedding the stuff before it had a chance to sound the reeds.

Moral? It may be worth getting an onlooker to calculate the number of bellows strokes you do to the minute. It may be worth watching your own performance in a mirror. It may be worth checking your pipes for air leakage.

Any improvements that can be made will make life easier for the piper, and probably improve the quality of the music that is played.