Competiton Practice

[Ryan Lee]

Could you watch my band and give me your honest opinion? I'm open to criticism. Thanks. =)

http://youtube.com/watch?v=FCkvB1Kl2Ec
(primer band)

http://youtube.com/watch?v=VxwbkaINBvc
(senior band)

[SteveW]

execution and drummers sounds good, but you should invest in a tuner or someone who knows how to tune...

[A440]

Yes, I agree, in the second one it's clear that you have to spend more time on tuning.
Good job!

[Ryan Lee]

I thought the tuning was miserable too..
You know, right after we had that practice session, our band instructor said the exact same thing. But tuning aside, anything else?

[Major.P]

You might want to try chanter reeds that are a bit harder. Sounds to my ear that you are playing realy easy reeds. But I do think you guys are putting some real effort into it. Keep up the hard work.

Keith

[dagdaj]

I'd hookup and all play alltogether. How did your members learn to play? From a variety of sources or a central source? It sounds like you've had some good instruction on some fundamentals.

[Mr. Morvan]

I agree with piper@807: I heard some squeaks. Usually, when a piper plays too easy reeds, the chanter produces some squeaks.

In the second video, it looks like the piper on the right (the one that isn't tapping the foot) is using much more the forearm than the arm and lungs to keep the pressure in the bag. I believe his efficiency can increase a lot by correcting this - he'll play much more comfortably. :thumb:

[Ryan Lee]

How did our members learn to play? Erm, from a pipe band instructor? Our instructor, Mr. Alan Wallace, (the only non-asian guy in the video), has been great to us. So, from a central source?

I just wanted to see what other people thought of us. All the players in the primer band are 19, while all in the second are 15; (at the time). This video was taken somewhere in December last year. During the actual competiton, the primer band got placed third. The second wasn't placed at all. =)

Mr. Morvan: I'll let my friend know and help him out.

[Ryan Lee]

So far, apart from tuning, i haven't really been hearing negative stuff. Maybe it's because of the poor video quality.

Hey, i'm kinda serious about this. Is there no bad thing at all? Appreciate feedback. =)

Thanks all.

[dagdaj]

Cool. It sounds like he's doing a great job. How long have you guys been playing?

The tone's obviously a bit off, but it really sounds like you're playing with some pretty good control. Not a ton of rushing or other common problems...just some tempo variance (could be the video). Sounds like there's some good hands with properly trained execution.

I'm guessing you guys are fairly new at it (a couple years or so), but it sounds like you have a nice start under some quite competent instruction.

That's my feedback. If you're looking for specifics, I'm betting you can identify lots of what to improve on...and I'm sure Mr. Wallace could as well. Again, since I'm assuming you're fairly new to piping, my goal is encouragement.

[Ryan Lee]

Fairly new? Nah, we've been into piping for a good 3-5? years now. This is our third; and fifth for some of us, time competing.
(competitons here are annual).