MP3's from San Diego

[Clothears]

Here are two of the runs from Misty Isle G3 Sunday Medley and LA Scots G4 Medley.....hope this works.

http://homepage.mac.com/ceolmor/.Public/San%20Diego%202006%20Sunday/Misty%20Isle%20G3.mp3

http://homepage.mac.com/ceolmor/.Public/San%20Diego%202006%20Saturday/LA%20Scots.mp3

[Highland Harry]

Very nice, is Misty Isle a grade 1 band?

[Kitfox]

My old Teacher owns that website.

hehe. Small world

[lumberjackpiper]

Nope. Misty Isles only has grade 3 and 4

[Highland Harry]

Originally posted by lumberjackpiper:
Nope. Misty Isles only has grade 3 and 4 That's grade 3? :wow:

[chi-jason]

Wow, stevie and the boys are sounding pretty good. Maybe gr 2 next year? Can't wait to see you guys in Pleasanton. Should be good fun.

-Jason

[JES]

One hundred years ago when I was alive there were "A bands" and "B bands". I hate to tell you this, but that is where we are sitting once again. Band gradings from 1 through 4, at least in this part of the world, have sunk into chaos IMHO. This is actually good. You can no longer go to a games and listen just to the grade 1 bands. If you don't listen to them all, you may miss something good. Could anything be more exciting than this?

Cheers,

[Rob Gereghty]

NIce job, agreed that bands are getting better and better.. but Copycat, you thought that was a gr1 band??

[Steve Moore]

That medley is 4:30, can't be a grade 1 medley (5-7 min).

[Highland Harry]

Originally posted by Rob Gereghty:
NIce job, agreed that bands are getting better and better.. but Copycat, you thought that was a gr1 band?? Lets just say that is well beyond gr3, probably win a grade 2 competition for sure.

Playing was tight, good solid tone and nice top hand with steady blowing, lively tempos and creative dynamics complimenting the over all ensemble.

What more are we really looking for? :shrug:

[Sticky Fingers]

The performance was definitely very good and leaning to be good grade II but it was certainly not grade I. As I'm listening the things I can hear are blatant not errors and tone drifting toward the end of the performance (most likely due to blowing issues more than weather). The top hand is set a bit high and thin on the outset and it doesn't sound as though all low A's are in with the drones. Unfortunately there is a lot lost in a recording.

As I said, it was a very good performance and deserving of it's first place. Definitely a band to keep an eye on.

Cheers

[Highland Harry]

Originally posted by Sticky Fingers:
The performance was definitely very good and leaning to be good grade II but it was certainly not grade I. As I'm listening the things I can hear are blatant not errors and tone drifting toward the end of the performance (most likely due to blowing issues more than weather). The top hand is set a bit high and thin on the outset and it doesn't sound as though all low A's are in with the drones.
Cheers What you describe can be true of many gr1 bands too. There are many gr1 bands in the World, only a few can put in a flawless performance.

[Sticky Fingers]

True, but I still don't find the good points outweigh the bad so much to make it any more than a good grade II performance. Good though it may be, grade I I don't think think it even begins to break into. I don't think this reflects poorly on the band at all which has made a large improvement over the years and besides, this is just one opinion of many.

Your claim of: "Playing was tight, good solid tone and nice top hand with steady blowing, lively tempos and creative dynamics complimenting the over all ensemble," may be true of not only grade I bands as you claim but II, III and IV also.

Every argument will have something refutable but that doesn't take from the value and I clearly see your view, I just don't entirely agree.

Cheers

[ratherbpiping]

"True, but I still don't find the good points outweigh the bad so much to make it any more than a good grade II performance. Good though it may be, grade I I don't think think it even begins to break into. I don't think this reflects poorly on the band at all which has made a large improvement over the years and besides, this is just one opinion of many.

Your claim of: "Playing was tight, good solid tone and nice top hand with steady blowing, lively tempos and creative dynamics complimenting the over all ensemble," may be true of not only grade I bands as you claim but II, III and IV also.

Every argument will have something refutable but that doesn't take from the value and I clearly see your view, I just don't entirely agree."

Quite a tribute to Steve Megarity and company. Discussing whether this was a good grade two performance or a bad grade 1. Good discussion generated by a Grade three band!

[Highland Harry]

So this is Steve Megarity's band, it makes sense now.

Regardless of our thoughts, what ever this band is doing, they need to keep right on doing it.
Perhaps Steve Megarity's experience in Field Marshall will carry this band much farther in a relatively short time. Can't hurt to have a PM that makes the reeds as well!

Grading is not an absolute fact, it's only an attempt to channel bands of similar calibre into a common grouping. The standard of calibre may vary from region to region, but we can safely say this is not a grade 3 pipe band.

I'm sure we'll all look forward to seeing this band grow in the next couple of years.

[Rob Gereghty]

Copycat, you need to come to Ontario, and see what a gr3 band sounds like. The level of playing can be quite good. As I said before, MIsty Isle sounds good, but not quite a gr2 band by any stretch.

[Highland Harry]

Is there any recordings of a gr3 band from Ontario?

[ratherbpiping]

There were three grade three bands at San Diego. There were several , 11 I think Grade four bands. over all there was a good spread in levels even though there were only two grades represented. Here in WUSPBA land, there is no grade two to speak of. So there is a reluctance for any band to move to grade two.

This is Steve's first full season with the band and he is moving the band along well. His arrival has attracted good talent to the band as well. Many former LAPD Grade 2 from a few years back. If they can hold it together, I am sure they will climb the ranks quickly.

Their success is also filtering down to the grade four band. Misty Isle grade four is performing very well.

LA Scotts grade four is a similar story. The band is playing well and has access to excellent talent for tutoring.

Kevin Blandford MPB was formerly grade two, and placed middle of the pack in Maxville and Montreal in 2001. While having some set backs the last few years, they are back on the right road and playing very strong in grade three.

Blandford and Misty isle are definate head liners in So WUSPBA grade three, and definately knocking on the door of grade two.

Blandford also has a grade four band, which unfortunately is suffering from drum quantity. But the good support puts them in the upper echilons of grade four.

I would put any of these bands up against the best in grade in any association.

[Rob Gereghty]

Agreed Mike..

sorry to take this thread (which was supposed to be praise for an excellent sounding up and coming band) to a debate on the difference between grades.

Once again, having listening to the the MP3, I think MIsty Isle has a great future. Congratulations on a job well done !

and yes, I am sure they would hold their own in their current grade, in any association.

[Trailing Drones]

Have you seen Misty Isle 3's 10-year-old side drummer? He's awesome! :thumb:

[pancelticpiper]

As a player in Misty Isle grade 3, I think the grade 2 talk is premature. We were soundly beaten by a bunch of Canadian teens and pre-teens (Robert Malcolm Memorial 3) at Pomona, and have often been beaten in the MSR by Kevin Blandford Memorial. We have a lot of work ahead to get our MSR up to the level of our medley.

[ratherbpiping]

Panceltic piper,

I hear what you are saying but, you are not comparing yourself with Average grade three bands.

Grade level aside, I enjoyed listening to the grade three competition at San Diego. It is smaller and closer to the action than Pomona. The beer tent there is a bit cramped, but it encourages lively interaction between us lowly grade four bands while we listen to the big bands show us how it is done.

[Thriller]

Originally posted by Trailing Drones:
Have you seen Misty Isle 3's 10-year-old side drummer? He's awesome! :thumb: He is awesome. Well I think Misty Isle definately has a bright future ahead if they keep up whats they're doing.

[Martha Hall]

That 10-year-old side drummer is certainly my hero!

About the grade 3 competition...I agree that MIPB and KRBMPB do not sound like grade 3 bands. From what I heard in the "rootbeer" tent, the judges were very impressed with the quality of piping from those bands.

I can't wait for Pleasanton! I love the competition!

=)
Martha

[pancelticpiper]

Yes the San Diego venue is perfectly set up, like Queen Mary, with the Beer Garden/Beer Tent right next to the competition circle. When competition begins the beer area is nearly empty, then as each band in succession finishes competing they go directly en mass into it. The conversation in this steadily swelling mass is always lively and usually concerns the adjacent competition. The only bummer is like Saturday when we were the LAST BAND and so missed most of the fun. (I only had about 30 minutes to finish four Newcastle Brown Ales by massed bands time :thumb: )

[ratherbpiping]

Panceltic said "The only bummer is like Saturday when we were the LAST BAND and so missed most of the fun. (I only had about 30 minutes to finish four Newcastle Brown Ales by massed bands time ) "

Yes but on the other hand, on Sunday, the last few rounds were free as they had to empty the keg before closing.

[pancelticpiper]

I still haven't seen the video, as when I click on the link it says that I must have the wrong address.