On 16/06/2011 09:55, Alan Corkett wrote:
Dear All
"Hear, Hear!" Julia!
Alan Corkett
I have to confess to being an outsider wherever I am.
Being in Liverpool, I'm well outside the regular piping fraternity of
the North East plus, despite having been a piper for 38 years I'm not
very good and, with age, have actually got worse.
That being said, I've enjoyed the banter and the technical stuff I have
learned here and I've been able to offer some advice from problems I
have had and solved (usually) over the years or from advice given here
and lost in the mist of time.
To be honest (I can see the bundles of faggots being laid by the stake
now) I'm rather appreciative of the scope of the instrument as well as
the "tradition". I'm in a cleft stick. I'm happy playing "Yo Ho a
Pirates life for me" or "It's a small world" from Disneyland as I am
playing from the NPS Tunebooks.
After more years than I care to remember on the folk scene where clubs
would bar you if you sang anything later than the 1800's or refuse you
entry if you had a (shudder) guitar or other musical instrument with
you, I've been through it all before - including the ones that said it
was "folk" if you didn't have electric instruments!
It's not that I'm not interested in the tradition - I am - but wouldn't
want to follow that to the exclusion of all else. I'm playing because I
love the pipes and their sound. If I were in a competition (sorry,
flight of fancy there) I would be happy to follow the rules and I'm
quite happy to follow the "correct" way of playing but as none of us
know what that is as we were not around at the time to hear it I do have
to presume that it's a later view that became "that's nice, let's do it
that way" scenario.
Personally I'd rather follow a more open forum (and have a nice shout at
the computer when something controversial turns up). I'm happy to be a
part of a more "selective" group but I'd still follow the other.
It's probably because I don't have the skill or expertise to play Clough
style that I'd be out on a limb in such a forum. I'm buggered if I'll
stop playing as best I can though.
Unfortunately I can't find any of the other, alternative forums but I
will mourn the loss of the experienced players and, I fear, it could
lead to that style of playing becoming a niche minority which would
leave newer players "doing their own thing" if they don't live near to
other players. That's not good for piping.
I do hope that the players who have migrated will still use this forum
and reserve the new ones for the high level stuff (pun intended) where
they may be at a similar standard (like an advanced level).
I'm sure everything will level out eventually. There's room for all in
our world.
Colin Hill (typed far too much, sorry).
-----
No virus found in this message.
Checked by AVG - www.avg.com
Version: 10.0.1382 / Virus Database: 1513/3706 - Release Date: 06/15/11
To get on or off this list see list information at
http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
