MSPD Band Practice Audio Files
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Aug. 4, 2007
_St. Andrews competition medley (2.9 Meg) – Thanks to Becky for making the recording!
I decided to provide a few comments, not to supercede what the judges said, but for comparison with previous recordings, so here goes. Note that this recorder makes the snares sound overpowering; they did not sound like that on the field.
I would have to classify the start as "poor" by our current standards. The roll-off was fine, but a piper got in very late, and the pipes were generally not together while marching in. Stabilized fairly well once we got in the circle. Nice drone sound! Very apparent when we turned around. Flat upper hand on chanters as we discussed on the field (but well tuned to each other).
Good transition into strathspey, and generally played very well. Piping bobble at end of 1st part, and 2nd part not quite as solid as first.
Spot-on transition into air, and air generally was played as well as we’ve ever done it. Despite upper hand still being flat, the pipes sounded very nice, and the harmonies sounded better than I ever remember hearing them. Still getting a slight but noticeable drop-off in blowing on the long Bs before the B-B taorluath.
Good transition into jig and jig started off well but began to get rushy midway through the first part. Just a bit, overall not too bad.
Transition into portree was played correctly but felt to me like we were in a big hurry? Portree generally played very well. Downward runs were consistently ragged (upward runs were OK), and we have a couple different versions of the pointing in the 2nd part just after the three hi As. Good cut-off.
Overall, a very nice performance, all the more so since it was in competition. A few things to work on, but there always are. I did not hear any drumming issues. Nice job everybody!
Jon S. 8/7/07
June 24, 2007
_QMM Ohio competition (2.4 Meg)
_QMM Ohio march-off (flett) (0.6 Meg)
June 19, 2007
_QMM plus Don’s rant (5.9 Meg)
June 5, 2007
These sounded better on tape than they did to me when we were doing them, but they are still not to our standard. We consistently have problems doing competition stuff after a full band practice. This is a mental issue, not a musical one. We are at a point now where we need to be making quality noises every time we pick up our instruments. The more we allow ourselves to just go through the motions of a tune when it "doesn’t matter", the more likely it is that ugliness will happen when it "does matter". This means that there is no time when it "doesn’t matter", including when we are tuning with Murdos, or when we are playing with the full band and everybody around us is rushing their doublings. By the way, if any of the new people are reading this, this not meant to disparage you. You guys have made enormous progress in the last few months. It sounded like a band on Tuesday, maybe for the first time. I was impressed, for whatever that’s worth. Keep up the good work.
Anyway for the competition folks, two things need to happen. First, everybody needs to work on getting their heads into what we are doing and keeping them there. (Including me, my leadership of the transitions was marginal at best.) Second, Don and I need to put some procedures in place to help that process along. For example, this week I think we would have been better off to sing through the medley once, then play it once, rather than just jumping in and playing it twice. Enough ranting…
_Medley 1st time (4:16 3.0 Meg) – Good start. Good pipe sound except for Fs (tuning issue). Flett good, a bit of wiggliness at end of first part. Clumsy transition into strathspey (largely my fault). Strathspey maybe a bit quick, pipes not together and got worse as the tune progressed. Poor transition into air, maybe my fault, but keep those bags up tight, no matter what. Air recovered somewhat but wiggly at end of first part. Jig: Panic in Detroit. Hard to hear on the tape, but we were not together and rushing like crazy. Lost all pretense of feeling the first beat. Listen to how weak the pipes sound compared to the air – this is because we are not all playing the same notes at the same time. Disastrous transition into Portree – somebody playing random notes? Also – tempo jumped about 10 beats instantly after the 4 beat intro. I saw one player watching me for the intro, then look away when the tune started and jump into a completely different tempo. The tempo of the intro IS the tempo of the tune! Good stop.
_Medley 2st time (4:26 3.1 Meg) – More of the same. Jig not quite as bad, but at least one piper clearly well ahead of the beat. Exact same transition problem into Portree, both random noise and tempo jump.
Jon S 6/7/07
May 15, 2007
_QMM 1st time (3:37 2.5 Meg) -- Good start. Took most of 1st part of tune for pipes to settle blowing completely, though. Noticeable on Bs and hi As. Mrs MacCleod not bad. Lost groove a bit in the 2nd, but got it back. Megarsfontaine started without ensemble and stayed there. Either snare is ahead of beat or pipes are behind. Pipe note issue in transition into Lovat. Pipes generally not together throughout Lovat. Blowing issues early in tune (listen to Bs). Piping fumble near end of tune. Waterloo pretty decent. Some tiny rushing here and there. Cutoff missed.
_QMM 2nd time (3:34 2.5 Meg) – Not as good a start – not confident. First birl in Mrs MacLeod missed. Pipes not well together in Mrs. MacLeod. Note issues at end of 1st part and in between the two lines of the second part. Some ensemble issues getting into Megars, but a much better tune overall. Pipes not together on runs in second part. Good transition into Lovat, and tune not too bad. Note issue (I think that was me). Upper hand starting to get blown out. Waterloo also not bad. Notes issues in 1st part, and Hi G now significantly out (part blowing, part tuning). Good stop.
Cheers!
-- Jon 5/21/07
April 3, 2007
Quick March Medley. Notes! Big black ones. Me included.
Start just OK. Note problems in Mrs. MacCleod. Transitions to Megars and Lord Lovat both sound awkward to me, maybe just because we are not familiar enough with them. Drums and pipes working against each other on transitions. Megars was starting to get wiggy at the end. Possibly called too fast, also familiarity issues in runs in 2nd part. No big issues in Lovat or Waterloo, but neither was exciting. Expression not happening, and a bit of rushing, just enough to take the fun out of it. Cutoff good.
On the plus side – some excellent rythmic stuff going on. Drums sounded sharp throughout to me except as noted above. Ensemble generally excellent. I think this set of tunes suits us well and has a lot of potential.
-- Jon
August 6, 2006
St. Andrews competition recording (winning is fun!). – Jon
_2006 St. Andrews competition medley (3:35 3.4 Meg)
