Nicholson Pipes and Drums
About Nicholson Pipes and Drums
Who writes this file, which sources it reads, and how a record on pipe band history, pipes, drums and performance is kept and dated.
Edition of
What this file is
Nicholson Pipes and Drums keeps a working file on Scottish pipe band life. A record answers one question a reader asks in the stands, on the field or in the band room: how a pipe section is tuned, what a drum score asks of a corps, how a band is arranged for a parade, how a programme from 2002 is read today. Records are written in plain English, held in four sections, and dated on the day they are checked.
The four sections
Band History follows the Nicholson story, the Southern California gatherings and the community ensembles that keep a band on the road. Pipes covers chanters, drones, reeds and setup, and the musical role of the pipe section. Drums covers snare, bass and tenor technique, drum scores and ensemble timing. Performance covers marches, competitions, parades, stage sets and what to listen for.
How a record is written
A record opens with the answer, then gives the reason, the measure and the exception. Where a claim rests on a printed programme, a published score, a maker's guide or a competition report, the record names what it read. People, bands, venues and institutions are named exactly as their source names them. Measurements are given as the source gives them, and a date inside a record is written dd/mm/yyyy.
What a reader can do afterwards
Every record closes with a next move: a passage to listen for, a part of the instrument to inspect, a step to practise, or a question to put to the band. The aim is that a reader leaves able to hear one thing more clearly than before.