Comments on: Salt Lake Highland Games http://piperpride.com/archives/salt-lake-highland-games-2 I Am Proud to Play a Pipe - by Piper Pehkonen Thu, 20 Nov 2008 23:30:36 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.0.4 by: Drive-by Piper http://piperpride.com/archives/salt-lake-highland-games-2#comment-3455 Wed, 18 Jun 2008 13:03:00 +0000 http://piperpride.com/archives/salt-lake-highland-games-2#comment-3455 Judge Partanen made a few comments about phrasing and in particular the high A's in the 1st variation. Justin had actually giving me some advice a few days earlier that I think added greatly to the tune. Overall I was pleased with my showing. It's tough only to get one chance a year to play your tune. We'll have to work on the Payson organizers! I personally thought the Galloways sounded pretty good on Saturday. Considering you guys were playing with 6 pipers, you had a bigger sound than that would suggest. Your unison playing was better than most, your tune selection was nice and for me, you had the best deportment of any band there. You all looked good entering and leaving the circle. I'm looking forward to listening again in July! Judge Partanen made a few comments about phrasing and in particular the high A’s in the 1st variation. Justin had actually giving me some advice a few days earlier that I think added greatly to the tune. Overall I was pleased with my showing. It’s tough only to get one chance a year to play your tune. We’ll have to work on the Payson organizers!

I personally thought the Galloways sounded pretty good on Saturday. Considering you guys were playing with 6 pipers, you had a bigger sound than that would suggest. Your unison playing was better than most, your tune selection was nice and for me, you had the best deportment of any band there. You all looked good entering and leaving the circle. I’m looking forward to listening again in July!

]]> by: Bugz http://piperpride.com/archives/salt-lake-highland-games-2#comment-3452 Tue, 17 Jun 2008 20:37:29 +0000 http://piperpride.com/archives/salt-lake-highland-games-2#comment-3452 Congratulations on your showing at the games. What kind of feedback did you get from the piobaireachd judge? Sometimes judges comments can be cryptic which leaves you wondering where to go from there, but it's always nice to get constructive criticism. For example, in the grade 4 pipe band competition, Galloway received conflicting comments from the piping and ensemble judges for both the march and the timed medley competitions. One judge didn't like our tempo coming into the timed medley and marked us down, while the other judge particularly complimented us on on our tempo, saying it was brisk, lively, and well controlled. One judge said our drones were out, and the other judge said our tone and tuning was excellent. One judge said the pipers weren't playing in unison, and the other judge (probably the ensemble judge) commented that both the pipes and the drums were played very well together, particularly on the breaks. Sigh. Well, we were well pleased with our performance, and we have our own thoughts on areas where we can further polish our sets, but I am not particularly impressed with the quality of judging. Either we were playing fairly well, but one judge dinged us unfairly, or we were not playing that well, and one judge gave us undeserved praise. :( It's almost enough to make one suspect that one of the judges had mistakenly swapped the grading sheets for one of the other band's performance. I enjoyed chatting with you during the piobaireachd competition, and hope further interest and activities in Utah piobaireachd can be stimulated in the future. Later... Congratulations on your showing at the games. What kind of feedback did you get from the piobaireachd judge? Sometimes judges comments can be cryptic which leaves you wondering where to go from there, but it’s always nice to get constructive criticism.

For example, in the grade 4 pipe band competition, Galloway received conflicting comments from the piping and ensemble judges for both the march and the timed medley competitions.

One judge didn’t like our tempo coming into the timed medley and marked us down, while the other judge particularly complimented us on on our tempo, saying it was brisk, lively, and well controlled.

One judge said our drones were out, and the other judge said our tone and tuning was excellent.

One judge said the pipers weren’t playing in unison, and the other judge (probably the ensemble judge) commented that both the pipes and the drums were played very well together, particularly on the breaks.

Sigh.

Well, we were well pleased with our performance, and we have our own thoughts on areas where we can further polish our sets, but I am not particularly impressed with the quality of judging. Either we were playing fairly well, but one judge dinged us unfairly, or we were not playing that well, and one judge gave us undeserved praise. :(

It’s almost enough to make one suspect that one of the judges had mistakenly swapped the grading sheets for one of the other band’s performance.

I enjoyed chatting with you during the piobaireachd competition, and hope further interest and activities in Utah piobaireachd can be stimulated in the future.

Later…

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