And though the news was rather sad, well, I just had to laugh.

In the summer of 1985, my sister Robyn, a terrific Highland

dancer, was asked to participate on a tour of Scotland with our

local pipe band.

She went.

In fact, we all went; Mom, Dad, my sister and I, and my Grandma

Helen. It was a great 3 week trip 'round Alba that August - 25 years

ago. I was young, and the memories fade over time, but two

significant things happened on that trip, that will forever be a part

of my life.

One thing that I'll never forget, and that would ultimately shape

my personality as I grew up, was the atmosphere of the bus.

"Flyin 'cross the land, trying to get a hand, playin' in a Traveling Band"

Yeah!

No doubt, I enjoyed seeing the band perform, and seeing the country,

the Highlands, the funny looking cows, and the castles... but I loved

the bus! That's what it was all about! The country was nice... the

history I could appreciate, but get me back on the bus! The

camaraderie, the music, the singing, the laughs... that was the life

for me!

We got home and I started drumming lesson immediately.

The other significant memory from that trip to Scotland was

August 17, 1985. We rode the bus to Hamilton for the World Pipe

Band Championships! The band we were travelling with competed

in the grade 4 event, and, Robyn competed in the Highland Dancing.

Mostly my Dad and I walked around listening to the grade 1 bands,

and it was easy to see who owned the park - The Strathclyde Police.

Everyone was there to hear the Cops. They seemed like celebrities

to me. Every grade one band would have a handful of people around,

having a listen, but the Cops had hundreds. I even recall the few

days in Glasgow prior to the Worlds, and always hearing the same

from the locals: "Aye, ye're here fer the World Pipin' are ye? Well ye

shuldnae bother. It'll be the Polis again!". The people in Glasgow

were proud of "their band", and I knew the importance of the

Strathclyde Police Pipe Band before I knew what a paraddidle was.

By 1989, I was making regular trips to Scotland with Alberta

Caledonia (Edmonton Caledonia in those days...) for the World

Championships. I was 13 years old in 1989 and a bit blown away by

the whole thing. It was interesting to have watched the games in '85,

but now, 4 years later, I was there competing with a grade one band!

I couldn't believe it. All the bands that I'd been listening to on the

record player at home were there, and, who does our bus park

beside? The Strathclyde Police! What a great experience! I was

mesmerized watching the band, and boy did I watch! I watched how

they walked off the bus, how they set their drums down, how they

stood, how they tied their brogues... lol, it was amazing to me. I

remember how hard my band worked to get set up, and try to find

a sound, get organized and stay calm, but they just seemed to be

perfect out of the box. Not surprisingly, they won it all that year (as

they did nearly every year from '79 to '91) and I consider myself

lucky to have watched 3 of those Championship performances in

'85, '89 and, their last win, in 1991.

I have dozens and dozens of piping and pipe band recordings on LP,

cassette, cd, VHS, dvd, mp3, even a few old 78's! The first album I

ever bought was The Strathclyde Police "Champion of Champions -

Champions of the World"! What an album! I also have "6 in a Row"

and "Strathclyde Police Pipers"... even a couple from the Glasgow

Police era. The Polis, to me, were never breaking any new ground

with their arrangements; I listened to the Vale and the Frasers for

that. However, those Strathclyde albums from the '80s were my

text book, and they continue to be today. When I wanted to

understand how to properly play a polka or a 6/8 march or a

9/8 march... I studied the Polis. I still use those album all the time

with my students. They are definitive.

Now that I think back over the years, I remember attending

seminars with Scott MacAulay in the early '90s - the topic being

ensemble and medley construction - and his examples were always

the Strathclyde Police. I remember another seminar on "idiom"

(by Colin MacLellan, I think) and the examples we listened to were...

yep you guessed it! I also have memories of John Fisher transcribing

the Polis MSR from '91 and us playing it together: Miss Elspeth

Campbell, Cameronian Rant & Pretty Marion. Singles from hell! John

called that MSR the epitome of pipe band ensemble! It just seemed

like there was the Strathclyde Police, and then there was everyone else.

Sadly, there's now just everyone else.

http://www.pipesdrums.com/ViewObject.aspx?sys-Portal=57&sys-Class=Article&sys-ID=17980

God Bless the Strathclyde Police Pipe Band!

A Dark Scottish Lake, Loch Ruan.

I hope everyone's enjoying the new website - rmpb.org!

The past year has been a really exciting time for Rocky Mountain, and it largely started with Sean Somers taking the lead in September 2008.

http://www.pipesdrums.com/ViewObject.aspx?sys-Portal=57&sys-Class=Article&sys-ID=17572

A few new players followed, and, the 2009 season - our first in grade 2 - was a successful debut. I don't think any of us could predict what would happen this off season, though. The number of new members this year is almost staggering; 8 new members to the pipe corps, 4 to the snare corps, 2 to the midsection!

Most of these new members bring grade one and two band experience, some are World Champions, others are North American Champions.

It's always exciting to see the band grow - to make new friends, and add numbers to the ranks - but what we've seen in the past 12 months has not only doubled the size of the band... it's changed the dynamic of the organization in every conceivable way. We've been so fortunate to gain members that have previously played at the highest level in Nova Scotia, Quebec, Ontario, Saskatchewan and British Columbia, and, having this tremendous mix of people, and ideas, has been a benefit in so many ways. It's been a benefit to the executive, to the fundaising commitee, to the music selection commitee... and the addition of so many accomplished players has brought with it a deeper focus, and a passion that comes through in the music.

I always appreciate when a person decides that our band is the band that they want to play with. I really get excited when I see those people anxious to get involved with the executive, eager to raise funds... overflowing with ideas, musical and otherwise!

So, welcome to the band Andrew, James, Emma, Kyle, Duncan, Krissy, Sandy, Derrick, Matt, Brent, Willie, Ross, (but not Willie Ross), Andy, Gregor, Elizabeth, Trevors 1&2, Holly, Abbey, Elliot & Pat! You've made this organization bigger, better and stronger already!

-----------------

Now, everyone looks forward to this time of year for one reason: new music!

All the drum scores for 2010 are written and being worked on already, which is a freakin' record for this perpetually tardy lead drummer. Last year I was still writing and handing out new scores in April, and, it didn't make me a popular guy with the corps!

As the lead drummer, I have a bit of say into what tunes we play but, generally, I don't make too many suggestions. When you have pipers like Sean Somers, Andrew Smith and Ann Gray in the band, the selecting of music is in pretty good hands! I will, however, suggest some ensemble ideas, breaks, etc., or vote out a tune that I just can't get a feel for.

This season however, I had the band add a little 4/4 march that I've been in love with for about 10 years; Loch Ruan. I first played this tune in 1998 with Iain MacDonald and the City of Regina Pipe Band, and I wrote the following snare score that year. We only played it for one season (I left the band in 1999), but I've always kept it in the back of my mind, hoping to play it again. RMPB added it to the repertoir last month, and, it opens a set of "little 4/4's": Loch Ruan, At Long Last (by James MacHattie) and the classic Flett from Flotta.

The popular 2 part, Loch Ruan, was written by George McIntyre and published in his Minard Castle Collection. This is one of McIntyre's most famous composition [he also wrote the hornpipes Lucy Cassidy and Hazel Thompson to name a couple] and the tune has become a standard in many a Celtic fiddlers repertoire. Often played briskly on the fiddle, and sometimes as a hornpipe, we play the tune at a more suitable marching tempo of about 84 bpm.

In 1996, I attended the Long's Peak Scottish Festival in Estes Park, Colorado, with Alberta Caledonia, as one of the featured guest bands. The other guest band that year was the Victoria Police Pipe Band, from Australia, who would go on to win the World Pipe Band Championships two years later. The Vic Police band, and especially lead drummer Harold Gillespie, were a major influence on me in the late '90s. I remember being absolutely in awe standing beside them as they played. The 1st and 5th phrases of this score, with the snares playing the most basic of rhythms, was influenced by a march that the Vics played that year in Colorado...

Hope you like it!

ps/ there's a wonderful recording of Loch Ruan on Stu Liddell's solo album Inveroran.

Cheers!

Hey you, out there in the cold, getting lonely, getting old, can you feel me?

I'm really excited to have a new website up and running, and thanks to snare drummer Andy Kopciuch for taking the time to set it all up! I like it! It's very clean and easy to navigate, and very functional too! Make sure you check back often for updates to the schedule, all the latest news about the band, and, of course, THIS!

I'll do my best to keep the blogs coming semi-regularly. My plan for this section of the website is to keep everyone up to date on the goings on at the ass end of the band. I'll be featuring a different drum score every month (or so), and maybe describe a bit of the process that went into writing that score. I'll talk about things that have influenced me over the years, musically or otherwise, and it may get completely random at times. Whatever. This is my blog...

-Ryan.