[NSP] Re: nps detatched
In a message dated 17/05/2006 18:02:28 GMT Daylight Time, [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: There is no 'official' NPS policy on telling folk how to play the closed end smallpipes as far as I am aware in my position as Chairman and Vice President of the NPS. I beleive that Julia - NPS Secretary - has said this already. Therefore 'competition' style or any other style does not exist except that the fingering should be 'closed'. What any listener wants to hear is a musical performance which can involve anything that is possible on the closed end chanter whether it be detached,slurred, overblown or anything else the player can get out of the chanter to express what he or she wants to convey in performance. I sometimes think that piping has become almost a religion to some players and the spectre of fundimentalism then rears its ugly head so that the closed style of playing is declared to be the the only 'correct' way to play the chanter with the risk of having your fingers severed as a punishment if you dare to deviate from the true way. Ours is a broad church so keep the faith and enjoy all the various ways we can express ourselves on the pipes. The rev. Colin Ross And all the people said - AaaaMEN Sam -- To get on or off this list see list information at http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
[NSP] Re: nps detatched
On 17 May 2006, what.me wrote: This is what I'm trying to get at - I would like to know: does the NPS accept that legato is a correct way of playing the pipes? Adrian and all: Please note change of email address, and hence change of mental hat. As far as I am aware, the NPS does not have, and has never had, a formally agreed policy on appropriate style for playing the Northumbrian smallpipes. Whether it should have one, and if so, what that should be, would be a matter for the NPS committee to decide. Such a process would hopefully include discussions with the commonly recognized authorities on the subject - our top-flight players. If you wish this matter to be taken up by the committee I will gladly draw it to their attention and initiate such a discussion. For the record, only a minority of the NPS committee read this list. I believe about 50% of the list's subscribers are NPS members. I hope this helps -- Julia Say, Hon Sec. NPS [EMAIL PROTECTED] Tel 01670 860215 To get on or off this list see list information at http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
[NSP] Re: nps detatched
Julia, This topic is certainly worth a detailed and wide discussion, and it would ultimately be worth the Committee issuing //advisory// guidelines. But //prescriptive// guidelines - eg any 2 notes should have a gap between them; grace notes should also be separated, both from their melody note and one another; ... or any defined 'house style', even if it is a style I like, would be over-restrictive. We would turn into Highland pipers, only with a different style. Perhaps it's time for an up-to-date NPS tutor. Compare the LBPS's More Power to your Elbow, with CD-rom attached - pity the title's gone really. John -Original Message- From: Julia Say [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: 17 May 2006 15:20 To: nsp; what.me Subject: [NSP] Re: nps detatched On 17 May 2006, what.me wrote: This is what I'm trying to get at - I would like to know: does the NPS accept that legato is a correct way of playing the pipes? Adrian and all: Please note change of email address, and hence change of mental hat. As far as I am aware, the NPS does not have, and has never had, a formally agreed policy on appropriate style for playing the Northumbrian smallpipes. Whether it should have one, and if so, what that should be, would be a matter for the NPS committee to decide. Such a process would hopefully include discussions with the commonly recognized authorities on the subject - our top-flight players. If you wish this matter to be taken up by the committee I will gladly draw it to their attention and initiate such a discussion. For the record, only a minority of the NPS committee read this list. I believe about 50% of the list's subscribers are NPS members. I hope this helps -- Julia Say, Hon Sec. NPS [EMAIL PROTECTED] Tel 01670 860215 To get on or off this list see list information at http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
[NSP] Re: nps detatched
I would certainly urge the other 50% to join the NPS. As the recognised voice for the NSP and by the very nature of their existence it would seem that those who contribute to the list could make their views more official by joining. One voice and all that. The more members, the louder their voice and the more likely they are to be heard (and asked) about things. It's the pipes not their location that is important (I don't mean anything odd here, just that it doesn't matter where you live - lest that be thought of as an insult to the NE or thereabouts or the people living there. Phew, nearly started something there). No, I'm not connected with it other than as a member and I probably cost them a fortune as I joined as a life member back in '72. I do think they are very important though. Colin Hill - Original Message - From: Gibbons, John [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]; nsp nsp@cs.dartmouth.edu; what.me [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Wednesday, May 17, 2006 3:32 PM Subject: [NSP] Re: nps detatched Julia, This topic is certainly worth a detailed and wide discussion, and it would ultimately be worth the Committee issuing //advisory// guidelines. But //prescriptive// guidelines - eg any 2 notes should have a gap between them; grace notes should also be separated, both from their melody note and one another; ... or any defined 'house style', even if it is a style I like, would be over-restrictive. We would turn into Highland pipers, only with a different style. Perhaps it's time for an up-to-date NPS tutor. Compare the LBPS's More Power to your Elbow, with CD-rom attached - pity the title's gone really. John -Original Message- From: Julia Say [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: 17 May 2006 15:20 To: nsp; what.me Subject: [NSP] Re: nps detatched On 17 May 2006, what.me wrote: This is what I'm trying to get at - I would like to know: does the NPS accept that legato is a correct way of playing the pipes? Adrian and all: Please note change of email address, and hence change of mental hat. As far as I am aware, the NPS does not have, and has never had, a formally agreed policy on appropriate style for playing the Northumbrian smallpipes. Whether it should have one, and if so, what that should be, would be a matter for the NPS committee to decide. Such a process would hopefully include discussions with the commonly recognized authorities on the subject - our top-flight players. If you wish this matter to be taken up by the committee I will gladly draw it to their attention and initiate such a discussion. For the record, only a minority of the NPS committee read this list. I believe about 50% of the list's subscribers are NPS members. I hope this helps -- Julia Say, Hon Sec. NPS [EMAIL PROTECTED] Tel 01670 860215 To get on or off this list see list information at http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
[NSP] Re: nps detatched
Colin, 'Right reverend' for the Chairman and VP, surely?? I would absolutely agree that the music comes first, and a rigorous prescriptive style could kill the music. My feeling is this is what happened to Highland pipe music. Advisory guidelines, though, might serve to remind people, especially beginners, that sloppiness and artistic freedom are not the same thing, though. The justification for Pauline or Kathryn playing slurred notes or open graces is that they have enough technique to make a choice. The choice isn't open to some with less technique and there is a risk of them citing these as role models. Hope all's well, John -Original Message- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: 17 May 2006 18:02 To: nsp@cs.dartmouth.edu Subject: [NSP] Re: nps detatched There is no 'official' NPS policy on telling folk how to play the closed end smallpipes as far as I am aware in my position as Chairman and Vice President of the NPS. I beleive that Julia - NPS Secretary - has said this already. Therefore 'competition' style or any other style does not exist except that the fingering should be 'closed'. What any listener wants to hear is a musical performance which can involve anything that is possible on the closed end chanter whether it be detached,slurred, overblown or anything else the player can get out of the chanter to express what he or she wants to convey in performance. I sometimes think that piping has become almost a religion to some players and the spectre of fundimentalism then rears its ugly head so that the closed style of playing is declared to be the the only 'correct' way to play the chanter with the risk of having your fingers severed as a punishment if you dare to deviate from the true way. Ours is a broad church so keep the faith and enjoy all the various ways we can express ourselves on the pipes. The rev. Colin Ross -- To get on or off this list see list information at http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
[NSP] Re: nps detatched
Just to take this discussion outside our immediate sphere I htough I would share a sound clip with you. In amongst the dozens of emails from the NSP list this morning I got one from a Colarado based group that mixes bagpipes with rocking blues. I went to their site to have a listen and think what I heard is relevant to this discussion. I enjoy the broad church that is now Scottish pipe music and listen to people like the late Martyn Bennett, Mark Saul, Rare Air and others who combine well ground highland piping with all sorts of other stuff. However the group from Colarado is using poor playing with a rock background just to be different. Listen here: http://cdbaby.com/mp3lofi/pipapelli-01.m3u Translating this back to NSP we can have a wide range of music played but what has to be at the base of it is good technique otherwise we get an equivalent of what you have just heard... Ian To get on or off this list see list information at http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
