Amid a weekend-long pipe band competition in Dunedin, a veteran Southland bagpiper says his advice for younger players is to keep their focus.
Waimatuku Southern Scenic Pipe Band piper Andrew Hall (81) said he took up the bagpipes when he was about 20, in lieu of playing rugby.
"When we were young fellows, you stopped playing rugby when you got married — there was no insurance in those days," Mr Hall said.
He had always enjoyed listening to the instrument and had been competing for 59 years, since 1964.
Younger players had an advantage in their fingers, but Mr Hall had no plans to give up anytime soon.
"It depends when I’m called, I suppose," he said.
His advice to younger competitors was to focus on their own thing, lest they got distracted and ended up playing the wrong song.
"You switch off."
Ashburton County Scottish Society Pipe Band piper Simon Wallis said he had been playing in bands for 10 years.
The Ashburton contingent had been practising their tunes for the past eight months before the event, he said.
It was the music which drew people to the activity and, while there was an element of Scottish heritage to the events, it was something anyone could enjoy regardless of where they came from.
There would be a further opportunity to perform for bands who went through to the national competition, held in Christchurch in March, Mr Wallis said.
Canterbury Caledonian Pipe Band drummer Bruce Fraser said the event was usually held every year, but the last competition was cancelled due to Covid.
He had been drumming in pipe bands since 1986 and got into it because he had a cousin who was good at everything whom he wanted to beat at something, Mr Fraser said.
It had taken many years, but now Mr Fraser was the better of the pair and still improving with age.
The event was judged by four judges across a variety of criteria and events.
The drums used by pipe bands were deeper and heavier than the snare drums used on regular drum kits.
Bagpipes were especially temperamental and their pitch and tone would vary depending on small variations in the conditions, he said.
Royal New Zealand Pipe Bands’ Association (RNZPBA) Otago Centre secretary Ashley Honeywell said the competitions started on Saturday morning and ran until yesterday afternoon.
Saturday’s RNZPBA Octagonal Day Pipe Band contest was held in the Octagon, and yesterday’s RNZPBA Otago-Southland Pipe Band contest was held at North Ground after a mass-march from the centre of Dunedin.
Twelve bands competed on the first day and 11 bands competed on the second.
Each band had about 10 members, meaning over 100 musicians would have descended on the city to test their skills against peers.
The weekend’s events were due to close with a prizegiving at North Ground yesterday afternoon.
There was no charge to attend the competitions and people had been welcome to watch and talk to the musicians when they were not performing.
Most bands were recruiting and the Otago centre was happy to help people who wanted to get involved, Mr Honeywell said.
