The pipes, the pipes are calling
Having tried to master the saxophone for about 45 years, and not being very successful at it, I sympathize with anyone taking the time to learn a musical instrument. You can double that sympathy for someone trying to learn the often difficult bagpipes. Triple it for those who have to listen to the people learning to play the bagpipes (for me, the only thing worse may be hearing elementary school kids squeaking their clarinets).
Which reminds me of the old musician’s joke. What’s the definition of a gentleman? Someone who knows how to play bagpipes, but doesn’t.
Before I am run over by a passing pipe band, let me point out I am just relaying a little humor for historical perspective. It doesn’t necessarily reflect the viewpoint of the employees and management of STATter 911. We will do drummer jokes next week.
The reason I bring up all of this, is the wonderful article by Sarah Perry that accompanies the picture above from the Urbana Daily Citizen. It looks at Urbana, Ohio firefighters Eric Beverly and Brian Williams efforts to carry on a noble tradition and become pipers.
Here is an excerpt:
Eric Beverly and Brian Williams are flushed, drenched in perspiration and attempting what seems to be impossible on this Monday – tuning the bagpipe. Beverly eventually gives up and shrugs his shoulder.
“If it’s not making my ears bleed, it’s not too bad,” he said.
The two are currently the only two firefighters in the Urbana Fire Division who are all too familiar with the stubborn instrument. The bagpipe has been a tradition for centuries for fire departments and service personnel and Beverly and Williams picked up the skill about five years ago, with the intent of continuing the custom.
But sometimes, like on Monday, practicing can seem daunting when it takes awhile to tune the pipes. Both sets must play in tandem or the sound is not pleasant.
“Either you love them or you hate them,” Beverly said. “Some just can’t stand the sound of them.”
Beverly noted it’s likely that most people who don’t like the bagpipes have heard them out of tune when the pipes sound terrible. But even it they’re hard to tune and sometimes a pain, the two firefighters respect the instrument and what it stands for.
Here is the link to the bagpipes forum on Firefighter Nation.
