Summary on Midlands Branch website
Another superb set of results
The sound of the new chanters certainly showed through on the day and brought some very complimentary remarks from the judge
Trios (1st & 2nd)
The first trio on (A band) produced what I felt was the best sound of the whole day and being able to stand at the back of the hall and listen to the performance was a true pleasure - the tempo was a little on the slow side but the sound and execution was great
The B band produced a very similar sound, perhaps even a little cleaner, but then came the two 'squawks' halfway through the performance (duly commented on by the judge in his sheets). There was plenty of shaking of heads after that and various 'reasons' were put forward ranging from an overblown E on a chanter to a seagull outside the hall!!! Hmmmmmmmm
The judges comments included such comments as :
'Excellent introduction', 'Chanters very well set with a bright, true and robust tonal quality', 'Excellent drones'
Grade 4 Mini Bands (1st & 2nd)
Two good performances from both A and B bands, with no recurrence of the mystery seagull!
Judges comments were once again complimentary to both bands finishing with the comment 'If you get the whole band playing and sounding like this you will have a good season'!
Grade 3 Mini Bands (3rd)
I think we'd started to run out of stamina by the time we played in this event.
Both 'A' and 'B' bands clearly suffered and the performances were definitely not up to our potential - so a third place was the best we could have expected.
We can do better than this!
However, let's not take away from what was an enjoyable day (despite the level of snow in the carpark) and move on now to our next contest - the North West Branch Indoor Contest on 14th April.
Well done everyone