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Concept
Pipe band
Summary
A pipe band is a musical ensemble consisting of pipers and drummers. The term pipes and drums, used by military pipe bands is also common.
The most common form of pipe band consists of a section of pipers playing the Great Highland bagpipe, a section of snare drummers (often referred to as 'side drummers'), several tenor drummers and usually one, though occasionally two, bass drummers. The tenor drummers and bass drummer are referred to collectively as the 'bass section' (or in North America as the 'midsection'), and the entire drum section is collectively known as the drum corps. The band follows the direction of the pipe major; when on parade the band may be led by a drum major, who directs the band with a mace. Standard instrumentation for a pipe band involves 6 to 25 pipers, 3 to 10 side drummers, 1 to 6 tenor drummers and 1 bass drummer. Occasionally this instrumentation is augmented to include additional instruments (such as additional percussion instruments or keyboard instruments), but this is typically done only in concert settings.
Pipe bands started in Scottish Regiments of the British Army, in the nineteenth century. The tradition then spread to former British colonies such as Canada, Australia, New Zealand, the United States, as well as constituents of the Commonwealth of Nations. In addition, a number of other countries have adopted the tradition, notably in areas with Celtic roots: Ireland (circa 1900), Brittany in Northwestern France (1940s), and the regions of Galicia, Asturias and Cantabria in Northern Spain.
The pipe band's origins are in the military, but are obscure as contemporary historical regimental records had no direct interest in piping, giving only hints at details. The Royal Scottish Pipe Band Association maintains that the origin of military pipe bands are traced back to the early 1800s as soldiers tasked with keeping pace and morale on long marches with their respective regiments. The global spread of piping can also be directly attributed with British colonial expansion.
Official source
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