‘My aim at that time was to get the band back to winning, and to bring some young players along with us’


competing in Grade 3 but the band were really struggling. They did receive some tuition from David Middleton who was winning a lot of solo competitions at the time and was playing in Grade 1 with the Eden Pipe Band, but we continued to struggle for players and David eventually moved on. David would later prove to be a major influence on my playing and I am very grateful for it.” Apart from the usual street parades, the band


did little until the winter of 1994 when another local band, Tullintrain, from across the border in Northern Ireland were looking for players. Tullintrain were competing in Grade 3, so five pipers from Manor Cunningham went to play with them, but had a fairly average season. At that point Gordon approached David Mid- dleton again for some tuition, and when David joined the Grade 1 McNeilstown Pipe Band in 1995, he asked Gordon to come along too. Gordon explained: “I laughed at David’s suggestion that I could play in a Grade 1 band but he suggested I give it a go. I played in the 1996 season and part of 1997, but in the end the distance that I had to travel to the practice made me step back from the band. I would leave the house at 6pm and not get home till midnight and it was too much. However, the time I spent in Grade 1 gave me a good ground- ing as to how things should be done and it has always stuck. I believe that was the time that I got a wee bit of tone into my ear and it has never left me — though some people might say differently!” Next, he joined Cumber Claudy Pipe Band in 1998 under the leadership of Thomas Wray, who had been a top solo player in his day, and played with them for two seasons in Grade 3. Work commitments and family circumstances forced him to take a break from piping for a while. After serving a long piping apprenticeship which took him from a beginner in Manor Cunningham to Grade 1 with McNeilstown, Gordon’s musical journey came full circle when he returned to his first band in 2000 — this time as pipe sergeant. Manor Cunningham, then in Grade 4B, have gone from strength to strength since. Robert Wallace was pipe major at that time but stepped back from the position at the end


PIPING TODAY • 38


of the 2002 season. He remains with the band and is the longest serving member who held the band together during a difficult period. Gordon’s experience meant he felt confident


enough to become pipe major. He admitted: “I’m quite stubborn and I had my own ideas. I was taking over a band that only had about seven pipers and four drummers. My aim at that time was to get the band back to winning, and to bring some young players along with us, but I knew it was going to be a difficult task.” In Gordon’s first year as pipe major in 2003, the band won the Ulster Championships and a few other local competitions. So was there a secret formula that helped them to make the breakthrough? “We had three young girls in the band that I had been teaching over the years and they were playing well. There was a unison in their playing and that helped, but I think it was the drive that I brought to the band, which we still have — that made the difference,” said Gordon. Surely there must have been more to it than that. I would guess that there are more Grade 4B pipe bands than any other grade, so what was Gordon doing that gave him the edge? It turns out there are no secrets, just common sense. “I was trying to aim for a tightness of playing and a good strong tone. Those two things are essential to succeed in any grade, and are the things that I would have worked on most,” he said. “We were playing 4/4 marches at that time and trying to play them with dot and cut and a bit of expression.” At the end of 2003, the band were upgraded to 4A and played well through the winter until they were dealt a blow when the three girls Gordon had taught left the band. They recruited a few older, more experienced players but it didn’t work out and the band had a poor season in 2004. Gordon explained: “I thoroughly believe our


results were due to what we lost when the girls left. The players who replaced them didn’t buy into our style of playing. It goes back to the unison in our playing and I think if the girls had not left our results would have been different. “In 2005, we got two more young players


and Robert Wallace and myself worked hard on them and got them into the band. Geoffrey


Pipe major Gordon Carson


Parke also joined the band at this time and he is our current pipe sergeant. “From the 2006 season, though we only


had six pipers, we started to build and do the thing we knew we were good at: bringing on our young players. We got a few fourth places and won some mini-band contests.” Those same six pipers, with four side


drummers, two tenors and a bass won a few competitions early in the 2007 season. The good results fizzled out — until they got to Cowal and won Grade 4A. Gordon added: “It was funny during the march-past that year. As we were marching around the track, the band were getting a good cheer from the spectators. We couldn’t really work out what it was for, but looking back I think it was because the band were so small.” That win at Cowal was a massive boost for the band and they were helped further by the addition of a new leading drummer, Alan Laird. He took over from Gary Wray, who is still with the band. Gary was having to travel from the Isle of Man to teach the drum corps which was not an ideal situation, so Gordon approached Alan who he knew through school and the Cumber Claudy band. “When I asked him to come to the band, he


said yes right away and we just clicked,” said Gordon.


“We discovered we have the same


drive and vision, and our friendship and the band just took off from there.” Alan continued the story: “When Gordon rang I didn’t think twice about it. I knew who Gordon was and the good things he was doing with Manor Cunningham. “We were at school together and though our lockers were only three away from each other, we were never friends. In fact, I think he even kicked in my locker,” he laughed. “We are very close now, and because of the


band we are in touch every single day — some- times three times a day. Just recently I got a call from my mobile phone company offering


BAND PROFILE


Photo: John Slavin@Designfolk Ltd


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