Comments ~ 2002: April

Comments from April 2002

Info on Morris Motors
You wanted info on Morris Motors - I auditioned for them in 1964. The Band Manager was a guy called Tommy Morecombe, the resident conductor was Cliff Edmunds who I believe had been a Horn virtuoso in his day, and Harry Mortimer was the Professional. The band regularly got in the frame at the British Open in the 1960's when it was held at Belle Vue Manchester, but they never won either the Open or National. They were also one of the original bands in Harry M's "Men O' Brass" along with Fairies and Fodens, who travelled to America in the 60's to play at some kind of world fair. As regards my audition, they only offered me a job paying £12 per week packing parts for export, so I decided I valued my home comforts too much and declined their kind offer !!!

Ian C.Wilkinson

4BR Reply:
Thanks Ian....

Exchange visits
Hello all brass bands. We are a wind/military band from Istrup/Brakel in Germany who would like to do an exchange visit with an English [British] Brass/wind band. We`re currently about 4th section standard but we are trying hard to improve.

John Beardsworth

4BR Reply:
Anyone interested? Please contact johnbeardy@aol.com

A stressed MD
I see our MD Wayne Ruston [Lydmet Lydney] has been getting stressed about your reviews of the West of England Championships. I have to say I am surprised that you did not place us any higher in your predictions!, after all we have been quite consistent at the area contests. Now if you want unbiased reviews of the contest, please go to iour website and you will see how to do it properly. Seriously though I could never guess who is going to be placed where. I have been in bands which have played brilliantly and been placed 15th, played ok and been placed top. In this instance we played very well with hardly any faults, well balanced, and our soloists were superb. We should have been placed higher maybe, but 4th place means we will get promoted to the championship section. So next year, remember to tip US for the top please.

Gareth Chappell

4BR Reply:
We're the first to admit that our predictions are dodgy - though we stick by our reviews! Congratulations on your promotion - we look forward to hearing the band later in the year!

Everyone's gone mute
Does anybody else agree that it is ludicrous to expect 1st section bands attending the National Finals in Torquay to have to fork out £500.00 for bass mutes to play 23 bars in "Leonardo", a piece they will probably never play again. These bass mutes are rarely called for, and after Torquay will probably lay unused in bandroom cupboards Nationwide !! Could not the contest management have specified that for the purpose of this competition the passages could be played "Open" ? It's not that I'm a tight Yorkshireman (HOW MUCH !!!) , or even as if it's my money, but I do feel it will add a further financial burden to a lot of bands who are already faced with the heavy expense of travelling a very long way. Is there still time to approach the powers that be and hope that common sense will prevail ?

Ian C.Wilkinson

4BR Reply:
Yep - they aren't cheap those mutes and I see where you're coming from. However, are you really serious about playing the section 'open'? This is not what the composer wrote and should be avoided at all costs. Perhaps you may be able to borrow mutes to rehearse and use. Getting the organisors to provide on the day is one solution but without rehearsal time could be fatal!

Jinx on Tuba!
In the article on the top 10 trombonists from October and November 2001 you print the following lines ...'There are many recordings where Denis Wick can be heard but a favourite of our panel is a recording of Walton's First Symphony recorded in the late 60's with Howard Snell on Trumpet, Denis Wick on Trombone and John Fletcher on Tuba. ''

Great as the recording is (Dennis Wick is awesome), the tuba player isn't John Fletcher, it's Alan Jenkins on what is one of his last recordings with the LSO before doing musical missionary work in the colonies

Andy Gray

4BR Reply:
Thank for the info Andy. And our apologies to our friend at the BBW!

Draw a line under it!
Is it possible to draw a line under the Todmorden saga. I don't think it is right that the new promoters of Todmorden's new band get culumn inches on your site when it's fair to saytrue that they made Todmorden Old Band's lives a misery and were instrumental in drumming out and destroying the band. Dennis Hadfield is a personal friend and I had a lot of fun every time I helped the band out. I think it is a tragedy that they achieved so much and then lost it all.

SIMON KINGSLEY

4BR Reply:
Thank you Simon, although we don't particularly what you think. If we refrained from giving bands a presence on this site simply because of bitterness and rivalry we'd have nothing to talk about!

Alcoholic incentive!
We are trying to find out the history of our band (Dronfield CMW Band). We know that it was a band reformed in the 1970's from Dronfield Temperance Brass Band (very ironic since the band is now half students) which disbanded in the 1940's. Does anybody know how this band was formed? Finding this information has recently become a bit of a competition between a few members...with an alcoholic prize! So please help us as we are poor students who cannot afford enough pints to keep up with certain members of the band!

Rachel and Zuzanna, Dronfield Band
xrayx19@hotmail.com

4BR Reply:
All replies to the email above please

Cawston to make history
Cawston Band have recently been given some programmes from the Brass Band contests that were held in the village of Cawston in the late 1920s and early 30s. In one of the programmes apart from local Norfolk, Suffolk and Cambridgeshire Bands, there is listed a Snibstone Colliery Band. I have been told that Snibstone Colliery became William Davis Construction Group Band. I was hoping that through your excellent site that somebody out there maybe able to help us shed some light as to why a Colliery Band travelled to Norfolk to enter a 'local' contest. As the contest was held in July we wonder if it may have been part of a holiday trip for the colliery workers. In addition to this we also are having a history of our band written so if anyone has any history or had any relations that played for Cawston Band I would be delighted to hear from them.

Ian Clarke, Chairman Cawston Band
cawstontuba@hotmail.com

4BR Reply:
All replies to Ian please!

Who is A Whitaker?
Who is A Whitaker the conductor of Lofthouse 2000 Brass Band. You say in your preview that the band is conducted by Tony Whitaker, but on further investigation this is incorrect. The band has just competed in the YHBBA competiton at Minsthorpe and won the fourth section. So just who is A Whitaker? Maybe your team of investigative reporters should find out more information about this man (or is it a woman) of mystery.

Andrew

4BR Reply:
So just who is A Whitaker? As for our reporters finding out more... well let's see if our readers can tell us...

Colston Hall unsuitable?
Does anyone else who competed at the West of England Regionals think that the Colston Hall, Bristol, is becoming wholly unsuitable as a venue? Whilst I can't deny that the concert hall itself is lovely, albeit a little echoey, the backstage facilities are cramped, inaccessible and just not able to cater for a large number of brass bands with all their associated bits and pieces. Playing last band in the 1st section on the Sunday, we found ourselves in the annoying situation of having to clear all of our kit and belongings from the 'dressing room' immediately after coming off stage because the fag wielding 'security personnel' wanted us out ASAP. This resulted in most of us missing the adjudicators comments, and most of the results, which was a shame because we actually did rather well. I also feel that more consideration should be given to enabling percussionists to use their own equipment if they wish. I for one would not be impressed if I rehearsed for weeks on my usual B flat bass only to be told that I would be going on stage and picking up a strange instrument and using that instead for the contest performance. It just wouldn't happen would it. Why therefore should our highly skilled percussionists be treated thus? I know this issue raises logistical issues for contest organisers but surely this is another argument for choosing more suitable contest venues. Come on West of England, give us somewhere good for next year.

David Wilds

Like most large cities, Bristol has a fine hall in the Colston Hall. The accoustic is one that good performers can use to their advantage, and it can enhance the tonal qualities of many different types of ensemble. As a performer my sole aim is to perform to my best, and in common with many others who performed in the 1st section sw area, much personal training, ensemble rehearsal, and band rehearsal was necessary for me to attain my goal, and the goals collectively of the band, in aiming for a performance which we could all be proud of. Unfortunate it was therefore for every performer who went on stage at the Colston Hall for them to be unable/ positively warned against warming up before going on stage. (I understand this is largely due to the lack of facilities, but I don't recall the problem in the past?) Our rehearsal was at 1.00pm, and as the section was also late in starting, I would guess a gap of say 4+ hours actually elapsed from the last rehearsal to the point of performance. Quite a long gap, and something that does not help encourage good performance in many folk, I would have thought? I think most performers would agree, warming up is a necessary part of playing, and is just one of those things brass players need to do. The person that plays sport to the level we are talking about here, would never perform without spending time warming up, gradually and carefully, and I see no difference for us here. These comments are made just as a plea on behalf of performers, that they be treated with respect I guess, and nothing to do with winning or losing, just performance: how refreshing!

Ian Dickinson

4BR Reply:
You're the first two to mention this venue - though when we printed a similar complaint from someone in the Midlands regional, they rolled in and indeed their committee have done something about it. Watch this space!

Decline in musical and dramatic arts education
Please keep reading - I'll come to bands later, but first let me explain my current involvement in singing. I'm an older, retired championship brass player (Mossley Band) and am now musically involved as a member of one of the country's foremost male voice choirs (Warrington), so I'm used to disciplined music-making Some of my life''s greatest experiences have come through this wonderful, fulfilling hobby. This posting is in support of the recent comments on musical education in schools. Last week-end (7th April) I attended the annual conference of the National Association of Choirs. An important talking point was the continual decline in musical and dramatic arts education in schools. There were a lot of frustrated teachers at the conference who were eager to ventilate their political feelings, re curriculum and such, but the main thrust of discussion, was that vities, continue to instil into their pupils some of the true values in life, and not to just concentrate on accentuating mercenary attitudes!! How many David Childs has the brass band movement lost, because young people were never allowed to discover themselves, musically? Stan Wood - Northwich

4BR Reply:
There is no doubt that the national curriculum and increasing pressures that teachers find themselves having to deal with leaves them unable to provide the time and quality of tuition our stars of tomorrow deserve. When it comes to the teaching profession though, there are no better advocates for dedication than music teachers.

How they continually manage to deliver the extra-curricular activities week after week is unbeleivable, although I presume many must see 'after school orcherstra' as a little oasis folowing bottom set year 9 on a Monday afternoon!

Some exceleent points though Stan and we welcome some further comments on this from our readers. Thanks for writing.

Unfortunate Point
First let me say what a marvelous web site you lads are running, very up to date, and the coverage of the areas was brilliant!! I have learned off your site about the unfortunate state of the point of ayr band, a band which I have been a great fan of, it will be a shame if they never take to the contest stage again, as I always made the effort to go and hear them even though my own band were not competing on the same day. In my opinion their winning performance of "Blitz" in the welsh area a few years back was excellent, but I can go back 20 years, and complement them on numerous test piece performances, like "English Heritage" and "Pagentry" in the coalboard contest only to be beaten by the Grimthorpe colliery band ( I think!) . Could you also tell me if the conductor of the conway band a K jones used to be principle cornet at point of ayr, just after Jim Davies left? I saw him conduct conway at swansea, in a very good performance. Once again I hope to see the Point of ayr band come through this bad time and carry on where they left off, near the top!

Mel J.

4BR Reply:
It's always sad to see a bands demise and indeed the put in some excellent performances over the years. We not 100% sure about the condictor, Mr K Jones, being an ex-principal - perhaps some one will let us know.

Morris Motors Band
I`m interested in finding any information about Morris Motors Brass Band during the 50`s and 60`s. I would be very grateful if anyone out there can supply me with any relevant information! Thank you very much.

Sheila Freeman

4BR Reply:
If anyone has information - please forward to 4BR and we'll pass on to Sheila

Who writes this rubbish?
I have just finished reading another one of your reports about the West of England Area and i'm left wondering who actually writes this rubbish? I have been to Four Area's and find your comments about certain bands and thier performances ill informed.

Wayne Ruston

4BR Reply:
We can't please everyone - and don't always want too!
Which bands in particular Wayne? Was it you who conducted the bands below?

4th (out of 15) Lydmet Lydney (1st Sec WoE)
9th (out of 9) Wrexham Brass (Champ Sec Wales)

Uniform help...
Ebbw Vale Town Band are currently looking for new uniforms. We have tried looking on the internet for companies that make band uniforms and we have found one, Handley. We have found this company too expensive. Do you have any idea where we could find companies that sell band uniforms?

Ebbw Vale Town Band
Baritrock81@aol.com

4BR Reply:
If anyone has any information please contact the band on the address above

Congratulations Midlands...
My last posting on this site was a scathing attack on the Belvedere club following the disgraceful conditions at the Midlands area championships. I would like to follow that up by congratulating the Midlands Regional Committee on making the decision to move the all the section finals to the Town Hall in Burton. I'm sure that it is a great relief to those bands who competed at the Belvedere to know that we won't have to endure those conditions again next year. It is good to know that the views of bands and their supporters are taken seriously.

Iain Rayner

4BR Reply:
It is good to see that the venue has changed, but how do people feel about the possibility of the competition being held on separate weekends?

Torquay accomodation wanted...
May I make an appeal via your excellent web magazine? I represent the Briton Ferry Silver Band who un-expectedly qualified for the final at Torquay on our fist attempt in the 3rd section this year. I am trying to arrange accommodation for the band but I am having difficulty. Can you appeal to your readers to locate a band that has provisionally booked accommodation but did not qualify and may not have cancelled their booking yet. If they could contact myself on the above I will be grateful. One of the biggest problems I am finding is the cancellation period for bookings runs up to 3 weeks prior to the contest.

David Stanbury, The Briton Ferry Silver Band
david@dstanbury.fsnet.co.uk

4BR Reply:
If anyone has any information please contact the band on the address above

Rollover?
So, nobody won the regionals challenge eh? so what happens now then? how about a rollover to the next contest. Who knows, by the time that someone can actually predict a brass band contest result correctly, they could win a million pounds, seven super cars of their choice, a brand new house in Barbados and Britney Spears as their wife (or girlfriend......or maid.......or new best friend...) along with the CD's offered by yourselves from the areas of 2002....Only joking!

Anyway, thanks to all at 4barsrest.com for probably the best coverage of the areas in the world(yes I drink Carlsberg!) and for helping to keep Brass Bands in the 21st Century.

Gavin White.

4BR Reply:
Rollover! - Who the *!$% do you think we are? Camelot?... Only joking...

Pictures for stewards?
Keep an eye open, and you may see 'long model soprano cornets' about..... or are they Eb Trumpets? We should be told. It would be useful if instrument manufacturers could provide pictures to the already overworked stewards at contests so that any confusion could be quickly cleared up. Trumpets of any kind are not allowed on the contest stage.

Daisy Johnston

4BR Reply:
Pictures? You're having a laugh Daisy - there's stewards out there wouldn't be able to tell the difference between a trumpet and a cornetto! Though we must say there are many that would!

If trumpets aren't allowed then there should be poicy for making sure they aren't taken and used on stage. However, the whole question of enhancing performaces with the change of instrument or mouthpiece is just the tip of the iceberg.

Hands up anyone who hasn't seen the use of manuscript on stage or visibly seen a top row cornet playing a back row part?

March formations
A question for you, as part of the Whit Friday march contest many venues hold prizes for deportment, what is the correct protocol for the formation line up of a brass band when on the march. Your comments would be appreciated.

Phil Cornell, Stalybridge Old Band

4BR Reply:
Good question Phil. Has anyone got the answer?

Dark horses do the biz...
I play flugel for RBL Crownhill (Plymouth) band, and just wanted to say thankyou for putting us down as the `dark horse` for the 3rd section area contest. As you may know, this paid off, as we were awarded 2nd place, and are now off to the finals at Torquay, a fact we are really thrilled about. Your `dark horse` description really became our theme for the weekend, with many raucous references to this. We`d really appreciate it if you could tip us again next year as the `dark horses` as it may bring us luck in the second section!!

Emma Heard, RBL Crownhill (Plymouth) Band

4BR Reply:
Congtratulations RBL Crownhill. You are one of the lucky ones though as the many of our predictions were extremely dodgy!

Get in touch with Ken...
I have just been informed of your great, informative and easy reading site and wonder if as an ex Principal cornet player with Grimethorpe and 2nd chair with Black Dyke I could give my E mail address so the many friends I have could get in touch with me since my move to Australia.I have not been able to read all the information yet but one comment..I have not been able to find the Test Titles for the Area Contests...I have looked in the results. I am looking forward to spending a lot more time reading all the news and gossip over there, thanks for your Mag.

Ken MacDonald
kma@balwynhs.vic.edu.au

4BR Reply:
Spread the 4BR word Ken - and let's hope you get a few emails from old friends.

All quiet on the Western (Northern) front
Hasn't it all gone quiet about the outcome of the scenes of disgrace at Darlington's Dolphin Centre at the Northern area contest. Last year a good friend of mine was banned from contesting for 2 years for handing a trophy back to Mr. Hope. This year Mr. Hope was verbally abused and manhandled, yet the regional committee are going to wait till May to sort out the fate of messrs Gill & Parker. WHY I ask?

Last year Bobby Calvert of Pride Valley band was upset at the results and the committee held a special meeting and announced their decision to the British Bandsman magazine the very next week. Surely Mr Hope has enough ammunition to have these two players dealt with immediately, or is he trying to make a case so that the two players or their band aren't disqualified from the contest next year. Nothing less than Bob's sentence will be acceptable, otherwise joe public may just start thinking about why the two first class players got so hot up in the first place and made such rash accusations.... I wonder?

Steve Perry

4BR Reply:
The North of England committee were quick to inform us that a decision will be made at this May meeting. We have already published our thoughts on this matter so we'll have to wait and see what comes out of this proposed meeting.

Fancy a trip to the US?
The Wigston Band, second section band (FIRST SECTION AFTER JANUARY 2003) based in Leicester is undertaking a tour of the South-Eastern USA between July 26th and August 6 2003. All arrangements have been made by World Projects International Music Productions, who are international tour arrangers. Virgin Atlantic and Premier are willing to help with equipment and travel arrangements, however this will leave us with a maximum payment of £1150 per person, but with successful fund raising this will be substantially lowered. We are now looking for players to make up the band, so if you have the £150 pounds deposit (PAYABLE BY MAY 15TH) and are willing to commit yourself to some hard fund raising over the next few months then contact me URGENTLY.

colin@wigstonbrassband.com
colinraggett@aol.com

4BR Reply:
Best of luck Wigston!

Rankings...
What does a band ranking show? It should show the most probably outcome of a contest held with all those bands on average recent form. I don't believe the current system does this at all satisfactorily.

Currently, if you do a contest then you get points. So if you do a lot of contesting you will *automatically* have a higher score. If the Southern Bands had a contest every weekend, and the order was the same every time then the rankings of those bands would increase well beyond the likes of YBS and Fairey who can "only" muster half a dozen contests each year. It is like playing a football league where some teams play each other a lot (sharing points between them) and some don't.

Surely in such an instance, the Southern band contest continually change the rankings of those bands compared to the rest. It would be much fairer to have a system where there is a fixed and finite number of 'points'. If band A beats band B in a contest then band A steals some points from B. And so on. Perhaps you would come to a contest, prepared to gamble say 50% of your points. You may lose it if you get beaten by bands lower in the table (who would then rise in the rankings, perhaps to above you if they beat you cosistently).

In the current system, if my band played in a contest with YBS (or whoever) once a year and consistently beat them, you might say I had the best band in the country. The rankings would certainly not, since playing in a strong field and coming 2nd consistently would do far better.

Full marks to 4BR for the current system which vaguely works, but has serious flaws and I'd like to see a bit of thought among the more mathematically astute among us as to a better system, perhaps based on my ideas above.

David Read
(Not the famous one. The trombone player from Cambridge)

4BR Reply
The rankings show an indication of recent form in band contests which could be taken by some as a likely indicator of future contest results. You must remember though, that there are a huge number of variables involved in band contests and more often than not recent form can be thrown in the bin, regardless of which system you use to quantify it. If this wasn't the case then the same results would repeat ad infinitum and what a dull World that would be.

You are incorrect when you say "if you do a contest then you get points". This is only the case at Major contests when all, or most of the bands are ranked. The bands finishing well down the field at these don't get many points either. At minor contests, points are only awarded at best to bands in the top 4 and many contests remain unranked due to the complete absence of ranked bands in the field.

You suggest that if the Southern bands compete every week then they would find themselves near the top of the rankings. Well, in a hypothetical situation where Aveley & Newham (ranked 20th, currently the highest London & Southern Counties band) competed at minor contests every week for a year against all the other L & SC bands and managed to win them all, after about 4 or 5 months they would perhaps be on the fringes of the top ten and by the end of the year they would be about 5th or 6th. I would imagine if they actually did this then they would deserve to be called at least the 5th best band in the World!

The fact remains that minor contests simply do not provide enough points for bands to rise high in the rankings without competing in the Major events against bands from other regions. The contests that YBS and Faireys play in are almost all major events and as such have loads of points available. To maintain their top 5 ranking though, they must continue to compete and do well at the highest level as their points totals naturally reduce much quicker than lower ranked bands when they don't compete.

If you consistently beat YBS, why would you only play against them once a year? Surely you would be regular prize-winners at the Open, National, Masters and European Championships if you were good enough and consistent enough to do that. YBS are and that's why they are top of the rankings, but what system of quantifying past results would have predicted their 4th placing at Bradford recently or their 17th at London a few years back?

Your method of calculating rankings by gambling points is very interesting but the current method actually provides most of the benefits that your method strives for. A fundamental principle in our system, however, is that bands should never be penalised for going to a contest. Any band even playing below par at a contest is probably more deserving of credit than the band that didn't go because they were short of players. Your method would actually penalise the band that attended but performed poorly.

Thanks for taking an interest in the rankings. You are totally correct when you say it vaguely works but if you are looking for something that will accurately predict the result of every band contest in advance, then I hope neither you or "the more mathematically astute among us" ever find it. I can't think of too many bands that would go to the bother and expense of attending contests all over the World if they had advance knowledge that they were going to be 5th (or last) every time. If you do happen to develop it then you should apply it to football or horse racing and make us all some money!

J. Casey

50yr old Besson...
Hi. I'm not sure if you would know, but about how much would a 50 year old Class A B flat Besson Cornet be worth?

4BR Reply
Anyone out there got any ideas?

What about...
I have just been reading your analysis of the Socttish Championship Section. I notice you fail to mention that Eleanor Ferguson (Principal, Dalmellington) won the Terris Medal. You mention the trombone player but what about Eleanor. She always puts on a fantastic performance.

Cathy Logan (Dalmellington)

4BR Reply
You are quite right Cathy. It was remiss of us. Congratulations Eleanor and well played.

Help wanted...
I wonder if you could help me, I recently heard a version of 'On my own' from les miserables, on a CD played as a Euphonium solo. Would you be able to tell me where I can obtain the music? I would be most grateful if anyone could help.

Andy Jackson(Eagley Band, Bolton/Lancs)

4BR Reply
Can anyone help Andy?

Speechles...
Last night (22nd March) I attended a concert at my Daughters School, Bramhall High in Stockport. The evening consisted of the Schools various Bands, supported by Mossley Brass Band who's affiliation with the school is Simon Stonehouse, Head of Music. The guest Soloist was David Thornton, Principal Euphonium at Black Dyke Mills, what an extraordinary talent this player has.

It is a sad fact that this government does not see the importance of music and how is helps develop the mind. Simon decided to start a fund to help buy instruments to ensure that all students get the chance of learning an instrument whether it be brass, wind, whatever and last night saw all them perform to swell this fund.

Now we all sing our childrens praises, my Daughter Amy is solo Baritone at Walkden band, she also holds the same seat at Stockport Schools Brass Band.

She was asked to play in a quartet with David and the Euphonium players of Mossley, the piece was Deep Inside the Sacred Temple. It wasn't until this moment did I fully understand and appreciate her talent. For once in my life I was speechless and spellbound and so very proud.

What a fantastic performance!!!, after wards David paid Amy a wonderful compliment by saying he looked forward to seeing her play in a Championship Band. Praise indeed.

To end I would like to add that if it were not for commitment and dedication of all brass players I would not of been able to enjoy such a moving moment like this.

Louise Partridge?

4BR Reply
We can only agree with you about David Thornton. He is a fantastic talent and a super chap!

We're glad you had a super evening and hope you get chance to be part of a similar evening sometime soon.

Put up, or shut up
I've only just discovered your excellent site, and I am amazed at the nonsense regarding 'BAYV Cory's' invitation to the masters. For heaven's sake, what is the problem? I grew up in, and devoted my life to, a movement that I believed to resemble a huge 'family'. I've travelled the UK and have been made welcome by bands everywhere. I have made career decisions which have been coloured by my desire to maintain my connection with this fantastic 'club', and because of this I have lost out big time in the financial stakes. And I have no regrets. But now I'm starting to wonder if I got it wrong all these (40) years. What has this silly row got to do with the spirit of Brass Banding? Since when did we need to 'limit' our drive to be the best? Listen up boys; if you're frightened of Cory, go out and meet them on the contest platform and beat them fair and square. This nonsense is not worthy of the brass band movement I've always loved, and I feel ashamed to be associated with this kind of thinking. Who was it that first said "Put up, or shut up"? I think they may have had a good point. Don't you? If I'm missing something here, please let me know and restore my faith. But be convincing!

R Pearcey

4BR Reply
Water under the bridge now - for this year anyway!

Regional reactions.....

Would this be allowed?
Having read your contest review of the London area Championships, I noted that you observed that a front row player from Kidlington picked up a different instrument to play the soprano cadenza in "Whitsun Wakes". you said that the contest rules allowed a player to play more than one instrument, all I would like to know is what are the limitations on this rule? for example, why, when a lot of bands chose to allow their principal cornet to play the flugel cadenza with the aid of anything from a baseball cap to a duster, did they not just pick up an additional flugel? As a sop player myself, I often find that certain tricky passages would easily be accomplished on, say a D trumpet, would this be allowed? Finally, "whitsun wakes" eh?, certainly sorted the men from the boys didn't it? even allowed some bands to mature I'd say. Forget about what some have said (I think it was fantastic musically, especially the cornet/euph duet) but I think that we were all treated to the best test the areas have seen for some while.................

Gavin White.

A Reply to Mr Owen...
Mr. Owen points out, that despite his band (Goodshaw) being the 2nd sect nwabba champs for 2 yrs on the trot, they have almost been relegated, and that this is down to the current point scoring system. this may be so, but i detect an underlying theme in his comment which is his disappointment that the band has not featured in recent area contest results. when it comes to the area contest he blames the adjudication system for his band's failings and puts forward other proposals such as 3 adjudicators in separate boxes, as if this would make the system fairer. well, is it not the same adjudication system that made your band 2nd sect nwabba champs 2 yrs on the trot???... and when you achieved these results, how many adjudicators were in the box, was it just one, or was it a fairer system with three isolated adjudicators?? did you complain of the adjudication system on those occasions?? if the scoring system is changed to include other 'local' contests then that would possibly force bands into doing those contests. this would be great for banding but would it be so good for goodshaw? they may find that the competition is stiffer and that they lose their crown as '2nd sect nwabba champs' i wish you luck in all of your future contests mr. owen but this 3 adjudicator thing has been suggested before and for some more prestigious contests it is used. i can't see it being applied to 1st/2nd/3rd or 4th sections, whatever the stakes. after all, adjudicators cost money. anyway, on a completely different topic, i am disappointed that people feel it necessary to criticise roy roe's adjudication. he did the second section at blackpool and i happen to think that he got it spot on! ... and so did 99% of the audience, because i did a survey as they all left the hall

Steven Walker

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