Army's bagpipers and drummers must play safe and use earplugs

[big bad john]

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2-2282915,00.html


Britain



The Times July 24, 2006


Army's bagpipers and drummers must play safe and use earplugs


Army bagpipers are to wear earplugs because of fears that the military might be sued by soldiers who claim that their hearing has been damaged by excessive noise. Pipers are also to be banned from practising for more than 24 minutes a day outside, and 15 minutes indoors.

The pipes are famous for terrifying the enemy, but new army guidelines, based on a study carried out by the Army Medical Directorate Environmental Health Team, say that pipers should wear earplugs to protect themselves from hearing loss. The guidelines also apply to drummers.



Piping experts and military veterans have criticised the rules as typical of the health and safety culture of today’s “cotton wool Army”. However, a spokeswoman for the Army in Scotland said the new rules showed that it was serious about protecting soldiers.

The Armed Forces lost their traditional exemption from health and safety legislation in 2000, although that does not apply when the forces are on active service.

 

[career_radio-checker]

The pipes are famous for terrifying the enemy, but new army guidelines, based on a study carried out by the Army Medical Directorate Environmental Health Team, say that pipers should wear earplugs to protect themselves from hearing loss. The guidelines also apply to drummers.

This is indeed sad. Without  practice, the British will most definitely lose a traditional yet very effective tactic.

Imagine if you will , two Taliban sitting down casually in the shade smoking the fruit of their loins-- Hashish.

A faint sound is heard in the distance beee nee nee nee neeeeee

"Man, you hear that?" says mister Taliban.
"Hear what?" explains the other.

beee nee na nee nee nee

"Oh I do hear that. What is it?"
"I dunno but this stuff must be good?" the first Taliban explains looking at the reffer in his hands.

Bee na na neee neee neee

"Wait, wait, I think it's getting closer"
Just then, over the hill, comes the lone crusty Pipe Major of the Royal Fusiliers wearing a knee high stockings,  a skirt, a hat skinned from Snuffleupagus the brown woolly elephant from Sesame street, and blowing into a dead cat.
The Taliban didn't know if they should laugh or crap themselves.
But it was too late for the Taliban to react as the googly-eyed Piper had fullfilled his purpose. He had distracted them long enough for the infantry section behind him to  double-tapp the utterly stunned and bewildered pair.

Now, honestly, how would you react if you've never seen a man wearing womens clothing and playing a dead feline?

 

[Danjanou]

Actually considering the Brits history there for the past 150 odd years, I'm sure the Taliban know what follows the sound of pipes on the breeze, and if not time f ro a quick refresher.

 

[fourninerzero]

I am a pipe band drummer. My bro is a piper. we both wear hearing pro, as his pipes play in at around 100db, and my snare drum tops out at 125db. Hearing damage is a real possibility. I have met many a drummer and piper who is almost deaf from prolonged exposure from his/her instrument.

 

[The Bread Guy]

Shared in accordance with the "fair dealing" provisions, Section 29, of the Copyright Act - http://www.cb-cda.gc.ca/info/act-e.html#rid-33409

http://news.scotsman.com/topics.cfm?tid=1034&id=1071302006

Pipers lament new curbs on playing
AURA SABADUS, The Scotsman, 24 Jul 06

ARMY pipers are to be forced to wear ear plugs and go on "noise rations" after health experts reported the instrument's rousing skirl can damage hearing.

New guidelines compiled by the Army Medical Directorate Environmental Health Team say the instrument which has traditionally led Scots regiments into battle can cause hearing damage if played outside for more than 24 minutes a day.

The document also insists that musicians playing inside should only do so for 15 minutes, and just six minutes in echo-prone toilets with tiled walls - an area commonly used by pipers for practising.

The guidelines, which also apply to drummers, were carried out because the military fears being sued by soldiers who claim their hearing has been damaged by too much pipe playing.

But last night, pipers busking in Edinburgh's Princes Street said the new measures were "ridiculous". "I've been playing the instrument for 30 years. I played it on my own and with the Gordon Highlanders, and I haven't had one single problem," said Michael Baumeyster who lives in Edinburgh.

"The underlying noise from buses and fire engines on Princes Street is far worse than that of bagpipes. I play the chanter every day for at least two hours. This is my livelihood and I wouldn't do anything else."

He added: "It just shows the nanny state we live in. Scots squaddies have lost all the regimental distinctions. The MoD has stripped them of their regalia, pedigree, uniforms and now they want to limit them to play the pipes."

Piping experts and military veterans also condemned the rules. General Sir Michael Gow, formerly of the Scots Guards, said: "I have never heard such a silly idea in my life."

Roddy MacLeod, principal of the National Piping Centre in Glasgow, said the rules would prevent aspiring pipers mastering the instrument. He said learner musicians needed to practise at least an hour a day.

Army experts tested the decibel levels of playing bagpipes in a variety of locations to the tune Kilworth Hills.

The MoD already makes special payments to personnel whose hearing has been affected by working on rifle ranges.

The tests found that the bagpipe peaks at 111 decibels outdoors - slightly louder than a pneumatic drill. But when the pipes are played indoors they peak at a 116 dB, about as loud as a chainsaw.

Very loud rock music can reach 150 dB, while a jet airliner taking off peaks at 140 dB.

A spokeswoman for the army in Scotland said the new rules showed it was serious about protecting soldiers. She added: "Some might say it's too PC, but it is simply a prudent precaution."

 

[Michael Dorosh]

Pipers and drummers in our band have been wearing hearing protection for a long time, also - looks funny at first, but seems sensible.

 

[Kirkhill]

I notice that they talk about the pipes and not the chanter.  The piper in the second article talks about practicing on the chanter for two hours a day, not the pipes (chanter plus all those other long sticks stuck into the long suffering feline so infelicitously referred to). 

I think that most pipers spend a whole lot more time on the chanter, which is quieter than your average recorder being (in my experience) harder to blow, than on the full set of pipes.  While the full set may be hauled out for band practice and public performances not many neighbours, even in Scotland, will tolerate the sound of the neophyte on the full pipes for long.

 

[big bad john]

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/core/Content/displayPrintable.jhtml?xml=/opinion/2006/07/24/dl2403.xml&site=15&page=0

The pipes fall silent


(Filed: 24/07/2006)



It is hardly surprising that soldiers are no longer permitted to practise the bagpipes for any length of time. Health and safety is becoming the chief purpose of the Armed Forces. Our troops may not fire loud guns too often, nor be exposed to harrowing sights.

Yet we are losing a brave and noble tradition. For hundreds of years, the skirl of the pipes has inspired our men and struck fear into our enemies.

Some pipers have carried on playing in extraordinary circumstances: George Findlater at Dargai in 1897, Daniel Laidlaw at Loos in 1915 and the Canadian James Richardson at the Somme in 1916 are among those who won the Victoria Cross for playing while injured and under heavy fire.

What these men would say about the cowardice and officiousness of the latest ruling doesn't bear thinking about.



News: Pipers are curbed by safety code