Pipe down! Brussels slaps noise order on bagpipes
The Highlander
THEIR high-pitched skirl has put fear into the hearts of Scotland’s
enemies and sent sensitive tourists reaching for the cotton wool.
Now, however, the bagpipes are to be quietened by an edict from
Brussels.
From this month, pipers must adhere to strict volume limits or risk
breaking European Union health and safety laws. Bands have been
ordered to tone down or wear earplugs to limit noise exposure to 85
decibels.
Typically, a pipe band played at full volume peaks at 122 decibels
outdoors, noisier than the sound of either a nightclub or a chainsaw,
which rises to 116 decibels.
The prospect of more subdued bagpipes will be welcomed by some, but
musicians have warned performances will suffer.
Pipe majors claim it is virtually impossible to play quietly or to
tune a band when the musicians are wearing earplugs, raising the
prospect of a cacophony at showcase events such as the Edinburgh
military tattoo.
The rules in effect limit practice without earplugs to about 15
minutes a day.
While piping schools have begun issuing students with hearing
protectors, pipe majors are preparing to make a stand.
Ian Hughes, head of the RAF Leuchars band at an airbase in Fife,
claimed the new legislation in effect outlawed bagpipe playing for the
first time in more than 250 years.
The last time was after the Jacobite rising of 1745 and the defeat of
Bonnie Prince Charlie’s clansmen at the battle of Culloden. My note -
Total fiction)Untrue)
“These limits are far too low. If we have to go with these
regulations, pipe bands won’t exist,” said Hughes. “Every pipe band in
the world will be above the maximum volume level.
“Bringing in a law making pipers wear ear protection means the playing
of pipes is outlawed. Earplugs take away the clarity of the sound and
create a problem if you’re trying to tune a band up to a certain
standard.
“You can’t play the pipe quietly; they haven’t got a volume switch.”
The rules are part of the control of noise at work regulations,
introduced by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) following a
Brussels directive.
The rules cap weekly average noise exposure at 85 decibels, meaning
periods of loud play need to be cancelled out by quiet periods. The
idea is not to protect audiences at concerts but performers and other
staff.
The new directive also affects rock and classical musicians. Classical
orchestras are considering whether they may have to hold quiet
rehearsals for music by composers such as Wagner or Verdi to offset
the loudness of their concerts.
The loudest rock bands have included the Who, who in 1976 reached 126
decibels. They were beaten last year, however, by the Watford punk
band Gallows, who hit 132.5 decibels.
Ian “Lemmy” Kilmister, lead singer of Motorhead, the heavy metal band,
said he would resist any attempt to force him to turn down the music.
“The essence of rock’n’roll is loud music,” he said. “How the hell can
we be expected to enjoy ourselves if we’ve got to turn it down?”
“Audiences will see musicians in orchestras wearing earplugs in the
future,” said Mark Pemberton, director of the Association of British
Orchestras. “We are also looking at other ways of reducing noise such
as putting acoustic screens between musicians.”
An HSE spokesman said: “If an employer discovers an employee has been
exposed above the exposure defined in the regulations they must take
action.”
Who's the loudest?
Gallows punk band: 132 decibels
Boeing 747 taking off 100 yards away: 130 decibels
The Who, 1976 concert: 126 decibels
Pipe band: 122 decibels
Pneumatic drill: 120 decibels
Nightclub: 110 decibels
Orchestra performing Wagner’s Ring Cycle: 110 decibels
Underground train: 94 decibels
Vacuum cleaner: 70 decibels
Normal conversation: 60 decibels
Ian Smith
<rant>
More nanny-state control-freak health and safety nonsense! My
workplace and technical trade are rife with rules which often do
no good at all, except serve to accomodate complete knuckleheids who
shouldn't be on the job if they're _that_ stupid. Progress these
idiotic regulations to their logical conclusion and eventually it will
be illegal to have fun, never mind actually do something useful (i.e.
generate money for the economy)!
</rant>
Charles Ellson
I believe I detect the aroma of a rodent. A quick Google suggests that
only the Times seems to have found this story and that it looks
suspiciously like a (non?) story resurrected from 2002 and referred to
in:-
http://www.overlawyered.com/archives/02/mar1.html
Googling for "bagpipes" on eu.int produces no results at all but it is
referred to in:-
http://thesurface.blogspot.com/2007/09/goodbye-to-bagpipes.html
as just another of many "Euromyths" (such as straight bananas and bans
on barmaids' bosoms) featured in:-
http://ec.europa.eu/unitedkingdom/press/euromyths/index_en.htm
which deals with various myths emanating from the same press that
publishes plenty of other bollix about Scotland and the Scots.
Peter Jason
therefrom would drown out the wind at the
South Pole!
Sort of a cacophonous wail.
"The Highlander" <mic...@shaw.ca> wrote in
message
news:9dc229bf-1263-45c3...@m1g2000pre.googlegroups.com...
conwaycaine
"Peter Jason" <p...@jostle.com> wrote in message
news:fugdf0$atd$1...@otis.netspace.net.au...
> Have you ever heard a bagpipe? The noise therefrom would drown out the
> wind at the South Pole!
>
> Sort of a cacophonous wail.
Peter, I've heard the Pipes both up close and afar.
And what I hear is a gentle sighing as the wind blowing through a stand of
trees.
Or the muted whispers of a thousand generations of Gaels speaking to me,
saying "Honor your traditions. They made you what you are today".
The Highlander
Well said! The pipes call to us. Many older Highland people called
them "the voice in the fingers" because they speak to us, saying,
"Cuimhnich air na daoine bho 'n d' thainig thu!" (Remember the men you
came from).
conwaycaine
Isn't it amazing the way these things are passed down and us hardly aware of
the sources?
The Celts are indeed a fey people.
Peter Jason
Dear me. I have just seen that Celtic movie
"Beowulf" summarized so:
***
Grandiose in scope, Robert Zemeckis' Beowulf
is a cinematic feast that demands the
audience's attention, thanks to its
groundbreaking special effects -- and in its
theatrical form, an exceptional 3-D unlike
any other -- yet despite all of this, the
film fails to resonate beyond the gee whiz
knee-jerk reaction. There's no doubt that the
filmmakers tried their best to realize this
dream of an adult fantasy epic -- inside and
out, the picture seeps sexuality when it's
not concerned with ripping limbs or delving
into the complex heart of a CG performer.
Inspired by the epic Old English poem of the
same name, director Robert Zemeckis's
digitally rendered film follows the
Scandinavian hero Beowulf (Ray Winstone) as
he fights to protect the Danes from a
ferocious beast named Grendel (Crispin
Glover). Though at first Grendel seems
invincible, Beowulf eventually manages to
defeat him in a desperate battle to the
death. Devastated by her son's violent demise
at the hands of Beowulf, Grendel's mother
(Angelina Jolie) sets out in search of
revenge. Later, Beowulf faces the biggest
challenge of his life when he attempts to
slay a powerful dragon. Anthony Hopkins,
Robin Wright Penn, Alison Lohman, John
Malkovich, and Brendan Gleeson co-star in an
epic fantasy adventure penned by Roger Avary
and Neil Gaiman.
******
And there wasn't a single bagpipe in the
movie: just a golden horn.