Another very successful band Boot Camp was held over the weekend of 29/30 July, with pipers and drummers working on new tunes, new scores and some tunes from the current repertoire.

“This was our first Boot Camp for a couple of years,” said pipe major Fraser Wilkinson, “and I’m confident that we will all have benefited greatly.

“It’s really helpful to have an intense working weekend such as this when we can focus on improving our all-round performance as a band. It can be demanding, but it’s also very worthwhile – as well as being very sociable.”

The weekend also saw a visit from the band’s BBC Fellow, Ailie Robertson, who worked with us over a twelve-month period in 2013/14. Ailie recently won the Award for Achievement in New Music at this year’s Scottish Awards for New Music and it was a real pleasure to welcome her back.

Also working with us over the weekend was our drumming instructor, Peter Toole.

A barbeque was held on the Saturday evening to ensure that the weekend was not all work but included some ‘play’.

“We’re very grateful to everyone who attended and who supported the Boot Camp and made it the success it was,” said Fraser Wilkinson.

Photo: Working at the Boot Camp, with BBC Fellow Ailie Robertson in attendance as we focus on some of the tunes she wrote for us.