Pipe Bands Australia submission to the inquiry into the trade in elephant ivory and rhino horn.
Submission to
Parliamentary Joint Committee on Law Enforcement Inquiry into the Trade in Elephant Ivory and Rhino Horn.
From
Pipe Bands Australia www.pipebandsaustralia.com.au
Mr Chris Earl - President
Mr Brett Tidswell – Principal Piping
4 July 2018
Pipe Bands Australia submission to the inquiry into the trade in elephant ivory and rhino horn.
BACKGROUND
The Bagpipe: Wind instrument popularly associated with Scotland and pipe bands and consisting of two or more single- or double-reed pipes, the reeds being set in motion by wind fed by arm pressure on an animal-skin (or rubberised-cloth) bag. The pipes are held in wooden sockets (stocks) tied into the bag, which is inflated either by the mouth (through a blowpipe with a leather non-return valve) or by bellows strapped to the body. Melodies are played on the finger holes of the melody pipe, or chanter, while the remaining pipes, or drones, sound single notes tuned against the chanter by means of extendable joints. The sound is continuous; to articulate the melody and to reiterate notes the piper employs gracing—i.e., rapidly interpolated notes outside the melody, giving an effect of detached notes.
Pipe Bands: Bagpipes were brought to Australia by early Scottish settlers and found popularity, along with highland dancing, in communities across Australia where highland gatherings celebrated the culture of Scotland through music, dance and games – many of these gathering continue today as major multicultural celebrations. At the turn of the 20th century, piping became more organised with pipe and drum bands establish for military units and in local communities.
Pipe Bands Australia: As the national association for pipe bands, with branches in each Australian state and an affiliate association in Papua New Guinea, Pipe Bands Australian represents more than 100 bands and 2000 members who participate in community performances and at competitions and championships across Australia. Each year, several hundred members travel overseas to compete in the World Pipe Band Championships in Scotland and perform in the Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo, usually at their own expense and taking with them uniform and instruments with a combined value of often more than $30,000.
Recent ramifications of legislative and regulatory changes: Inquiries, reviews and policy changes over the past 20 years have impacted on the capacity of pipe bands to continue cultural traditions and forced changes in manufacturing processes of the bagpipe that can, and often does, diminish the financial capability of bands and individual members in purchasing equipment and instruments – purchases that are imported predominantly from the United Kingdom. These have included the change from ivory to other materials for use in bagpipe manufacture while still being faithful to its construction and musical tone; the inclusion of Blackwood under CITES when bagpipes are predominantly made from that material and the additional permit fees that are now applied to purchases and continued confusion in some international jurisdictions on movement between countries of the instruments also requiring permits; the May 2019 inclusion of feathers under Bitcon that will potentially double the price of a traditional feather bonnet (currently the subject of ministerial correspondence). A cultural exemption was finally achieved for sgian dhu, dirks (traditional knives) and swords that continue to be part of the uniform worn in many pipe bands.
Pipe Bands Australia submission to the inquiry into the trade in elephant ivory and rhino horn.
Ivory and Bagpipes
The bagpipe is one of the oldest instruments in the world. Its recorded use goes back as far as Egypt and they were even used as a marching instrument by the Roman Legions. Although the modern bagpipe has become synonymous with Scotland, they are still commonly found in most European and Middle Eastern countries in their own cultural form.
Most instruments are made from African Blackwood, Ebony or Cocus wood and have adornments in silver, ivory, or some synthetic material such as celluloid, polymer or other forms of plastic on the lower-end instruments.
African Elephant, Indian Elephant, Mammoth and various types of Marine Ivory have been used in the manufacture of bagpipes for centuries. The ivory mounts support the timber in places of potential stress, or provide hand holds to help separate components of the instrument and for this reason plastics are a poor substitute, providing limited support for the wood and being an easier product to chip or crack. Due to the way a bagpipe is manufactured, it is often impossible to remover the ivory components and replace them with a substitute product.
High-end instruments were always manufactured with ivory or silver and those instruments were selected to use the premium timber and the best care of manufacture, as a result they produce the very best tonal qualities, enhanced by age.
Vintage instruments are particularly sought after, particularly by the upper echelon of pipers who obviously regard them as a superior level of instrument, much in the same way as a Stradivarius Violin or Steinway Piano. These instruments can range from $6000 to $40,000 + depending on their pedigree. The vast majority would have been manufactured in the late 19th, early 20th century, well before any ban on ivory.
In Australia, we have a number of world-class, professional musicians who rely upon these instruments for performance or competition, but also as a valuable investment that may one day serve as their superannuation. Many instruments have in fact been purchased as an investment for that very purpose. Others have been handed down through generations of family members and also from master to pupil. Not only are these of huge sentimental and financial value but also of significant cultural value.
Modern instruments are no longer manufactured using ivory unless recycled from a derelict instrument or commonly turned from antique ivory billiard balls. The wood is also not of the quality of a vintage instrument both in density and the vibrating quality that an instrument gains through age.