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The Scottish tenor drum is an instrument used within Scottish pipe bands. It is a double-headed membranophone that is held vertically with one head up, one head down, and played with soft mallets on the top head only. Common sizes of drums are 15, 16, 18, or 20 inch in diameter, with 12, 14, or 16 inch depth. The playing style of the Scottish tenor drum has varied throughout the years, but there is typically a variation of the combination of swings (or flourishes) and rhythmic accompaniment to the Scottish snare drum and the Great Highland Bagpipes. It is similar to the more common marching band style tenor drum. Common sizes of heads on are
Within Competition
During band competitions, under most pipe band organizations, a pipe band is required to have at least one tenor drummer competing with the band [1][2]. A band is not qualified for competition without at least one tenor, however many bands commonly use between 3 and 7 tenor drummers, to create variety to the music.
During solo competitions, a tenor drummer plays a set that is often either written by themselves, or their instructor. There is no standard to the type of music that is written for the tenor drum, however, there common styles for each region that competitions are held in. Most pipe band organizations world wide require that a solo tenor drummer have both a Great Highland bagpipe player, and a Scottish tenor drummer as accompaniment. [3] Commonly within a competition a tenor drummer would play a either a hornpipe and jig set, or a march, strathspey, and reel set. However that also depends on what the competition asks of the competitor to play.
Tone
The tone of the tenor drum is similar to a bass drum, however it is often higher pitched. Often pipe bands will tune the tenor drums to play different pitches, allowing for more melodic and harmonic accompaniment to the band. The drums are tuned to the drones of the Great Highland bagpipes, and also notes on the chanter (commonly A, E, C chord). Although both heads of the drum are tensioned and tuned equally (to avoid the drum producing overtones when stuck), a player of this instrument only strikes the top head with the mallet.
Swings
Although not always common among all bands, swings are becoming increasingly popular. These tenor drummers are often referred to as 'flourishing tenors.' Swings are done by tying a string to the end of the drum stick, and the fingers of the players. Then the player can "drop" the drumstick without actually losing it, but be able to swing it around in a controlled manner. Many flourishing tenor drummers often create choreographies within the line of drummers, being able to create different effects while still using the same basic swings. Currently whether tenor drummers should or should not flourish, or how much they should flourish, is a large area of debate.
Rhythm
The music being played by the tenors often varies greatly between different regions and styles. Some tenors only play rhythm (they don't flourish), to either just accent the bass drum or snare drums, or to create intricate runs that add variation to the bands music. The bands that use tonally tuned tenor drummers also usually split the music for the tenor drummers, such that one player only plays certain notes, causing a melody to occur within the tenor line. This melody is used to provide a more full sound to the pipe corps, or to at least provide harmonic accompaniment. Although more difficult rhythms are becoming popular among competitive pipe bands and competitive solo tenor drummers, the idea of a basic rhythmic accompaniment from the bass section is still the more popular ideal.