Captain Birdseye:
so lets have facts,how much did the steel bands instruments cost,and how much would have ben the cost of a northumbrian pipe band,FACTS Please WAV.

Spot on, Captain. Last time I looked, the cheapest set of small pipes was getting on for £1,000. How many kids in a steel band, do you think? Say 12, for the sake of it: £12,000 for a school pipe band.

Set of oil drums, cut, heated and tuned: £1,000 each? I somehow doubt it. In any case, the kids would get to grips with steel band playing very much quicker than the small pipes. I love the Northumbrian pipes - my Billy Pigg vinyl album is one of the most cherished in my collection - but my buddy Derrick Hughes, who's been playing his pipes for 20 years, tells me that he's still learning...