NEW MUSIC

Nine Notes and more...

by Stuart Robertson
CHRIS DJURITSCHEK plays with Torphichen and Bathgate in grade one and is also one of my favourite
modern-day composers. Here, he reveals some of the secrets of the craft of his tune-writing and how
everything from colours and moods to hip hop and beat poets inspire him.

HRIS DJURITSCHEK is a piper

and composer many of you will
not be aware of, but has a strong
compositional background. Originally
from Lanarkshire, he was taught by local
piper Alex Martin. Chris took up the pipes
aged 10 and quickly set forth on his musical journey.
He explained: At around 13 I started becoming quite passionate about the music I was
hearing. For a long time I had been subjected
only to military band music, but when I found
the Victoria Police, everything changed. From
then on I was always in pursuit of finding
new tunes, and my time was spent learning
and listening to any pipe music I could lay
my hands on.
Seeing that the tunes he was enjoying all
seemed to follow specific chord progressions,
and that certain note patterns and combinations popped up regularly, Chris began to
consider if he could try his hand at writing
himself. He said: At that point learning tunes
had become a relentless obsession, and there
wasnt enough new music to keep feeding my
desire to learn; I needed some other outlet to
focus my enthusiasm. The different styles of
music I was learning had improved my finger
dexterity to the point where I was becoming
confident at improvising when I was playing.
Sitting down to compose my own tune seemed
to be the natural progression.
In the early days, the stuff I was writing
was reminiscent of the style at the time. Being
naive, I thought if you wanted to turn out a
good tune, then it had to sound like what was
already out there, and being inspired by the
Worlds 95 CD, I deliberately set out to compose another Calypso Piper or Shovel Tongue.
Sometimes Ill look back at those early tunes
and cringe, but its good to remind yourself
how far youve come, and subsequently how
far you still have to go. Incidentally, I would
say that Worlds 95 CD is probably still my
favourite pipe band CD. Anyone who has it
is spoiled for choice, great tunes, and great
composers, all with their own individual flair
Robert Mathieson, Mark Saul, Roddy
MacDonald, and the inimitable Gordon
Duncan. They made it look easy, and after that

Chris Djuritschek

it seemed everyone got on board and started

having a go.
Chris began to expand his musical influences to both mainstream and more obscure
music. In my teens I was listening to a lot of
piping music, but to move the music forward
I needed to get away from those piping influences, he admitted. I had a phase where I
listened almost exclusively to hip hop music
I loved the fact a genre driven mainly by
rhythm was so melodic as well. I listen to a
lot of music that has psychedelic themes and
undertones, and Ive developed a fondness for
music and sounds which are a bit more ambient, where the listeners mind is doing a lot of
the work, not their ear. You cant like everything, but at the very least Ill give everything

a listen, even if its only to try to understand

where the composer is coming from, but usually theres always something useful to pick up.
Im finding inspiration in the literary world
as well, the Beat Generation writers and guys
from that era, Jack Kerouac, Tom Wolfe and
Ken Kesey. The travelling and wild lifestyles
they led captures my imagination, and I feel
an affinity with their philosophy that you can
have nothing but at the same time have everything. Its a very romantic way to live, and I
almost always end up writing something after
a bit of reading now.
Chris and I had collaborated on many
tunes during our time at Torphichen and
Bathgate pipe band and I always found
him to be slightly guarded about his tunes.
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He said: When I was much younger I would
pass on my music to see what others thought,
but it wasnt original enough to be given any sort
of credibility. I feel silly when I think that I used
to give Robert Mathieson piles of music which
were essentially rip-offs of his own compositions.
Naturally I didnt get the response I was hoping
for, but I realised where I was going wrong, and
I had to start again from scratch and find my
own way of doing things. I think my reluctance
to put my music out stems from those early
setbacks. Fortunately Robert Mathieson wanted
to include some of my stuff in his books, and
that gave me some reassurance that I had some
capability. My style has changed completely
since then and continues to evolve, and I feel like
I can actually call myself an original composer
now, but generally the only people who still get
to hear my music are the people in the band.

Even if they couldnt hed still probably get the

benefit of the doubt. Sure it makes it harder for
your music to get out there, but you should always have the courage of your convictions when
you think you have a good idea. You will never
please everyone, and I personally dont want to
go down the path of writing only to please or to
conform to what provides instant gratification
to the listener.
I have certainly written those tunes, and will
again in the future, but theres no enjoyment or
satisfaction in that for me now. While it would
be nice for my music to be out into the open,
I kind of like the idea that only a handful of
people are in on my music. Im like that with
bands I listen to; when theyre unknowns you
have them all to yourself to enjoy your own
little secret. When they become mainstream you
lose that special connection and it all starts to get

I think the piping population in general are

supercritical of new music, and it seems theres
no middle ground, its either brilliant or rubbish.
In a way, I like always to be in control of the
music I produce, so it suits me to keep it within
the band. That way I can put across exactly how
I want it played, which given the styles I write
in I think is important. Having the final
product sound exactly as I heard it in my head
when I wrote it is important to me.
I think the piping population in general
are supercritical of new music, and it seems
theres no middle ground, its either brilliant or
rubbish. With the pipe band medley driving
composition, theres this need for the content to
be instantly accessible to the judges and spectators. In other forms of music though, there are
pieces that on first listen dont appeal much, but
which reveal much more after a few listens and
end up growing on you. The Beatles had their
fair share of slow burners too. Theres a lot to
be said for that kind of music, and with having
the benefit of being able to go back and listen
to performances several times on the CDs or
on YouTube, we should be exploring that kind
of tune. The mindset of having to hit the mark
first time is so ingrained now, that we would miss
the point of a subversive listening experience in
pipe bands.
Being an unknown composer writing in that
way, its harder to be accepted, than it would be
for Mark Saul to write that way hed be given
a fairer hearing and people would make the effort to try understand because of his reputation.
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a little diluted. We are playing a 3/4 march by

Allan MacDonald at Torphichen just now and
its a beauty. Ive only heard a handful of Allans
tunes being played and theyre all brilliant, but
if suddenly lots of his music was getting played,
that style would become too familiar and maybe
lose its appeal.
But what does he think of modern day compositions? There are lots of talented composers
out there; composing good music too, said
Chris. But as I said earlier, theres this tendency
to be drawn to writing music that can fit into
the pipe band medley the driven hornpipe,
the slow air, the big finishing tune and whilst
very good, its led to a lot of the stuff being derivative of other tunes weve already heard, and
its stifling the creativity.
Although Chris has written volumes of tunes,
hes no longer as prolific as he used to be and
believes its very much quality over quantity
these days. Sometimes an idea will pop into my
head, and if I still remember it the next day, there
is usually something worthwhile spending a little
time on there, but Ill let it manifest in my mind
for some time before I will sit down to work on
it further, he explained. If I cant remember it
the next day then it obviously wasnt up to much.
Normally I will tell myself I am going to write
a tune. I am a sound-colour synesthete, which
means I experience colours visually as a response
to different musical keys. So there will be some-

thing that has given me inspiration, which will

convey a mood and a colour, which is where Ill
take the key of the tune from. Everything else
in the process is pretty haphazard to be honest
itll just change and grow until I am satisfied
with it, which sometimes never happens. Quite
often Ill pick up the drum sticks and have a
rattle to help find the correct rhythm for certain
elements of the tune, but theres the danger then
that you start thinking in drumming terms, and
you start taking things out the pipe melody to
accommodate a drum effect youd like to hear.
Knowing what not to play is just as important
as knowing what to play.
More and more, Im writing all my music
late at night when Im fighting to keep my eyes
open. I find my mind and senses are infinitely
more open to creativity at that point. You could
compare it to a boxer coming into the last round
of his fight, his body is spent and he cant do
anymore, but his mind and senses take control,
and its then when hell make his best moves of
the fight.
Being so involved in pipe music from both
a players and a composers perspective its
interesting to find out what sort of tunes really
stand out for Chris. He said: There have been
loads over the years and all for different reasons
but recently I came across an old tape Ive had
for a long time of some guys from the DUT
band on their practice chanters. The last tune
on it is a Dougie Campbell suite called Learning
to Fly. Ive always loved it, and it still sounds
as fresh today as it did the first time I heard
it over 10 years ago. Its just a beautiful suite
a slow air, followed by a waltz and a short
interlude, finishing with a reel/hornpipe, with
some sublime harmony to top it off. Its the level
of musicianship Im going for, and its inspiring
me all over again to up my game.
Its clear that Chris is passionate about writing
music and hes agreed to share one of his tunes
with us and reveal how it came about. The 2/4
march The Pingat Jasa Malaysia was written for
my ex-girlfriends father Sandy Henderson, who
was awarded The Pingat Jasa medal by the Malaysian government for his service in Malaysia,
he said. It was a memorable occasion and it
deserved a tune. I was reading about the war in
Malaysia and about Borneo in particular, and
the Rajang River the longest river in Malaysia
caught my eye. Its a navigable river for large
parts, but can turn into a tumbling fast flowing river with rapids, and I really wanted to
try emulating that in the tune. I didnt want to

NEW MUSIC
March

create a Balmoral Highlanders-type tune that

is quite rigid and spiky, but I did want to add
elements of that to create the feeling of tension
in the rapids. To give a softer fast-flowing feel,
I tried to keep the notes close together, and this
was broken up by some question and answer
phrases to create a lull, before it picks up and is
off again. I started with the first and last parts
and was really quite happy; they came quickly
enough, and to me represented the more peaceful parts of the river.
The other parts took a bit longer, and despite giving myself the time for them to form

The Pingat Jasa Malaysia

naturally in my head, I ended up having to force

them out, but I think this helped in giving them
more tension which I was looking for. It was apt
for a 2/4 march to commemorate this kind of
event, but it reflects the pipe band music trend
now of returning to traditional style music. Its
accessible for bands and it stands well on its
own. As much as I enjoy the challenge of creating something new, its liberating to come back
to writing something simple in the traditional
idiom.
He added: Im inspired by the things around
me, by things people have done, or by things

Chris Djuritschek

Ive read. The feelings, mood and colours they

invoke are the trigger for me to go and write.
I dont favour writing in any style, I just write
in whatever mood Im in at that time. Every
tune I write is very much indicative of how
Im feeling or the place Im in at that particular
moment in time.
Chris writes in a way that would be akin to
a method actor method composing perhaps.
His music comes from deep inspiration and
before writing, will study the inspiration to gain
a deep understanding of where the music will
take him... and us. l
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