1 days to christmas – pipers piping

Written by: Lim Sher Min (23-E1)

Designed by: Tan Shi Ying Marissa (23-O1)

It was that time of the year again. Every December, snow fell and covered Scotland's streets in thick blankets of white. The mountains in the distance looked as if icing sugar had been dusted over the sloping hills, while the trees nearby had their branches weighed down by lines of snow. 

That view from his bedroom window was plucked from a memory last December. This December, all he could see was a blurry landscape of white. Everything was always so white, but this time, Dillon could no longer make out the mountains from the trees. He couldn't see the miniature snowman he knew was sitting on his window sill, even if he was looking straight at it. 

Dillon was blind. He was born with Retinitis Pigmentosa, a rare eye disorder that affected the rods and cones of his eyes. While he had known early on that he would be visually impaired, he hadn't expected his deterioration to progress so quickly. Until last month, besides his horrible peripheral vision and night vision, he could still see a fair bit. Those were the rods, they had gone first. 

But then, his cones started to go shortly after Dillion had turned thirteen in October. And with it went his colour and central vision. Since then, his life was a blurry mess of black and white, mirroring his inner turmoil: frustration, grief and confusion. 

As Christmas neared, Dillion found himself thinking more about the unfairness of it all. A lot of people with Retinitis Pigmentosa only lose most of their sight by early adulthood. Yet, here he was at the ripe age of thirteen, no longer able to see the snowy landscapes, the faces of his family, or the notes in his sheet music. 

Christmas had once been a time full of laughter, joy and wonderful sights to see. The twenty foot tall Christmas tree in front of the City Hall, decorated in a different theme each year, with sparkly lights and baubles strung all over. The colourful presents under the five times smaller Christmas tree at home, how he and his siblings would judge the wrapping, and make guesses on who the presents were from. The bagpipes, his bagpipes, and the sheets of Christmas music he was going to play for his family and friends at their celebration. But none of these would happen this year, for Dillon couldn't see it. 

His bagpipes had laid untouched for the past month. When he could no longer read the music he had grown used to seeing every day, tears sprang to his eyes, and he was hit by waves of anger, then hopelessness. It became very real in that moment, that life would never be the same. 

The bagpipes were a symbolic part of Scottish heritage, and Dillion was exceptionally proud of honouring his culture from a young age. When he was ten, his grandfather showed him his old set of pipes. The celtic, droning notes, the grand and resounding music had drawn him in. Dillion had fallen in love with the unique instrument and sound. Thus began his affinity with the pipes. 

Some had found it odd that Dillion had chosen to pick up the bagpipes as a child, instead of common instruments like the piano or violin. That only made Dillion even more determined to master the pipes, and he worked tirelessly with the help of his grandfather to perfect his playing. 

While it has only been three short years, the bagpipes had played an instrumental part in his life. It challenged him, coloured his life and gave him the confidence to do whatever he had put his mind to.

And when his sight was stolen from him, his vision of becoming a better bagpipe player seemed impossible. All good musicians have a wide repertoire, right? It is through playing pieces of increasing difficulty that good pipers become better pipers. It challenges their musicality with complex arrangements and intricate melodies. But how could he achieve all that, when he could not even read music anymore? 

What use was an instrument, when he couldn't play new music? What use was playing, when he couldn't even see the reactions on other people’s faces? What use was trying, when there was no treatment, no hope? 

🎵

He could hear the faint ringing of the doorbell, and his mother calling from the front door for him to come over. With a sigh, Dillon pushed his wallowing aside and made his way over to the door. The path from his bedroom to the living room was one he had walked a million times, and managed with little difficulty. 

“It's a group of pipers,” his mother whispered, guiding him closer to the front door “they want to spread Christmas cheer around town, and asked if they can play a short piece for us.” 

At the word “pipers”, Dillion’s heart both soared and sank; he did love bagpipe music, but would this just be another painful reminder of what he had lost? 

He could feel a cold gust of wind blowing at him, as he shifted hesitantly at the door, before nodding. 

There was a shuffling of feet and the crunching of snow, and a beat of silence before the first notes of “O Come All Ye Faithful” filled the air. It was the first time Dillion was listening to the bagpipes since he had lost his central vision, and had tossed his piper dreams away. 

Listening to pipe music blind, strangely felt like seeing it in a new light. Instead of seeing the notes, the slow expansion of the bag, his fingers on the chanter, Dillion just felt the music. The melody fully consumed him, electrifying the air around him, and he could feel the vibrations in his feet as the pipers continued to play. 

Unwittingly, a smile stretched on his face as his body swayed to the familiar music, finding peace in the resounding notes. 

🎵

From their meeting, Dillion and the group of pipers had since become fast friends, bonding over a shared passion. In this group of ten pipers, Dillon had found hope. They showed him unwavering support and dedication in helping him practise his pipes. 

They gave him tips on memorising pieces, and taught him to feel the music instead of simply reading it, for understanding the melody is what makes a musician masterful, and that does not require sight in the slightest. 

With their help, Dillion learnt to ‘see’ the “bigger picture” of the music, the patterns and repeats within a piece, and was able to dissect the tune in phrases. Dillion realised that playing without sight had given him a more profound understanding of his instrument and it's music. Instead of reading and playing the music note by note, he felt the music in its entirety, the ebb and flow of the chords and the grace notes in between. 

It wasn't long before Dillion was invited to join their merry gang of pipers, and to play at people’s houses next Christmas. After all, sighted or not, they were just eleven pipers piping.