It’s a proud sound everybody knows – and one that no Scot can hear without a quickening of the pulse – the commanding yet plaintive skirl of unison bagpipes rising to a crescendo over lower drone notes.

As the Crescent Beach Pipe Band marches boldly into its 10th year this fall, propelled by the crisp rattle of its skilled drum section, it has every reason to step forward with that pride.

In less than a decade, the group – which started simply as a way for former cadets to retain their pipe and drum skills – has reached a pinnacle of accomplishment.

At this year’s Royal Canadian Legion Highland Gathering in Chilliwack in June, the band won a convincing array of first prizes in competition against eight other bands.

In ensemble awards, it came in first in Grade 3 medley, best pipe section and best drum section, as well as best drum corps. Multiple individual first-place awards were won by several members – including young piper Sandy Kirby and brother/drummer Brett Kirby – in addition to notable honours for many others.

Brian Porter, who placed second in adult 6/8 march, notes the group crosses all generations and backgrounds.

“Many have grey beards like me, while there a lot of players around 19,” he said.

“There’s... a professional engineer, a retired school teacher – me, a fellow who works for a newspaper group and a couple who are students. And there are three women involved; it’s not unusual to see female members of pipe bands.”

It’s even a family activity. The Kirby brothers – both prodigies who have been playing less than five years – are joined in the band by their mother/drummer, Barb, also a first-place winner in the Chilliwack event. Porter, too, started young, as a student at St. Thomas More, a private high school in Burnaby.

It’s not necessary to have a Celtic or Scots background to be drawn to pipe bands, Porter noted.

“Bagpipes are played all over the world, even in China and Japan,” he said.

But the majority of Crescent Beach pipe band members have either come from other pipe bands, or are younger players who have come up through the Seaforth Cadets and are looking for other pipe band opportunities after graduating at 18.

That was the original basis of the group, started by founding members Glen Seely, now 83, a former cadet instructor, and veteran bass drummer Doug Milne.

The band practises every Sunday from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Royal Canadian Legion Crescent Branch 240 (2643 128 St.) and visitors are welcome, whether one simply has a yen to hear the music or an inclination to join in.

But Porter has a friendly warning: pipe band music can easily get under your skin, he said.

“To my way of thinking, it’s music that is so simple and yet so beautiful, and we have a fantastic example in the Lower Mainland – the Simon Fraser University Pipe Band, five-time world champions.”

Asked if there is a common denominator among pipers, he laughed.

“Masochism,” he said. “It’s a frustrating instrument. Every piper will have moments of cursing his or her instrument.”

Part of it is mastering the complex process of keeping the ‘bag’ filled with air to support the music. Unlike other wind instruments – such as the trumpet or flute – blowing doesn’t produce the notes directly. Rather, it’s the flow of stored air that creates the music.

“If you can’t maintain a constant flow of air, you’ll get that wah-wah-wah that typifies younger players,” Porter said, adding that keeping a group together poses other challenges.

“It’s not enough to get one person who’s mastered that technique – you need to get nine to 10 others who share in the same frustrations and the same strengths.”