David Rischmiller

A biography of David Edward Rischmiller
Occupation: Police Officer since 1982

Joined WMP: 1976

Former Bands: None, lifelong West Midlands Police member

Other interesting things about David:
At the age of 12, David took a notion to play the pipes for a reason that he can't now recall, he states it was probably seeing something on TV and despite growing up in Birmingham and without any apparent musical influence he declared a wish to try the instrument.

He was fortunate in that his father was a serving officer and knew a number of the players at that time and as a consequence his father worked him into an introduction. The second fortunate stroke was that this coincided with the arrival in the band of Charlie Campbell, a retired piper with finger arthritis but a talent for teaching.

Methodical rudiments were Charlie's expertise in teaching and for which David is now more grateful than he was at the time. His first trip with the band was to Richmond in Surrey where the band won the All England Championships, this experience coupled with the subsequent celebration introduced him to the social scene surrounding Piping. This ultimately cemented his interests and he has never looked back.

Questions and Answers:

• He/she plays a set of: David currently has three instruments, his premier instrument is a set of original silver and ivory R G Lawries, engraved and hallmarked 1905. He uses these for pleasure and also on his solo work. He also has a set of plain silver and imitation ivory Naill Bagpipes, which he uses in the band and a set of button mounted Starks from the 1950's, which he bought from a retiring band member for their steady drone quality. He wishes he had the time to keep all three going as well as they can!!
• The most influential person on his/her piping career so far is: Initially Charlie Campbell who gave him a solid grounding and then later PM John D Burgess to whom he went to between 1996 and his sad death in 2005
• His/her favourite type of tunes are: Piobaireachd but really anything that comes to the finger and suits the mood at the time
• His/her favourite Pipe Bands are: Strathclyde Police in the 80's-early 90's and in the modern day, Field Marshal Montgomery
• His/her favourite Pipers are: John D Burgess and Donald MacLeod and modern day players; Roddy MacLeod, Willie MacCallum, Gordon Walker
• His/her Piping Ambition is: To achieve his potential
• His/her favourite sports team is: Leicester Rugby Club