I play bagpipes. Please don't hold that against me.
I've been playing with bands for nearly twenty years, it occurred to me, but bands are a social group of slow change - which is probably no different to political parties, Lions clubs, Freemasons, Toastmasters, or the Budgie Fanciers Association. Due to slow change, nothing "happens".
Everyone comes up with great ideas at committee meetings, or things that "need to be done"; we discuss (argue), vote (compromise) & do nothing until the next year comes around when you discover that the person delegated to look into the topic got so fed-up with not getting support that they left the group.
Over time, you get the same unshiftable bodies doing the same whinging & achieving SFA. Sound familiar? If not, join a group, because you obviously haven't been a member of one!
The thing about bands (pipe or otherwise) is that not just any fool can join - there is also a threshold of entry: you need to be able to prove that you can play an instrument or contribute in some way to the musical output of the group. Sure, it's not an entry exam equivalent to Mensa (which you can only sit for twice), because bands will always need drummers (which is how I started).
However, some proficiency is required before you get to perform in public, in general. This is where it gets interesting. Once upon a time, when television was a wonder you watched through a shop window & pubs closed at 6pm, bands were the only kind of thing you could do to entertain yourself (with your mother watching). It was rather impressive to say that you could play an instrument & that you performed for an audience - it implied talent. Now, people who can take photos of themselves are considered talented, so pipe bands just can't compete.
In those glory days, bands required a high level of skill & mastery of a repertoire before a player would be considered for a uniform. Once they were in the band, players had to hold their position jealously from the up-&-coming youths, hungry for their chance at local fame. There were rules & regulations to conform to, so that you were always on your toes, doing your best, keeping an eye on everyone else in case they slipped up & you could claw your way to the front rank.
But times have changed. I'd be happy to find someone with the smallest glimmer of interest in learning pipes & the tiniest potential for learning a tune. Players can be rushed into a band to make up the numbers, then abandoned to their own devices thereafter to keep up with everyone else (sometimes literally, in the case of marching up the street, as it takes practice to walk in step & play a tune).
The old guard - those who fought for the right to play in the front rank - shake their heads & scowl & talk of "the youth of today" (those under fifty) not being as spirited as "in their day". They point at the rules written thirty year ago as the standards to live by, & how it's so hard to find talented youngsters interested in carrying on the traditions of bands. They complain as they struggle to play one more tune or walk up one more hill. They will continue to do so until the day their pipes are ripped from hands stiffened with rigor mortis.
The real question is whether I'll be the one lovingly resting the pipes in their coffin as it glides into the furnace (crematorium, not necessarily hell), or whether I'll have joined the Budgie Fanciers by then.
I wonder if you need to have your own budgie ...