Leading Drums the Tattoo Way
Meet William Paul, our Tattoo Performer Drum Lead. An experienced and talented drummer leading the Tattoo troops.
At the Tattoo we are proud to offer performance experience for talented pipers, drummers, dancer and fiddlers as part of our Tattoo Performer Community. From crossing the drawbridge on the Edinburgh Castle Esplanade to travelling the globe as part of the Tattoo on tour, there are so many opportunities for traditional arts performers to get involved in.
We recently caught up with William Paul, Tattoo Performer Drum Lead to find out a bit more about his background and what lead him to the Tattoo.
I have been a pipe band drummer almost my entire life. Growing up in North Lanarkshire, I was exposed to Pipe Bands through the North Lanarkshire Schools Pipe Band system. During this time, I was taught by Steven Nelson and David Henderson, both played under Jim Kilpatrick for many years. We were quite successful during my time with the school band, winning two juvenile novice A World Pipe Band Championships both as a band and as a drum corps, in 2016 and then again in 2019.
After graduating school and leaving the school band, I continued my drumming journey by attending the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland studying the Traditional Music course. It was during this time that I began to explore the many different styles of composers within Pipe Band drumming with one standing out above the rest, Alex Duthart.
Tattoo Performer Drum Lead
DID YOU KNOW?
Alex Duthart is the most influential drummer in the Pipe band world, known by all, as the pioneer of Scottish Pipe Band Drumming. Duthart’s style was heavily influenced throughout his travels of the worlds, finding inspiration from the jazz drum kit players from America, and mainly during his time in Basel, Switzerland. It is known that Duthart and a prominent Swiss drummer called Dr Fritz Berger exchanged musical knowledge and this is what gave birth to many of the common techniques found in today’s drumming such as the “Swiss Ruff” and “Swiss Triplets”. Duthart then used these newfound techniques and ideas to help fuel the creation of the “Salute to Max Rayne” or as it is also known as “the Duthart Fanfare”, which is widely regarded as the industry standard and is still performed by many bands to this day. It is without a doubt that without Alex Duthart, Pipe Band Drumming wouldn’t be where it is today.
After graduating from the Royal Conservatoire, William now teaches drumming across 13 high schools in Glasgow and Edinburgh and competes in the Grade 1 Pipe Band, Police Scotland Fife. It was on this journey that he discovered the opportunity with the Tattoo Pipes and Drums.
My first trip with the Tattoo was to Oslo, Norway in 2024. Since then, I have been to Germany, America, Japan and most recently, Australia & New Zealand as part of The Heroes Who Made Us on tour.
As well as being the Drum Leader for Tattoo Pipes and Drums, I also have an exciting year ahead with the Police Scotland Fife with new music, concerts and a strong will to add more silverware to our collection.
Tattoo Performer Drum Lead
Do you think you’ve got what it takes to be part of the Tattoo Performers? Find out more and sign up for our Performer Community today!
27 February 2026