So why the name ...
So why ‘Other Ranks’ then?
A note may be in order to explain why this work is called ‘Other Ranks’:
The short answer is that it is a product of me embarking on the whole business with little or no clue about the military.
The name ‘Other Ranks’ chose itself. I slipped automatically into using it, feeling it encapsulated where I was at in terms of wanting to focus on “ordinary” soldiers, not the officer class, long before realising my mistake.
‘Other Ranks’ is not an accurate cover-all for the voices of the piece, which include NCOs up to Colour Sergeant, Warrant Officer and even one commissioned officer.
Still, despite its technical incorrectness, the name feels right. It has remained an exploration of Army life from the point of view of soldiers who begin at the very bottom of the ranking heap.
What has surprised and tickled me is that not one military person has pulled me up on my lamentable nomenclature even though it’s the kind of slip which might well wrankle. I’ve taken this as yet further evidence that soldiers are, if generalisations are to be made, friendly, goodnatured, tolerant and not given to splitting hairs...a dashed fine fact, from my point of view, as I drag them into my whiffly world of Sound Installation.
A note may be in order to explain why this work is called ‘Other Ranks’:
The short answer is that it is a product of me embarking on the whole business with little or no clue about the military.
The name ‘Other Ranks’ chose itself. I slipped automatically into using it, feeling it encapsulated where I was at in terms of wanting to focus on “ordinary” soldiers, not the officer class, long before realising my mistake.
‘Other Ranks’ is not an accurate cover-all for the voices of the piece, which include NCOs up to Colour Sergeant, Warrant Officer and even one commissioned officer.
Still, despite its technical incorrectness, the name feels right. It has remained an exploration of Army life from the point of view of soldiers who begin at the very bottom of the ranking heap.
What has surprised and tickled me is that not one military person has pulled me up on my lamentable nomenclature even though it’s the kind of slip which might well wrankle. I’ve taken this as yet further evidence that soldiers are, if generalisations are to be made, friendly, goodnatured, tolerant and not given to splitting hairs...a dashed fine fact, from my point of view, as I drag them into my whiffly world of Sound Installation.