I’ve been playing around on my lovely new half-set from Joe Kennedy for about four months now, and got a wonderful jump-start with Jerry O’Sullivan at the NA Comhaltas Convention in April. However, I’m running into a few very irritating issues that might be reed-related or me-related or something-else-related:
My low f keeps wanting to jump up the octave. Sometimes shifting hand position helps a bit, sometimes venting to the a helps a bit, but it’s really irritating and just gets worse when the drones are added. Something wrong with the reed? Hand position? Just a generally awful note on the pipes? The g does this too; not as bad, but when I try to do a roll (Jerry suggested doing the tap with two fingers so that it actually closes off the chanter briefly) it usually jumps up.
When I started out, I was able to get what I thought was a hard d. Now, whenever I cut an a before the d, I get this weird burbling sound. Reed? Humidity? (I live in Saskatchewan, which is generally pretty dry, especially in winter, but we’ve had a pretty moist spring/summer.)
And then I keep losing my drone sound. But I’m pretty sure that’s just me. Though I find them really awkward to switch on and keep the holes on the chanter totally covered–is there a trick for this? Or am I holding the pipes wrong?
Putting 1) and 2) together, it sounds as though your reed has closed up and so is manifesting itself in weak F# that too easily jumps the octave, plus a gurgling Hard D - both common symptoms of a weak, closed up reed. To remedy this, you need to very slightly push the copper band (bridle) on the reed up no more than about half the thikness of your thumb nail at a time to slightly open the reed. F# on a concert pitch chanter, having the biggest, ugliest hole of them all, does tend to be more prone to issues than the other notes.
You can also try squeezing the bridle at the sides gently with pliers to also open the reed, but it’s less of a hazard to try moving it up as described first.
BTW, you can do a G roll like that, but don’t have to. You can just tap the index finger so that you don’t get a complete shut off of the chanter, and so you won’t get the octave jumping issue.
Sounds like your drones are droping out due to low pressure, due to a closed up Chanter Reed as David suggests.
Opening the chanter reed calls for much delicacy and caution… good luck with that and only open it just enough that your problems go away… or give Joe a call.
These replies are all good. When I am suffering a “close up” I can sometimes coach proper behavior into a reed by squeezing and holding the blades open with my left hand…up to a minute even. My right hand, the strong one, holds the reed so that it will not shift while I’m squeezing the blades open. That is: my thumb is holding the reed on the flat plane of it. The combination of the strong hand, grasping the reed in this manner, means the reed will not twist in the process and crack. It will definitely want to twist if grasp it by the sides.
BTW I live in Minnesota, so I feel your dry, dry pain.