I’ve attempted about 22 reeds. I know…I know…it takes a long time and many, many reeds but I have reached the point of no new things to try that I can think of.
I have considerable woodworking experience in my years.
I’ve been going by all the reed making websites and am not having that much trouble but the danged thing won’t make a sound.
I have scraped until I’m scraping the inside of the other side…carefully…slowly. I cover the end of the reed and inhale…a complete vacuum …so it ain’t leaking.
I’ve adjusted the mouth until its completely closed off.
I know there’s a lot to adjusting the reed for different situations in the chanter but I would really like to get started doing that!
please
I’m open to suggestions.
I know I should go see a tutor but I am homebound by disability
It might be worth it to mail the reed to a good reed maker then and get some useful feedback. It sounds like to me one of the following things is happening.
The slip is too thick. Just for fun try making the slip really, really thin just to make the thing make a sound. The solution will then be somewhere in-between. Be willing to experiment.
Cane is too hard. Take the tube of cane and try and stick your tumb nail in on one end. If you can’t make a dent in it then try some other stuff.
I think it was somewhere in the 100 reed range that I started producing music quality reeds. So hang in there.
I would suggest you get the CD and booklet ‘’ The Heart of The Instrument ‘’ a reedmaking masterclass. It features Benedicy Koehler. Cillian Ó Briain, Andreas Rogge and Geoff Wooff.
The first reed I made following the instructions given in the CD, worked pretty well. It was by no means perfect, but it played.
It’s available from Na Píobairí Uilleann, Dublin. www.pipers.ie
Best of luck,
Slán,
This is the best advice in lieu of not having a reed maker around to help out. Also, if you are making reeds for a concert set, make sure that the diameter of the caner tube is of a size best suited for that pitch. I generally tend to use a diameter between 22mm and 24mm… results vary from bore to bore. Flat pitch sizes I use are from 19mm to 21mm. YMMV.
Another thing you want to take into consideration is the eye of the staple. A measurement of 1 and 1/2 to 2mm across give me the best results. Again, YMMV.
All the advice given so far is good. May I add my half crowns worth. My first half dozen reeds were useless, even if they made a sound. I then picked up a copy of the reed makers bible by Dave Hegarty. The one and only Martin Preshaw recommended this to me, and it is never too far out of reach. Get it from NPU, and I’ll bet your reeds turn out to be little belters. Just do what it says on the tin.