“B flutes and Bflat flutes are out there, including some antiques. Many modern makers do make them on request. I reckon they don’t hit the used market all that often - like pipes, wooden flutes are mostly “made special” i.e. to order these days.” Billh.
You may already know, but there’s a nice Chris Wilkes Bb keyed flute up on e-bay just now:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=290073633831
I frequently practice with a friend who plays various instruments including a “celtic” harp. If I play a concert pitch set, it entirely drowns out the harp. I occasionally play a C chanter which is relatively quiet and allows the harp to be heard. However 2 strings have to be down-tuned, which is a bit of a chore for the harpist.
DJM - When I want to play with an ensemble, I do bring my guitar. Have you been following me around again? 
Don,
It’s a bit of both for me. I aim to reed a chanter without any ‘additions’, but, if I make a reed that really works well but has a slightly sharp D or a sharp E, or there’s a slight discrepancy in 8ves I’ll slip a rush in rather than risk losing the ‘jizz’ (no, really, I heard that term used to describe the reeds ‘gyunusaykwa’) by dismantling and altering it.
It’s a difficult job to analyze what you need to do to a reed to suit an instrument. If I had a chanter for a month, I’d do a better job through trying several options, but people don’t always want to be without their instrument that long.
In the end, I hope that what I make is an improvement on the chanters previous reed, rush or no rush.
From listening to a lot of pipes and pipers, I have come to the conclusion that peoples idea of what a nicely toned and tuned chanter is, differs greatly, and some people can play a chanter in tune better than others, no matter what’s ‘wrong’ with the chanter. It’s a lottery…
Agreed. The very first thing I do is remove all tape and rushes. I do this because I want to hear first hand the reason for them. I may return them if all attempts at reeding the chanter “sans tampons” are proven in vain.
I absolutely hate taking reeds apart, but sometimes that is a must in making them. I have a hunch many do not take their reeds (when making them) apart to adjust tuning and intonation.
My thoughts re: the Angus reeds, take into consideration that they travelled the world over from climate to climate, pressure to pressure etc… etc. Is it any wonder why they may not have been up to snuff after all of that? And after eventually finding a permanent home in Alba, they seem to have settled down nicely after a little coaxing. That’s something many forget to remember… sometimes, you just gotta walk away from a reeding project for a day or so and allow the reeds to settle into their new body shape. It is so easy to keep going when you have run into a snag, or have become frustrated with a poorly responding reed. This so often leads to adjusting the reed to death.
I’m not so sure about not taking reeds apart.
There are a lot of factors you can manipulate through taking it apart,
And I suspect that at least a couple fine reedmakers do.
I heard a story once about Joe McKenna taking his chanter reed apart backstage and putting it back together, seems risky to me, but he pulled it off.
Also, I remember Benedict Koehler once said something along the lines of, ‘show me a chanter without any tape and I’ll show you a chanter out of tune’
Arent Angus reeds the wire-Bridle kind? Funny that he wouldnt use a traditional style reed for his uber-traditional instruments.
Last summer I was very comforted to see at least 2 pieces of tape on BK’s Rowsome chanter.
No - a wide copper bridle
my mistake.
He probably has a variety of recipes, hes a very versatle maker.