I was wondering if anyone had any practical suggestions for the following reed issue. The baritone D note, on my regulator, only sounds when played with another note (on either the tenor or bass). When I play the note solo it shuts down and does not sound. The other notes on the regulator are all basically sounding fine and they respond well to normal tuning strategies. Overall, the remainder of the regulator notes are reasonably well balanced with each other and play at the same pressure as with the chanter. I’ve tried (1) opening up the reed (slightly and then more…) but that has not worked, (2) I also tried readjusting the pressure of the chanter so that both play at lighter pressure, but then sound is quite meek, muffled and generally not desirable-not to mention the challenge of adjusting all the drones and regs to be super quiet/light (3) emailing the maker, but did not get a response. I’m wondering if I should try a new reed, start scraping/sanding or just ignore the solo note-which is what I’ve been doing (issue is about four years old and everything else is acceptable). Any suggestions would be appreciated.
You need to try some new reeds.
Difficult without trial. Seems to me that the Reed is too soft, or only the tip is too thin. Please try by opening a bit and report
I am sure i read somewhere that a piece of masking tape cut to the shape of the reed head
will strengthen the reed maybe worth a try and its not too drastic