I am sorry if this has been posted before, but I really couldn’t find exactly what I experience after searching through the forum and other places.
I have recently received my practice set, I am a beginner but I do manage to have a decent steady tone.
The problem with the C-nat that I am having is that with the regular proposed fingering X|OXXXOXX|X - the C-nat is sometimes a C-sharp.
What I mean by sometimes, is that if I go from A to a C-nat for example, I will hear a C-sharp for a short while which then “jumps” down to a C-nat at an unexpected moment, without me changing fingering or air pressure. If I vent the A before going to the C-nat like so: X|XXOXOXX|X, then the C-nat is just fine.
So now I started using an alternative fingering to the C-nat which doesn’t jump: X|OXXXOOX|X.
So basically, I have two questions:
Is this issue known and maybe someone could please explain to me if it is a chanter issue or a reed issue?
Should it be a bad habbit for a beginner to develop an alternative fingering to the C-nat right from the start - in the uilleann piping domain (I am a flute player)?
I must add that the sound character of both of the above fingering options are a bit different, the pitch sounds almost the same.
C-Nat fingering can vary from one chanter to the next, so find the fingering that best suits your changer. If venting lower hand tone holes helps, then do so.
C-Nat is a very distinctive note on the uilleann pipes chanter and in the traditional repertoire. Throwing a “sour C-nat” into a D tune can really sound great. Many pipers like to have their C-nat slightly flat.
Like PJ mentioned, chanters often like different C-natural fingerings. My D and B chanters play C natural closer in tune with the rest of the chanter with much different fingerings. Also watch the air pressure in the lower octave. For a while when I started playing the pipes I applied too much air pressure. I found it easy to over blow the lower octave.
I agree with this idea that it is a good thing to be able to change the fingering at will. I’m very fond of that, actually…
Anyway, your problem can, as usual, be fixed with the reed.
There’s different ways to achieve it (lengthen the staple, trying different lengths and\or deepness of scrapping, different thickness of slip,etc…). I can not easily explain how I make it, (I need to spend time with the chanter), but there’s always a solution in the end.
Not at all, though my advice would be to learn the “piper’s” C-natural as soon as possible. This technique includes shading or half-holing the B tone hole, and venting other tone holes with the lower hand, depending on the chanter and the effect desired (vibrato or not, etc.). A bit tricky to learn at first, but once mastered you have near-infinite variations of C-natural to color to any taste in any tune, and the technique carries over to any chanter in any key.
Quite often it is down to experience, can’t say for sure without trying it but in my experience of teaching, just as a few previous comments have already said, it is often a pressure problem, squeezing too hard on the bag and or bellows. Ease up on the pressure on the C’s and see. If that doesn’t help try half-holing the top hole on the front of the chanter