what would people say were the best conditions in terms of weather for the chanter to be at it’s best? and the worst, too, of course
My chanters are fine in any conditions short of the interior of a hot car. My chanter reeds on the other hand work much better when the humidity is greater than 40%. Below that and I have to adjust the bridle fairly frequently.
The real question is what weather conditions your reed can cope with.
A chanter made from well seasoned wood will cope with 40 to 90 degrees F, and 10 to 100% humidity without long term damage.
Now that’s short term exposure.
Like if you had to play outside at a wedding in Arizona in July where its hot and dry or St Louis where its hot and humid!
But your reed will suffer first.
If you search around this forum you’ll find different remedies to help out in some of these situations.
But to answer your question, between 50 and 80 degrees F and 40 to 70ish% humidity should be a nice climate for your pipes.
Tommy
for me the absolute worst conditions are those that change rapidly. I used to take my hygro to every uilleann gig, ( i dont anymore, its TMI) & fondly remember watching the numbers sink as I piped during a winter gig; and skyrocket during a later summer one. So, imo, sudden changes are the really, really tough tests of an uilleann pipe.
Best conditions are those that change a little as possible…a good stretch of similar weather…
my chanter reeds (generally) happy when it has time to get accustomed to the conditions of performance.
My reed is usually fairly happy. When the humidity is high I get fatter low E and F# but high B gets difficult to hit, when the weather is dry high B is easy but low E and F# have to be blown very gently or they will break.
Notorious for us uilleann pipers here are the dreaded Santa Ana Winds. They blow the extremely dry air from the inland deserts into the LA Basin. During Santa Anas the humidity can drop to below 10%. Over the years I’ve had it happen twice where my chanter reed has simply collapsed in on itself, gone forever. (To simulate the effect, take out your chanter reed and blast it with a hairdryer for half an hour.)
My chanter reed is far more resistant to the dryness than most, being of local cane, but in extremely dry air the Back D sinks like crazy and Bottom D just makes burbling noises. (The Chieftans did a concert here during these conditions and Paddy Moloney’s chanter made all sorts of sounds it usually doesn’t make!)
Actually the drone reeds are affected more than the chanter reed, the drones becoming very unstable, so that as you play over the range of the chanter the pitch of the drones goes all over the place, as if the chanter is being accompanied by a theramin.
These winds can come very quickly. Once I was playing at an outdoor gig in the early evening and suddenly I could hear that distinctive dry rustling sound in the leaves of the trees overhead. I put the pipes in the case immediately and within ten minutes the humidity had dropped from over 80% to under 10%.
I turn down outdoor uilleann gigs in the Coachella Valley (Palm Springs etc) because the pipes won’t work well in the desert dryness.
The answer, for the chanter, is a reed made out of spruce or other wood! And for the drones, synthetic reeds.
Don’t be giving anyone ideas now; someone is likely to try it! 