I live in Maine, I just moved from the coast to the foothills of the White Mountains, 500’ elevation with a classic mountain climate. The conditions here are highly variable…anywhere from 20% to 75% humidity, sometimes in the same week. Generally, what range of humidity will a reed accomodate? I realize that it is best when made in the area it will be used, but is there an inherent range that most reeds tolerate before going completely wonky? Hard to word this right…I’ll try to clarify if it seems I need to.
My main chanter is being reeded, but my UPB chanter, reeded in Boston, seems to be tolerating the high 30’s to low 60’s RH pretty well and has stayed in tune with itself (although the whole reed is flat…must redo some winding as it’s in as deep as it can go). Just trying to anticipate any difficulties since I’ve relocated here.
Also, I’ve read that some humidify in the winter. Is this a good idea? Or should I let the reed adjust as the climate changes…I’m not playing anywhere else really, but would be travelling to a non-humidified environment for the occasional lesson. I used to humidify when I had stringed instruments in the house, but not sure if I should do this for the pipes.
Sorry for the newbie-ish questions…up till now I’ve been just trying to learn to play the things and not worry too much, plus I’ve been blessed with two excellent reeds that have been hassle-free and haven’t given me any reason to think to ask any of this. I suppose I’d be better of if I hadn’t been so lucky as it would force me to learn more reed maintenance and adjustment stuff!
speaking from my own personal toil, (and NOT as an expert) Ive found my reeds tend to thrive and be happily content in + around 65% rh. Cant give you a cutoff in either direction, depends on the reed. I’ve also over heard several top-notch pipers echo this sentiment, unoficially.
in humid Philly right now, (90+%rh indoors ) it feels as if a wee squeeze in the ‘shut’ direction would be permissible;
in winter, when my pipes are warm + dry, they usualy tell me that they’d like to be opnend up a wee bit…
but that’s just me,
It’s really best to contact your pipemaker, reedmaker, instructor, or reputable local Uilleann guru, and as you know there are more than a few in your region.
Congrats on your new digs, BTW.
My concert chanter reeds, built by a local SoCal reedmaker, David Coultrup, seem happiest between 30 and 50% humidity. Outside of that, I’m generally going to seriously consider playing some other instrument as I’ve on two occasions destroyed chanter reeds playing in extremely dry conditions, rather expensive errors of judgment. Higher than 50% my chanters get quite squirrely and squaky and sharp in pitch, again, I’d rather not be constantly messing with the bridle and taking the cap on/off, so I just play something else when its humid.
Thanks guys, this leads me to another question that perhaps the reedmakers here can chime in on: is it possible to make a reed that will do well in extremely low humidity, but also do well around 60%+ with rushing/taping? That way one could have a reed that can handle the big swing with adjustments to the chanter rather than too much futzing with the reed itself. I realize this is probably asking a lot…I’m just trying to gain more understanding of the reed mechanics now that I’ve gotten some foundations built on playing and simple adjustments to the chanter ie-rushing/taping. The joys of proceeding without a teacher or mentor in close proximity.
A shame there isn’t an intensive complete reedmaking “school”. Then I’d just make enough reeds to have the ideal one for all of the moods here
