Could the high humidity make getting second octave E more difficult? I’m ‘dropping’ it like I did when I first started playing. maybe I’m just a bit off tinight…
I’m assuming humidity would swell the reed a bit, but that would close the aperture, which would make second octave easier to get, right? But then I could also reason that increased moisture in the cane would make it harder too.
Enlighten me, O wise ones. My GHBs do not get so finicky…
Dave - Welcome to the wonderful world of North American Uilleann Piping. Fun, isn’t it!!
My own experience with the humidity is that it makes my second octave too easy to get to - a hard D followed by any first octave note becomes a hard D followed by a second octave note. Some days, even my hard D goes into orbit (usually B’) !! Oh, and everything’s out of tune (even my tuner).
Suggestions? Keep pipes in the basement and just practice there. If that’s not possible, something I’ve recently done is to untie a reed, soak the slips in Neets foot oil, tie the slips to a 1 5/8" PVC tube until they dry, retie the reed and hope for the best. I’ve tried this two weeks ago with an old reed and so far so good, but this is not tried and tested. It could be beginners luck. You might end up wrecking a perfectly good reed, all for the sake of waiting a few days until the temp/humidity returns to more manageable levels.
Its not just the humidity (else they wouldn’t play bagpipes in Ireland ). The heat also has a negative effect, somewhat weakening the reed. I agree with PJ - give it a rest, instead of sweating all over your expensive pipes.
My own experience with the humidity is that it makes my second octave too easy to get to -
Interesting, but quite the opposite of what happens to all other reeds in the piping world, which generally tend to open up and get harder to play, obtaining flat A and G and other problems as humidity rises :roll:
). The heat also has a negative effect, somewhat weakening the reed. I agree with PJ - give it a rest, instead of sweating all over your expensive pipes.