I’m part of a few worship bands at the church I attend, and every now ang again, I’ll bring out the pipes. Naturally, they attract a lot of attention; I’m possible the only UPer in my city. An elderly man, who plays bassoon, was curious about my reed, and though he might be able to make one for me if I gave him dimensions. I removed the chanter top so he could see the reed. While he was inspecting it, he lost his grip, and the chanter fell to the floor. The stick itself is un-scathed (no cracks, chips, etc), but thats only because it landed on the reed, destroying it.
I am a relative noob to the pipes, and reedmaking is something I’ve not gotten into yet. This reed was the only one I had that worked well in my chanter.
My biggest problem: I have a wedding to play at on July 11, and I am supossed to provide a bagpipe recessional. I am reedless, and stuck.
PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE… if there is anyone out there with a spare reed or two who would consider sending them my way, I would be forever in your debt. I’ll pay shipping, and whatever other costs need be. If you’re able to help me out, please send me a PM, and I’ll get you my address ASAP.
That said, I seem to remember that Bassoon cane tends towards being softer or harder than UP chanter cane (same cane, different grade/hardness). I don’t remember which. You and he will want to read more about the float test for density before making your new reeds.
If you don’t want to say on the board the maker of your chanter, email me.
Bassoon cane can work. It’s very hard, and you have to be gentle with it when tying on and scraping. Rigotti Basson Cane is available from Woodwind & Brasswind… but relying on someone whos not made a UP reed before might be risky-- even if they are familiar with Bassoon reeds.
Who made the chanter? Any chance of getting a reed from the maker?
My stick is indeed a Dixon, in ABW. Based on Chris’s current backlog, I’m not sure he’s going to have time to get a reed or two together in this short notice.
I’ll second, third or whatever all who suggest you contact Mr. Dixon. He knows what works in his chanters and you may luck out… he may have a spare or two floating around in his shop.
Let this be a lesson to you, never let someone examine your reed… especially when it is still in the chanter.
I’ll third that (or fourth?) – Check with Dixon to see if he has something floating around the shop. Plus it’s a lesson to always, always, always have a spare reed if you’re doing any performing, no matter how informal.
A gentleman from here sent me some extra reeds he made (he also owns a Dixon stick) to mess around a few months ago. While they work well enough, the tone they get from my stick isn’t as good as I’d like. I usually reserve my ‘good’ reed for performing, and practice with another reed (good for learning about adjustment!!) I’ll try to shoot Chris an email…
Got a reply from Chris; to get a reed here in time (with postage rates) would cost more than I can afford right now. SO… the hunt goes on. I’ll mess with some of the other ‘harsh’ reeds I have, and see what happens. Cross your fingers for me!
I had gotten a few reeds from a true gentleman on this board a while back. They all played in my Dixon stick, but the tone that I got from them was just not good enough for performance (very loud, very harsh, like some kind of raspy shawm). Faced with the impending time crunch, I spent several hours one night working on them; taking one apart and putting it back together, scraping a few, other adjustments and the like, and was able to get one fantastic player, and one pretty good back up. (I still need to order some more reeds, but this works for now )
The wedding was fantastic. I played “March of the King of Laois” as the recessional piece, and it was very well recieved. Most people at the wedding had never seen a set of UPs before, so I was a bit of an ‘instant celebrity’. Many people thought it was a recording, as I was off to one side of the sanctuary, and not in plain sight. But everything was fantastic; the pipes have never played or sounded better, in my opinion. What a rush!!
Thanks for the words of wisdom and help from all, and a HUGE thank you to Mike!!
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