Just curious as to different techniques to do this without messing with the reed at all. Thanks in advance.
-Mike
First thing to do would be to check how far in you have the reed seated in the chanter. If it’s too far in, back D will be too sharp as will the rest of the chanter be out of balance overall - top hand notes sharper than bottom hand notes.
If the reed is seated out enough that withdrawing it further is not possible then a bit of tape over the thumb hole, or bees wax in the hole should help. Involves the reed but at least you’re ‘messing’ with the cane bits.
Thats’ a start. There may be other techniques to use too. If these don’t work then it may be a case of reed troubles.
Cheers,
DavidG[/i]
Electrical tape.
Yeah, electrical tape’s good. Except it tends to move around a bit after a while - but that’s okay too 'cause you can easily slip it up and down to fine tune the whole.
Other problem is, it starts to leave a gooey mess which is hard to clean off except if you use a bit of rubbing alchohol or something.
Then your thumb gets stuck to the chanter making it hard to do tricky bits. That’s why I dispensed with it and went for a bit of bee’s wax instead. True, a bit more bothersome to get in place, but a lot cleaner.
chow for now,
DavidG
I agree with Aus - use some beeswax or BlueTack (BluTak?) in the bottom of the hole, that’ll do the trick and leave your thumb free of sitcky tape residue.
I would be more than happy to send you some back D flatness - how much do you need?
How much for shipping & handling costs, kb?
3M makes the perfect tape for this called “Transpore.” You can find it in the same area as bandages / gauze at most drugstores/markets. It leaves no residue, sticks well and comes off easily when you want to remove it. It comes in multiple widths.
Dionys
…have it, works well. Although, I would like it more if I could find a colour scheme that works well with the hue of my chanter… 
…good stuff…
Awesome, thaks guys! I’ll give these a whirl.
-Mike
Yeah, the tape thing does get messy after a while. A better option if you want to stick with tape is to find some gaff tape. Not easy to come by, though. Steal some off your theater geek friends and grab a few square yards of mylar while you’re at it…
Interestingly enough, I just got a job here at the university as an assistant stage manager for the music recital hall. I guess I will have full access to those hard to find kinds of tapes. Not to mention, their Steinway concert grand (drooool!!!) Thanks again for your suggestions.
There ya go!! Now you’ll be able to rip off some piano wire to boot!! Good for making d-bit drills (apparently - I thought it’d be a bit thin)
I think it’s like one of the seven deadly musical sins to steal piano wire off a Steinway, plus I’d probably get kicked out of school. But I’m curious, what does one use the d-bit drill for?