My bottom D is gurgling on my Daye practice set. I’ve tried adjusting the bridle, but it hasn’t made too much of a difference. Does anyone have any troubleshooting hints?
Also, I’m a beginner, so I wonder whther my playing is causing it in some way?
Thanks
Andrew
I doubt if it’s your playing. It’s most likely that the bridle (the copper band that’s wrapped around the reed) is pressing too tightly on the centre of the reed. Slip your finger nail under the ends of the bridle. It should loosen it up a little. If you loosen it too much, you’ll have to much pressure to the bag to get the chanter to sound.
Do you have spare reeds? If so, try one of them.
What is your humidity? If lower than when the pipes sounded hard D OK, boiling a little water where you are playing may cure it. I keep a humidifier going in the fall/winter here.
Normally a gurgling (sometimes called auto-crann) can be fixed by opening the lips of the reed slightly.
DDs reeds have a movable bridle, so sliding it up towards the lips should open it. If not, the brass may need to be adjusted so that it presses against the side of the head more.
I usually do this with a small 2" vice I found. I put the reed in so that the vice grips the bridle, then crank the handle until the lips open to around 1-1/2 times it’s original opening and let it sit overnight.
After I do this, if I got it too open, I just pinch the reed head just above the bridle for fine tuning the lip opening so it slightly closes.
Good luck.
Thanks, That did the trick!
Andrew
Just one more comment: I didn’t see this tip mentioned in any of the many online troubleshooting guides I consulted.
Andrew
Maybe I should patent the idea 
Did you look here under the free reed adjustment guide by Pat Sky?
scroll to the bottom of the page to where it says FREE in big red letters, chose a download format and you’re in. Scroll down to nearly the bottom of the guide and it is listed as “gurgling low D”.
I did look there. Either he doesn’t mention PJ’s tip, or he didn’t express it clearly, or I just didn’t understand.
Andrew
It is written there in black and white, and it’s been there since it was written. Did you actually go into the guide or not? You have to download it either in MSWord or PDF. Once there, it is toward the bottom of the manual.
Try again, and peruse some of the other trouble shooting tips Pat has there as well.
My tip is just a method of removing pressure from the centre of the reed. I suggest using a finger nail as nails are often softer than reed slips and I’d rather break a nail than a reed. Nails grow back faster 
From memory Pat Sky’s guide mentions “opening the bridle” which is the same thing. My usual method of opening the bridle is to slip my nail under the ends of the bridle.
OK, calm down. I misunderstood it–I thought that opening the bridle meant moving the bridle so that the lips were more open. PJ’s explanation was clear to me.
Andrew
I’m not upset, just a poor choice of words on my behalf… sorry. Pat’s manual is a valuable resource for those who need to adjust their reeds.
I use a 2" mini vice to adjust my bridle if I need it to open the reed lips slightly more.
Sometimes, depending on the style of reed, sliding it up towards the lips is impossible or the bridle may have deformed somewhat and tend to “rattle” when the reed vibrates.