Hello all. I am breaking in a new reed (received on Monday) and it has been behaving better over the last couple of days. Of course it wouldn’t just let me have it easy and behave perfectly (I think the thing is alive and determined to drive me insane 
) and the bottom D is giving me fits. When I get the D balanced and smooth, the E in both octaves either refuses to sound or growls and I lose any range in the second octave above the F sharp. I also have to squeeze the living daylights out of the bag to get the reed to sound. Help! I have also been thinking about building my own reeds (what’s wrong with me? 
), and I remember seeing someone mention a reed making DVD a couple of days ago. Can any one give me any info on recourses for reedmaking? Thanks for the input.
Slainte,
List of available resources for reedmaking here:
http://uilleannforum.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=94
Also, do a Search of this board. Gurgling D has come up many times, and solutions have been offered that others found useful.
djm
What you want to do is take a paper match stick or a piece of thin cardboard thats about that size, and jam it down in the throat of your chanter to reduce the size of the bore there just a bit. After you test it to make sure it works , take a little bit of string and tie the match to the bottom of your reed, just for convience’s (sp?) sake. I got this from Pat Sky, who told me he picked it up from Seamus Ennis, who used it on his Coyne set. I know how infuriating that damn bottom D can be, and this has always worked for me. Good Luck!
-Jack Devereux
I personally have a reluctant octave E, which I just have to pump some extra air through or make a ‘cut’ in my playing to fix. However, the problems you are having sound like something else that I have experienced in the past. Assuming that you are not a beginner, who tend to struggle with hitting the second octave, it sounds like your reed is too open and probably too thick. As the legendary Evertjan Hart has stated, “it shouldn’t take much of a suck through the staple to get the reed to crow”. I have found that a reed will start to make a hiss or little noise when drawing a little bit more than a normal inhale would be when breathing.
Gurgling bottom Ds come from either a reed that is too closed or is too thick (both situations restrict free vibration of the lips to cause the gurgle). Shoving something in the bell or throat of the chanter will make allowances for the ‘too closed’ reed and extra scraping of the reed will fix the ‘too thick’ side of things (closing an already too thick reed will exacerbate the gurgles). I believe that your reed is too thick from what you’re saying (unless it is a case of the reed being too thin up the centre line, thereby making the second octave reluctant). Reeds that are too thick are reluctant and squeaky to play, take a lot of air pressure to sound and have gurgling bottom Ds (the back D will often be sharp if the reed unless it is too long).
I don’t know whether the reed is one of your pipe makers or one of your own, but I have seen a limited few reeds that were made by the chanter’s maker that are not very good, and although I wouldn’t reccommend fiddling with a maker’s reed, there will be some instances where you can make a better reed that suits your needs than the maker. That being said, you may wish to fiddle with the reed, but you will run the risk of destroying it (epecially if you’re new to reed making).
I would suggest consulting David Daye’s reed adjustment document in the first instance (can’t remember where to find it), which I found to be useful in my early days of reed making. See if there is anything in there that seems to fit with your situation and, of course, try the non permanent alterations before pulling out a knife or sandpaper.
Good luck.
Look at some of the better reed making guidws - and there are plenty. Alan Burton’s springs to mind right off:
Here’s a few more that DJM provided for us…
and anima provided:
There’s loads of material out there.
Thanks for the links Joseph. I printed out Pat Sky’s booklet and it has helped a great deal. Still have a ways to go, but the horizon is looking brighter.
Cheers,
I guess first of all you might check wether your “hardware” is absolutely flawless: 100% airtight bellows, 100% airtight bag, very easy to blow, (in case) very stable drones with little air-consumption. Tightness-checkup: corks. Easy to blow: blowpipe-valve. Steadyness: Suck at each drone with reed removed and one end closed to make sure that the tuning-slides have not become leaky (always suck one mouthful only and never with your lung to avoid lung injurys). Air-consumption of drones: Suck at the reed “tipped” close: The remaining air-consumption should be little.
These checkups are your only way to “virtuosity” (otherwise you practise and practise without any progress) and a flawless set is the only way for a proper reed.
Cheers,
Hans