Hi.chanter volume very low h ow do you clean dust from chanter reed.Tx
Many things have been suggested o er the years, from a clean banknote to a crow’s feather.
I have stuck to the feather when needed, it seems to do the job.
I was given this by an old style very fine reedmaker who liked things the way the old pipers did it: a ‘tick peeled rush’ to tune the regulators, a crow’s feather to clean fluf and dust from inside the reeds. He insisted on crow and we went gathering them at a nearby rookery on one occasion. A small feather of other birds will do the job though.
Trim back little so you leave a bit of a small brush at the end. Carefully stick it up the staple and gently brush the inside of the reed blades.
I ended up with my chanter reed and all my regulator reeds with lots of dust in them.
I very carefully took them apart, brushed each blade with a soft old toothbrush, and tied them back together.
Not for the faint of heart I suppose! But everything played perfectly.