I’d like a bit of info please. Play low E on your chanter, then lift C# finger (leaving E fingers off). If you can then reply to this (or mail me) with the pitch of the note (presuming in all cases we call the bell note D) and the pitch of your chanter. Thanks in advance.
Alan
My large bore D chanter plays C# with the Es open. Hey, is this some secret way of diagnosing the worth of a chanter, or of a reed? I like it. More 007 questions please. 
My Childress D chanter plays c# also.
C# on my concert pitch “mystery chanter”.
I get C# with both the E and Eb open, and a slightly flat C# with only one or the other open.
I can’t believe I actually went and strapped my set back on just to test this. Is there a point or purpose to this test? 
djm
Larry wrote…Hey, is this some secret way of diagnosing the worth of a chanter, or of a reed?
I think this is a bit of cross fingering that Willie Clancy used now and again and according to Pat Mitchell it fell somewhere between natural and sharp but had a particular character that appealed to Willie. I reckon you need about three options for C nat depending on the tune and how lonesome you want that note to sound.
Ken
Ken,
You deserve some sort of prize or other!!! I use that xfingering often, Fermoy Lasses being a good example, and that would be from Willies version…
But, the reason I’m asking is, that I have noticed that many chanters play only C# with that fingering, my chanter plays a slightly sharp Cnat, a nice effect/note in my mind. I was curious (from a reedmaking POV). Thanks everyone!!
Alan
Well, I’ll put it this way Alan, I noticed a more accurate C# with the Es closed, but only slightly. So you might be able to do some stuff with that fingering on my chanter that I’ve never tried. On the knee/off the knee never really affected it.
Alan,
I tried it earlier today on the flat set and while the pitch of the note didn’t change much there were a lot of extra harmonics coming through with the e fingers open. It offers some nice options on Boil the Breakfast Early as well. Couldn’t be bothered to put the concert set together to try it there.
Willie must have had a great ear because he always seemed to exploit the characteristics of the various chanters he used, especially that Taylor.
Ken
I have a related question for you Alan (and others) that I have wondered for years and years (ever since I played with my first good reed). If you close all the finger holes, with chanter on the knee, and press the bag a little harder as if in the upper octave, and lift the chanter off the knee…
what note do you get?
I always get an upper octave A…the harmonic (and in tune). But less pressure gives me the upper (ghost) D, and less yet gives the low D.
I even use that method once in a while, in case I need a quick single upper A in a tune, rather than use the correct fingering.