I don’t know if I really have a point or not, but reactions to this would be welcome…
I bought a reed from the maker of my pipes Childress - I’m working regularly on my own skills in reed making, but got frustrated one day and broke down and sent away for one. While waiting for delivery, I finally managed to craft my own nice reed. My biggest problem is a very sharp high A and B and my own reed did not have this problem.
Then the new reed arrives. I put it aside, enjoying my own reed, whose fatal flaw is a rather weak D and a very weak C#. I figured I’d just adapt to it in controling bag pressure.
Then one day I’m playing and I am annoyed by the pressure difference between C# D and E, so I figure I’ll try the new reed made by pipemaker just for Haha’s.
I struggled for an interminable time and no matter where I positioned that damned reed, the high A was always really flat to low A (whole second octave remained variably flat flat flat) I assumed I could find some depth of reed that would balance the two, but I was not able to find this spot. I was not willing to make any cuts or bruises to the reed itself.
The pipemaker’s reed did not have the weak back D and very weak C# that my reed had, so I wanted to stick with this one and keep working on reedmaking when I had time.
I broke down and inserted a copper wire as a rush (very thin, not like electrical…) and this sharpened up my second octave to where I had a rather balanced chanter. Now it plays nicely and the second octave is a bit easier to obtain.
I feel like I cheated or something resorting to running wire through the chanter (tried 2 “rushes” too and it was justa bit too easy to get second octave - kept slipping into it from bottom octave).
So, if any of you didn’t get too bored and manage to read this far down, what are your thoughts? If I were your pipe student, how would you say I did?
Nope…all just means to an end. If rushing the reed/chanter produces results then go for it. In the meantime, while enjoying the sound of your reed with rush, you can continue to develop your reedmaking skills so that eventually you can do away with rushes.
Having said that, how many pipers actually don’t require some sort of rush or other foreign object inserted into their chanter to bring things into balance? Are those pipers who claim they don’t need stuff like that really sure of it? No offence, just wondering.
Sounds like maybe the 2nd octave wasn’t easy to obtain before the rush?
It took me a while [several years] to fully appreciate how hard you have to squeeze to get a strong reed playing in tune.
Easy reeds are generally prone to things like weak back d’s
while strong reeds won’t be in tune unless you give them some schtick…and I’ll be honest and say that I found that really hard…moreso if trying to pump the drones at the same time.
So, maybe its a good reed that just needs a lot more ooomph from your elbow…who knows…
If you have another piper [preferably a more experienced one] available, his or her opinion after playing your chanter would be valuable, I’d say.
With Piping and reed dominance, I think that ‘… any port in a storm’ is a rule of thumb to keep these beasts working. I have lucked out I suppose where the only thing I have had to do with any of the reeds I’ve made to date is to occasionally tape off a bit of the A hole on my chanter to bring the reed into tune. But if I ever needed to rush the bore of my chanter to get it in tune, I’m there in a flash.
My biggest problem is a very sharp high A and B and my own reed did not have this problem.
This can be fixed by using a slightly narrower staple. If you roll your own, have the sheet of brass/copper .5mm narrower. Or if you use tubing, insert a piece of fine wire in the staple no more than 3/4 way up.
