Sorry for bringing this topic up again. I’m sure it’s been covered. I did a search on staple length and got 440 threads. Needless to say I didn’t sit and sift through them all.
Anyway - what are the effects of lengthening the staple but using the same reed head? i.e if I take my usual head and change the staples for longer ones, will that affect just the pitch of the chanter, or will it throw everything out of balance in terms of overall tuning up and down the octaves?
I’m trying to lower the pitch of my concert chanter but so far have failed to do so using scraping and head design so thinking of using longer staples. I used to be able to get it right bang on 440hz and nicely balanced without rushes and all that but for some reason lately all my reeds have been turning out too sharp and I can’t seat them any further out without them falling out.
Hegarty recommends cutting off a bit of the staple to sharpen the reed if the reed is flat overall (page 66), so I don’t see why adding a bit to it wouldn’t make it flatter if it is too sharp.
If you have made reeds before that are on pitch, using the same staple, then I would suspect cane. Generally speaking the harder the cane the sharper. A longer staple will definately effect the tuning of the octaves but the pitch less.
Here again is one of those circumstances where it pays to document the changes. That is, a reversible change in the reed dimensions is a good way to learn about interaction of the variables since they don’t change uniformly.
You may find that the upper hand notes become relatively flatter, particularly the back D. If the staple diameter remains the same (as when you make it out of standard tubing), you will likely find that the octave has gone flat. And of course, the overall pitch will be flatter as the distance to the holes is lengthened.