How many years does a uilleann chanter reed normally last?
Mine has been playing great since 1998 with no issues. Of course I have had to readjust the bridle several times, but other than that I don’t mess with it at all.
I do live in Norther California where the weather is fairly mild and consistant throughout the year.
My reed normally plays wonderful except for really hot or humid days, which are rare here.
What is the longest amount of years you have heard of a chanter reed lasting and playing well?
That’s over two cities…one where the climate was quite variable.
The key is, get a good reed constructed by a reedmaker who cares (read what Geoff Woof wrote in another thread). Further, if its not good piping weather/climate, find something to do other than to feck with the reed to try to make it play.
You might read about Craig Fischer’s ‘Magic Reed’ on the Sean Reid Society website. I believe the article is about An Australian Piping Trove or something like that. The reed is well over 100 years old and was playing strongly at last report. I believe Craig established that it could be from the hand of the original maker. It got a great deal of play until about forty years ago, when it went into an attic. The chanter it played in was extremely well worn about the finger holes.
makes me wonder what is it that determines a reed’s lifespan - being fiddled with too much, being played in smoky surroundings (not so much the case now with smoking in pubs a thing of the past), being subject to the outdoor environment (if you busk), coping with fluctuations in the weather (which I gather are the curse of many American pipers) - or maybe a conspiracy on the part of professional reedmakers who don’t want them to last?
when I first started piping I left a temperate Maritime seaport to visit my buddy living just outside Mobile, Alabama. I took my practice set, with a fairly decent reed, to show off my new found passion. It was June, the temperatures were above 90 degrees fahrenheit and the humidity was approaching 100 per cent. My reed promptly died. Strangely enough, a defunct reed in my little reed tin suddenly sprang to life and performed fairly well. When I got back home both reeds were as dead as door nails. Go figure.
I’d doubt John’s conspiracy theory… reed makers are just not earning enough money from the trade to want to see you coming back for more..
Mikie Smyth’s C# set still has the original chanter reed which I made in November 1996… I’d estimate that it could have 30,000 playing hours on it by now. I hope it lasts him out!
My original C chanter went from 1986 until I replaced it (the chanter) by a new model in 2006. That had a few hours on it. And I recall it was made in the early hours of a jet lagged morning (and it looked it a bit too, not that it mattered).
Not as lagged as I was though. Yes that reed has some miles on it too… the one that is in that chanter currently says 1987 on it… I’m making C reeds I’ll shove one in and see just how bad my work was back then
I bought Malcolm Sim’s dad’s C chanter, made by Geoff in 78/79, in 2001. Geoff made put a reed in the chanter in 2002. The reed is still going strong, no problems so far, summer or winter The reed in my main Williams D chanter is from 1997 and still rocking
I’ve been playing the same reed in my c1978 Quinn D chanter since 1982.
It’s survived our dreaded Santa Ana/Santana Winds many times, survived numerous airline flights and tours, and is still as sweet as ever. I was just using it in a recording studio a couple nights ago.
Sean Folsom is responsible!
He was having a devil of a time getting any reed to work in my Quinn. I handed him a wimpy near-dead Dowd reed I had nicked from a set that had passed through my hands. He thought it had promise, and spent some time un-wimpifying it. Voila it gave a perfect scale on that Quinn, and besides sounded remarkably smooth and sweet over the gamut.
Is it a perfect reed? Not at all! Hard Bottom D is difficult and touchy, high B is touchy as well. But the rest of the scale is wonderful.
The oldest chanter reeds I can recall hearing are the few occasions I’ve heard Taylor chanters being played with (purportedly) their original Taylor reed.
Liam O’Flynn’s chanter reed was made by Leo Rowsome in 1968, they say. He goes out on the road with another reed. Pat Sky says he sometimes cleans out the original reed with a feather dipped in spirits, or did when smoky environs were common. Gotta love these anecdotes.
Tom Busby told me Touhey used the same reeds his whole career, that would be over the span of about 40 years. Carney replaced the middle regulator reed around 1915, that was the only one that didn’t survive. Considering Touhey played all over the Atlantic seaboard and made it out as far as San Francisco at least once that’s pretty impressive.
Jimmy O’Brien-Moran can be heard playing an ancient reed on the Piper’s Rock record. Colgan chanter I think. Was made by Brother Gildas’s teacher, IIRC. Burke? I’ve a home recording of JOBM from the late 80s where that reed is really on its last legs, lots of “vertigo,” i.e. won’t make it up into the 2nd octave very far. Only two drones going too. Beautiful sound regardless. The Fremont (?) reeds on his 1st record had a very nice but different tone.
Going on 9 years with my CP reed. Bb chanter reed lasted only 7 but died 2 years ago, fortune smiled on me with a replacement lying around that also worked.
It fascinates me what us pipers will do to get our reeds working. Whether it’s alcohol, neetsfoot, or kerosese.
An does Liam O’flynn still use his 45 year old reed?!
I wonder if Seamus Ennis used kerosene on his drone reeds too. Since I also heard that his chanter reeds would almost blacken from the kerosene, just like his ancient drone reeds were blackened.
I also wonder if hydrogen peroxide or cooking oil will work for reeds? Heck, I think gasoline may work!
The reed in my main Williams D chanter is from 1997 and still rocking 
