I have been tackling the my full set of pipes, great fun, obviously it’s quite a temperamental and unpredictable beast to boot, one day it’s playing beautiful, the next day it’s completely out of control and I have to spend a considerable amount of time to get it to work the way I wish, only for it to again fall out of whack, and then I have to perhaps adjust it they way I had it the day before and presto it works perfectly.
Rambling aside, I noticed my pipes were injuriously hard to blow, I know humidity may open the reed some, but I was wondering if it is even possible for a reed bridle to vibrate out of place over a period of time?
What happened today prompted me to ask, it’s quite interesting how unpredictable this instrument can get, even the drones, I’ll close the reed and it seems the drones almost “learn” to play with less pressure and vice versa….(well, sometimes anyways)
P.S. My pipes are a Rogge C# set, and of course he makes bridles out of copper wire
Sure it’s possible, I’ve had it a couple of times when making reeds and I rush fitting the bridle. I will say that if it can vibrate loose, I’ve never had it take long to happen (less than 30 minutes). I’m sure it’s still possible that it moves slowly over time, though.
I’ve had it happen almost exclusively with copper bands, which is one of the reasons I prefer wrapped wire bridles. That being said, I just had it the other day, where I needed to tighten the wrapping, otherwise it only held for about a minute before slipping.
On the Rogge reed I had, the bridle was very well formed and didn’t move easily. It could still be the bridle, but you might also just check for any small leaks on the edges, just to make sure.
Hi ennischanter,
I have two Rogge sets and know Andreas well since more than 40 years. I’ve had a Concert Pitch Full Set since 1985, and a B Full Set since 2012. My sets are absolutely stable, even if one of them is off for three months. Absolutely constant 440 Hz. And both play easily. Drop into a session, start without tuning and it’s good most of the times.
Between winter and summer, they get a little louder and then quieter, a little harder to play and a little easier to play. The only thing I need to do now and then is move the bridle a little, or open or close it a little. Both are reversible changes.
However, a full set is also much more maintenance-intensive than a practice set or a half set. The drone reeds can occasionally close too easily or be too wide open and then need too much air. The chanter reed can be leaking on the side. The winding on the reed can also be leaking. One or two of the keys can also be leaking. You have to separate the problems and treat each one individually.
Often overlooked is the fact that the bag must be ABSOLUTELY TIGHT. Makes it much easier to play. Plug all openings with corks and inflate it with the original bellows. It should stay as hard as a football for at least 30 seconds, preferably 1 minute.
Christian Tietje Seligenstadt, Germany
As of now, I finally got into the process of reedmaking.
I put my own chanter reed in, and even made a bass drone reed.
Set is very much pick up and play, loving it no rush or fold of plastic on the bore, I have also replaced the valve.
Set is working great now, bought a small portable humidifier shich will hopefully help things for the winter.
Also want to try making a “winter reed” for my chanter, have had one successful reed made out of many many attempts! The scrape is probably the most difficult!