Hello folks! My name is Paolo and I write from Italy. I watch this forum from last september but now I have decided to sign in myself to post question or answer to this community.
I (try to) play from 6 months a pc made by Dixon and yesterday afternoon I break my first reed (YEAHHH!!! ) so actually I’m studing some tips on out to setup a new reed. After that, I am a novice GHB piper (I play this pipes from 4 years) but I started the uilleann because of the GHB is too small in notes
How’d you break your reed? I have a Dixon set too, and so far I’m enjoying myself…I’m playing the Dixon reed in there for now, but I also have two JES reeds…not sure if I should save them, or take a listen. Keep at it, enjoy!
Well, I was trying to adjust the c# and high d to make them in tune with the chanter… but I was very hard with the reed…
I have a Dixon spare reed, and now I’ve to scrape it to fit into the chanter. It’s very difficult for a very novice, but it is a must if I want to play the UP.
At the moment I have contacted JES to have him reeds…
What about your c# and high d?
Cheers
I’ve used to brake reeds while learning about reed adjustment so don’t feel bad about it, but don’t go fiddling with the spare reed too much either.
I’m making an assumption that you mean the C# of the first octave and the back D, but if you mean the notes an octave up from these, I’d say the problem is with the staple shape. I’ll therefore go on with advice about the lower notes incase it helps.
The C# and back D will both be flat in any of the following situations:
the reed is too closed
the bridle is too low
the reed is not inserted deep enough into the chanter
the reed has been scraped too much overall
the lips of the reed are too thin (this is usually accompanied by a ‘breaking’ back D, where the pitch drops suddenly when you increase air pressure)
the humidity level in the room you are playing in is very high
The C# note is often a bit flat compared to other notes, but the back D should be perfectly in tune. Anything that you do to sharpen the back D will sharpen the C# only slightly.
The easiest adjustement is to just open and close the reed with the bridle and change the position of the reed in the chanter. If that doesn’t work, you might need to change the bridle position. However, if the reed has a boat shape or ‘V’ shape to its edges, it will be hard to raise the bridle more than a fraction of a millimetre so it will have to be removed and reattached (it is very easy to crack a reed when fitting a bridle if the reed is quite thick at the base so close the lips completely with your fingers while gently folding the bridle round with pliers).
There is lots of information about reed adjustment on the internet. I found the following webpage the most useful in learing about reed adjustment (and also reed making): http://daye1.com/reed_diag.html.
Its unfortunate but these things do happen and often do at the hands of inquisitive fingers, all problems can be resolved.
There are a few options open to you i would first try and find someone near by who can make reeds for you, i realise that this may be difficult or impossible, the only other option would be to send your chanter back to the maker and have him fit some reeds in it.
The option of trying to make a reed when you have only just begin playin is difficult if not impossible. Its hard for the begginner to know what to look for in trems of sound and playabilty, all of which are direct effects of the reed and thus takes years to learn these effects and implementing them into the reed design. All efforts at this stage of your carreer should be directed at learning to play the instrument.
A certain degree of knowledge is important as goldy has highlighted with his excellent tips on problem solving but to make reeds is a totally different matter and will only distract from the learning process.
If i were in your position i would contact the chanter maker and speak to him about the situation, i’m sure he will help you find a soloution
I apologies if i seem to be stern but in my experience it is a good piece of advice
I hope you have some sucess in your problem. Keep posting the people here are only to willing to help.
@ P O’ Hare
I have contacted my pipemaker… he gives me some usefull tips. I believe he tunes my chanter before ship it to me, so if it plays good at ‘maker home’, it is my ‘newbie problem’… (maybe back d was out of tune due to humidity change, etc…)
@ goldy
thank you very much for your tips. I watch daily the Pat Sky book on reed adjustement… At my stage, the very difficult step is to undestand how much scrape the reed for the V shape. I mean, yesterday I have scraped the V shape with a knife and then with sand paper. The V shape is slightly visible now, if I such air throug the reed, it ‘sounds’… but inside the chanter it is a little bit harder. So, I decided to scrape a little little bit… I try it in the chanter: it is little bit harder to blow yet. I try to move the bridle, etc…
Jesus! My nervous system is not ready for these reeds!
) so actually I’m studing some tips on out to setup a new reed. After that, I am a novice GHB piper (I play this pipes from 4 years) but I started the uilleann because of the GHB is too small in notes 
Keep at it, enjoy!
