Just curious to know if any other PC owners have this same trouble? I have played on three other standard sets (meaning wooden construction, as opposed to the PC’s brass and plastic) and have never had a problem with this note breaking.
Whenever I try to play a clean half-holed Fnat, or attempt a slide from F# up to G I seen to have the reed completely die on me until I’m all the way to G. It just stops making sound, and there’s a loud hiss of air. Changing bag pressures doesn’t seem to help.
I recently purchased a room humidifier as well, and while it helps the overall tuning and stability of the chanter and reed, it doesn’t help this note in particular.
Thoughts?
Reed or chanter??
I FINALY got a reply email back from Mr. Daye as well, and when asking him about my reed (which has split) he said he could repair it. Is this wise? And should I ask him to replace it instead? Even with the split, it plays fairly well, but it’s still far too loud and plays too hard for my general liking.
I’m afraid I’m a HUGE thorn in his side, but at the same time, I just want to be happy with the product ya know? I have thought about sending the whole thing off to someone else to have it reeded, but if it comes to that, I might as well just sell it, and wait to get back on Seth Gallagher’s list huh?
these ARE real uilleann pipes as far as most folks would be concerned. the only appreciable difference is the materials used in construction of the chanter. But that is supposed to make my set MORE stable rather than less.
The reed is the same cane type that you’ll find in any Rogge, Williams, Quinn, or gallagher set. (made for the PC in this case of course)
Is this a normal thing to have happen to this particular note was really my question, or does it sound more like a specific reed or chanter question?
Thanks Tony. I wrote David back today, and asked him if it would be easiest just to send the whole thing back to him for an overhaul. I’m awaiting his reply.
Adam’s reeds are quieter, but now that they’ve settled in to the climate, I have a difficult time keeping them playing in tune. Sad really, as they are a much easier playing set than the ones I’ve gotten from David. Oh well!
If the reed is split, first get it repaired. A reed, while playing, closes from edges toward the center in different ways with each different note. The split is probably in the F#/G area.
Brian,
I split a chanter reed (on one side that ran half the length of the slip) and repaired it with super glue.
I did this by sliding the bridle down and inserting a sheet of wax paper between the reed (used a business card to open things up) placing a thin line of super glue along the crack and working it in with a paperclip. You’ll probably have to squeeze the ends to get the split to line up, if you can’t line it up perfectly, then abort the mission!
I held it in place for the glue to set and lightly sanded the surface.
It wasn’t one of my best reeds, but it’s playable.
I know what you must be going through Brian. I think back on the days when I thought I was qualified to mess with reeds (scraping, sanding, trimming, rewinding, gluing, making reeds and choosing good cane). But, like I told elbogo a while back, unless you have about as much experience as a good reed maker, you’ll probably have better luck trying to improve a pair of reading glasses by sanding, grinding, and polishing the lens down for a clearer vision. I’m not kidding!
You may have the real thing, but I’d still like to see the smile on your face once you get a great set of pipes with great reeds made for your climate.
I have a penny chanter that seems to display some of the same idiosyncrasies as yours Brian. Although yours might be a little worse because you are up in Salt Lake. Anyway, my F# is quite weak as you describe, showing up mostly when I try to do FGA triplets. The initial note just isn’t there. Honestly though, I don’t think it’s anything to get too worked up about. For most purposes, I just finger F# with two fingers off the chanter. I certainly don’t think the PC is perfect, but for a couple hundred bucks, you can’t beat it. I also noticed that many of my “chanter problems” seem to clear up the better player I become. I also thought the chanter was too hard when I first got it, but after copious amounts of practice and dropping the bridle down towards the staple, I now have a bigger problem jumping the octave when I don’t want to. I think it just takes a little time to build up the muscles in odd places. Also to get the bridle where it’s optimal for you. Maybe you can get a more experienced player to play it for you and see if they experience the same problems. Otherwise, I would send it back to Daye. Just realize that Daye lives someplace cold and moist at sea level and you live someplace cold and dry at altitude. Despite Daye’s claims to the contrary, I doubt that his chanter is going to play for you “right out of the box.” Well, good luck.
JD
Brian,
Tony,s reply is correct on how to glue, but also listen to Lorenzo. You can ruin the reed trying to glue it. David would probably do it for you. It depends on how far down the reed and the location of the crack if the reed will come back for you. I play a chanter of David Quinn’s of the style that DD copied for the penny chanter. It does not exhibit the same weak F#. However, if also lifting the ring finger when playing F# helps, do it. Some of the top pipers playing lovely sounding old chanters have to use non-standard fingerings or shade holes in order to get them to play in tune. The best fingering is the one that yields the best result on any particular chanter.
This message board is only so good, a picture is worth 1K words. Elbogo’s sliding bridle problem sounded pretty easy to fix until he sent me a picture of it. I forwarded that pic to several other good pipers. We were all pretty much lost for words at what we saw. He’s getting a new reed that will help him greatly!
As for the gluing, crazy glue saturates the cane in a wide area beyond the crack and needs to be wiped off immediately, then scraped (not sanded–blades are more specific), otherwise the stiffness added to the cane will cause it to go sharp in dry climates, and lose it’s badly needed limberness. Scraping too much will flatten the pitch beyond repair. Sanding is too dangeraous (exposing the grain, and the cane disappearing too fast (unevenly) w/o flaking off the brittle glue). I’ve seen some reed makers use a tiny bead of soft white glue, which stays somewhat flexible, and requires no scraping.
Whether it’s me or the pipes I’m playing I’m not sure but even when playing others peoples pipes I find the two fingered F# a much more pleasing note and really effective on F# rolls. It has that great Willie Clancy or Tommy Reck yowl to it.
I use that right handed fingering for the C natural also and it brings the note to life!
Patrick.
[ This Message was edited by: Patrick D’Arcy on 2003-01-23 19:28 ]
OK, It’s kind hard to describe all this here but let me have another go.
First. The reed is split. So far as I can tell, it’s only on one of the slips, and it doesn’t appear to go more than half way down the scrape, but I could be wrong.
I am NOT planning on fixing it myself, but I don’t want to send off the only reasonably good reed I’ve got (out of three so far) just to get the same reed back in a ‘reasonalbe’ state. I’d really really like to just have a reed that plays well, and is more or less stable.
Second, the note I’m really having trouble with isn’t so much the F# but the Fnat. I have to half-hole it (as I don’t know of any useable cross-fingerings for first octave Fnat) and when I try to do that, that is when the reed won’t sound at all.
I have emailed David, and gotten a couple of replies, and I think I’m going to send the whole chanter back to him for a once over. He said it wasn’t nessicary, but after all the stress I’ve had, I have to wonder if there’s more to the dynamics here than just the reed.
I have had no fewer than five “good” pipers play my set, and all have commented on it’s idiocyncrisies. I play now with a room humidifier as well, so the relative is kept at 40% or higher at all times. Not ireland climate, but a LOT better than it has been.
Thanks though for the replies. If I can think of anymore that it’s been doing, I’ll post again.
Brian, what’s next?
You’ll resolve your reed issue on the practice chanter hopefully sooner than later, but then what?
I think you’ve already out grown the practice chanter and want to move on. Am I right? What say ye?
I’m not sure I follow what you mean Tony. I certainly haven’t gotten to a level I would dare call proficient just yet. I’ve only been playing since last March anyway. I would LOVE to get a half set some day, and though it’s on order, I will not be able to afford Seth’s full set when it comes due.
All I have hoped for with the Penny-Chanter, was a set up that would play with a reasonable amount of stability, and work here in Utah’s climate. By all accounts, Daye’s PC was the way to go.
I am not completely unhappy with it - when it’s good, it seems VERY good to me, but those times are rare unfortunately. I feel guilty that I’ve had so many issues with my set, and wonder time and again if it’s all related to my lack of experience.
Again though, whenever I’ve had others play the set, they too have commented on it’s quirks. Perhaps I should just go back to whistles only. They’re cheaper anyway.
I received my PC set from David and am extremely happy with it. WHile I am not an expert or even qualified to make a judgement, my friend who’s played the pipes for years, gave them a workout and was really impressed with the chanter and reed, as well as the kit form.
I find the reed to be easy to play, and certainly love the price to see if I can learn these as opposed to $1200 - $1500.
Oh by the way, my PC set are Uilleann pipes as well. Expensive hard woods, silver, and ivory don’t make the pipes, but what do I know. I love my set and am excited with learning.
What is your average humidity like out there? When I last heard from David, he also said that the reeds he was making back when he sent out my set (about 10 months ago now) were thicker and harder than what he’s doing now. This mught explain some of my troubles, but it’s hard to say.
Since it’s still a hand made instrument, I have to assume that even though the qualtiy control might be good, they aren’t perfect, and that the occasional lemon might get by. I hope that’s my case anyway. I’ve not had nearly the troubles when I play others sets from around the area.
Good observation! Chanters from the same maker, of the same pattern, will exhibit differences. This goes for penny chanters as well. If someone in your area has another penny chanter, get with them and try swapping reeds. That will let you know if it is the chanter or the reed giving you problems.
