Ok, so I’ve took the time to re-adjust the rush/roll of my chanter, and everything is in tune again!
The back D doesn’t sink anymore, it still is kinda flat, but it can play perfectly in tun by lifting the index finger, and pressure adjustments. The bottom D is not to sharp ( it was SUPER sharp before) or not too flat, with the absence of a hard D!
I now speculate that the SUPER flat Back D was also a result of a SUPER sharp and unstable Bottom D. Now it plays just as good as it played before. Funny, I kept taking out, re-rolling, and even using different rolls and slivers of plastic wrap inside the Bell. But I re-rolled it, stuck it back in, and now I think it is out of pure LUCK that it happened! So I am not so sure if it was even a humidity problem after-all! But just in case, I still got the humidifier running. Now I will count the blessings and pipe on!
I seriously DON’T know how this chanter works, but then again, I don’t think I ever will. What happened!? Did i have my first reed Near-Death-Experience or what? Has this happened to any of you?
I dunno about you but I am 99.9999% convince that my chanter is alive! I swear if this stuff happens again, I will probably put my self in a mental institution…
Well, it might appear to be funny but there is a reason things being the way they are.
Drone reed Blobs of wax are not in the musical bore, they are devices to tune the reeds and help create good , stable sounds.
Rushes or bits of wire in regulators help us tune and balance the notes to the chanter both in pitch and power… but if the chanter is not ’ correct’ then it is not possible to adjust the rest of the instrument.
Regulators are like, and work like, chanters but much simpler, only playing four or five notes, usually ,and only in the low octave. Rushes help us in these tubes to maintain harmony and control of volume.
Chanters are much more complex musical tubes which play far better with no obstructions. A chanter that ‘needs’ a rush or wire inserted has either been over bored or is being asked to play at a pitch that it was never designed for.
Well done EC, you’re a piper who can think for himself and that makes you a piper with a future. Do what you need to do to keep your pipes playing ,if that means you have to use rushes and things well thats what you do ,all the greatest pipers have done it and let no one tell you otherwise .
An adjustable popping valve can tune the hard D; a bent paper matchstick can serve the same purpose, only not so elegantly. Maybe you could look at rushes, wax, tape the same way, if you’re super finicky about tuning, and can’t wait for the chanter reed to just warm up - perhaps this a concert vs flat pitch thing again?
Certainly as Geoff says - and has proven - you can make chanters that don’t need all that addenda. Listen to the best of his customers if you need convincing for some reason.
Sounds like a combination of a wonky reed, bad weather and over adjustment.
The chanter is probably fine but putting obstructions up the bore will make most problems worse.
I with Tommy on this one.
Your chanter is likely to be the last thing that is “wrong”.
Reeds and weather change all the time
So often on the forum people talk about their chanter playing out of tune…but I am pretty sure the maker of the chanter would have made it in tune.
Its the reed that changes, not the chanter. Get the right reed and it should sing again.
EC, I don’t know where you live, but out here in the Midwest, your reed troubles say “welcome to winter” to me. A recurring theme in the deep dark dry months…
I have heard it said that if a reed is made in a dry environment that it can play in a dry environment… Which makes some sense… I am not sure where your reed was made but have you tried a humidifier in your room… Or turn the shower for a bit and then off… and play in your bathroom? I know that both my reeds and the ones that came with my pipes do all sorts of bad things when humidity is below 30% and the play best closer to 50%.
I also have had the experience of using rushes to make the chanter in tune… But then had a good reed made by a pipemaker (he did not make this chanter), with the chanter in his hands… And no more rush needed.
A recurring theme in the deep dark dry months…