I’ve made hundreds of reeds over the years and it’s only now that I feel I’m somewhat getting the hang of it. It still amazes me that when I put 2 pcs of cane together, they make a sound at all, much less make lovely sounds.
Recently, I was making a reed for my Rogge B chanter. When I first got the reed together, I thought it was going to be great, but it wasn’t. The crow was good, but the reed didn’t sound well. Now, there are those makers to throw the reed in the bin and start over, no questions no rise in blood pressure. Myself, I wanted to put together my good crow with a chanter sound that worked. The Rogge B is nothing short of excellent, so if the reed is right, the chanter’ll show it. I kept tweaking the reed, moving the bridle (I was going with a wire yoke, ala Rogge), etc. Eventually, I ended up with a brilliantly sweet reed! (Perhaps a soundfile to follow?)
The moral of the post is to perhaps not give up so quickly on something you have a good feeling about. (good feeling is developed over time and loads of successful reed making). The tweaking and chasing, if you can do it when you are calm, can prove to be a great education.
Sometimes I find that a reed that does not work initially, will work very well after sitting awhile, and vice versa. But more often than not, a week really helps.
Personally, I have never experienced the “it doesn’t work-now, a week later it does” phenomenon. I know leaky sides can relax etc., but I’m usually too impatient, so I attend to the leak. That, combined with the “leaky sides today-leaky sides next week, too” phenomenon … well… there it is!
I can vouch for the sound of the Rogge B chanter/reed combination that Brazenkane is describing. He sent a sound file to me the other day, and it is a mighty sound indeed. Great job!
Ive been messing around with reeds for years but only recently decided to try making them. A Week with Dave Hegarty and I ended up with a bunch of concert pitch reeds in various states of playability so Imagine my surprise when I put the only reed I made for my Rogge C chanter in the chanter to find it worked! I made the Staple and head as a direct copy of one of my O’Hare working reeds but never for a moment thought it would actually work! Beginners luck !
Nice playing Brazencane,
Edit; Sorry BrazenKane ! cane? oh dear this reed making must be getting to me…
Indeed, if “it” hasn’t gotten to you, it will get to you!
Congrats with the C Rogge reed! Perhaps you can post a file? Did we not meet? Although, I wasn’t in Dave’s class…I was in and out of the portable on more than one occasion…
Any reed maker who’s reeded many different instruments and has essentially been through the mill, will tell you that if you have a great chanter, your labours...if accurate, will be well rewarded. It’s a great feeling to know that in affect, the chanter is there to “support you” once you’ve cracked the code, as it where.
Aye, we met several times! I really enjoyed the week, great craic and that kind of work is just up my street, quietly tipping away, I do fine detail wood carving anyhow.
Sound sample, nah , not yet, I want to break it in a bit or make it a bit easier still, I have a dodgy shoulder.
My new Chris Bayley D chanter is really sweet ATM so Im on that most of the time.
What? did ya recognise me from my profile picture? !
There are many variables of course. Also, if you’re using a wire bridle ala Andreas, you’ll have to experiment.
I’ve had luck with 11.9mm after tied on, and perhaps 25.5mm long when using a wire bridle nearly 1/4 of the way up. Saying that, I have one w. a wire bridle at the wrap. It all depends on the scrape.
11.89 width after tied on
22.8 total Head Length (Less 3mm: wire bridle at wrap: 5 wraps of .5mm width brass wire. I heated it to make it more maliable)
i’m starting to think that the rogge head width might be easier to tune if the width were in the 12.2-12.7 range. I’m not certain about just how wide. Andreas, MAY have told me 12.5 to 13. That’s wide for a B (13mm), i think…but 12.5 seems good.
