Interesting article from the nine-note guys:
https://bagpipe.news/2020/04/28/aspects-of-tuning-reeds/
M
Yes I was taught about that in piping school back around 1980, I hadn’t heard of it before.
I was told by an uilleann reedmaker that the staple is a miniature recreation of the chanter bore. To create a staple design he would measure the chanter at its widest and narrowest points and crunch the numbers to come up with the internal dimensions of the staple.
This Highland pipe thing is similar, that the reed head is a miniature recreation of the chanter.
The odd thing is, it works. At piping school Pipe Major Evan MacRae demonstrated it for us, it was amazing.
If F# is sharp OR flat carving at the F# spot on the reed will often fix it. It seems impossible but good reed people can do it.
The other thing MacRae demonstrated was shaving a reed, if done right, makes it easier to play AND makes it louder. Most people use harder reeds to get more volume. He demonstrated that you don’t need to do that.
Yes that type of staple works, but it’s not the only type that works. One of the best Reeds that I’ve had, had a hobby tubing staple, nothing like a miniature chanter bore shape.
RORY
For sure UP staples can be simple tubes! Strange that.
Also strange that if it’s a cone it can go either way.
I can’t remember seeing a Highland pipe tube staples, all the ones I’ve examined have been rolled into a cone shape. Also, I think all the Highland staples I’ve seen have been oriented the same way.