I’ve been playing the same reed in the same chanter since 1982. (I’ve had the chanter since the late 1970’s.) At various Tionoil various reedmakers have had a go at reeding my chanter without success. I’ve sent my chanter to a couple reedmakers to be fitted with a reed without success. (I know what you’re thinking: have the guy that made the chanter make a reed! But the reed he sent was terrible and he refused to make another.)
It was only by luck that I got a working reed at all: I had aquired a set in 1982 that had a Dan Dowd reed in it, which unlike any other reed gave a good scale in my chanter, but was a wimpy half-dead reed. Sean Folsom did his magic and brought it back to life and I’ve been playing it ever since.
But, it’s not a good reed at all, but a wimpy dead reed brought to a semblance of life by a reed necromancer.
I’m thinking, very seriously, about having a good local reedmaker disassemble the only reed that has ever worked in my chanter so as to do a postmortem and create a new, better reed on the original staple.
I know this isn’t ideal, but I have a number of reeds around from different chanters and ones I have made. None of these reeds (for D chanters) are what I would call particularly good reeds, but one may work in your chanter. You can try them out if you would like. I know you live close. I live in Mission Viejo so it would only take about 20 minutes to get to you one of these nights. It might get you by for a short bit. I would even suggest tonight but it is open house at my kids school tonight but maybe we could try it soon. I telecommute Fridays, so that could work out.
I can measure your reed too, without you disassembling it, and try my poor skills on it. Like you are thinking, Michael O’Donovan would be your best bet.
Hmmm. No response to this one. It must be a different chanter
I would agree with BigDavy, though: a new chanter is in order. That would obviate the need to conveniently distort the facts of what actually happened in 1978.
From your reply I am positing that it is a K&Q chanter in question, which surprises me as the admittedly few K&Q chanters I have had my hands on sounded lovely.
David
Edited to add that he might be interested in this one
Yes Big Davey that’s the chanter you hear in the YouTube video.
It’s by utter luck, chance, happenstance, or whatever that that Dan O Dowd reed played in it. No reedmaker before or since has had any luck reeding it.
But at our recent SoCal Tionol Michael O Donovan did indeed come tantalisingly close to coming up with a reed design that works.
He discovered that a very short staple was required, the shortest he had seen as I recall. And a rather wide staple to boot. He feels that he can make a working reed without cannibalising my only working reed.
It would be great to get together with a fellow OC piper! Thanks! Richard
POssibly destroy your only working reed - definately a no no.
Measure as accurately as you can and make a new one.
There are reedmakers and those who profess to be reedmakers who will alter a chanter to suit what they think is the right reed.
Wot is the history of the chanter Is it in original condition or has it been got at, possibly dremelised by persons unknown
John
