I don’t know nuthin’, but my regs come in after the chanter, i.e. I need to pressure a bit beyond the point where the chanter sounds before the regs start to sound. Is this right? Is this the way it should be? Personally, I would like my regs to come on at the same time as the chanter, but that might cause too big a drop in pressure to keep the chanter sounding stably.
The player who told me, said that the regs can overblow if they are set as light as the chanter…
…but the pressure difference should be very subtle and slight. Inflate your bag or squeeze it at normal speed in the test, and the chanter and regs will appear to be simultaneous.
Inflate and squeeze at an incredibly gentle rate, and after 20 or 30 secs or more the A will start, followed in up to another 1 or 2 secs at most, by the reg[s].
Regs reeds too light? OOOOooo, I DRREEeeeaam of having reg reeds too light! Mine are always closing up. I have to pump to get them to sound at all in this weather (32C, 65 % RH). I’m at work right now, but I’ll test the method you suggest tonight.
On the subject, for my Lynch 3/4 concert set, I recently replaced the cane regulator reeds that Kirk supplied with Bronze reeds from Seth Gallagher. They work great and play with very little additional pressure and have a reasonable range of pitch stability with pressure changes. The cane reeds required considerable pressure. You do have to be careful not to overblow them, it is possible to kick them into the second octave if you’re sloppy.
I had phosphor-bronze reg reeds at first, and they were great, very light to play, and always stayed in tune. But then one day they stopped working - at all - and neither I nor my pipemaker could get them working again. I have heard of others having similar experiences, i.e. they’re great until the die, and when they die it is sudden and total.
Speaking or reg reeds. I can barely play the chanter much less the regs, but my hand does occasionaly smack one of them. They are horribly out of tune. I’d like to tune them so when I do accidently smack them I at least get a somewhat pleasant sound, not the sad twonk that emerges currently. That way I can at least pretend that I intended to whack 'em.
What is the best way to go about tuning them? My turning wire dealies are rushed but don’t get anywhere near where they need to be.
Just thought I’d bring this topic up the board a bit as I’m sure there are 1 or 2 reg players out there who might have an opinion on the preferred way to set reg reed pressures.
I havn’t heard a regulator note overblow in a long time. Just cane reeds, is what I use. Sometimes the D or the tenor A will become a bit unstable, meaning the reed needs to be opened up slightly. We had some record high temperatures in Oregon recently. The only effect on my pipes was for the regulator D and baritone drone to warble slightly - I only had to adjust the regulator, the drone fixed itself. I believe you have to have the double reeds wrapped up very tightly, or they’ll shift in weather changes unnacountably. Also it seems like the first few years you own a set of pipes the wood shrinks and expands a bit, no matter the seasoning the maker puts into them, and affecting performance; but as time goes by the wood settles down for good.
Regulator keys must clear the hole enough or they will overblow as described. The key may need adjusted, but first try a thinner pad. Thin pad = more clearance for the sound. Pads can be quite thin and work fine. My regulators don’t start up much later than the chanter, but I think there is a slight gap. I set the regs up simply hard enough to play steadily, and no more. Another factor is the width of a regulator reed staple - it should be quite small, 1/8" tubing works with flat sets. The smaller the staple and throat of the bore the less inclined the pipe will be to overblow. Craig Fischer discusses this in an article on a Harrington ‘B’ set, on the 2nd Sean Reid Society CD.
Boyd I have conducted your “scientific” test and it produced the following data…
1st to sound…at 10seconds the Drones
2nd…at 11seconds the A note on the chanter
3rd…at 12 seconds the regulator
I think the above proves your point which is your need to see a doctor urgently or visit Glasgow sometime soon.(Piping Hot festival next month)
Also if the regulators are balanced then a note going into the second register on occassion will not sound bad at all but will in fact ,if in harmony,be quite pleasing.
Uilliam