When tuning the gaidunitsa, should I move the reed in/out of the socket or should I change the vibrating length of the reed tongue? Pushed all the way in as it came, it plays in F instead of E. I believe the tuning of the reed has changed in my local environment.
The reed also takes a lot of air or is this just the nature of the instrument?
Jeff
Normally, the tuning is done by changing the vibrating length and leaving the reed firmly pushed in. However, if moving the reed out of the socket does give you the result you wish, then fine. The reed may have dried out, is it still sharp after 15 or 20 minutes of playing, and has it been like this from the start, or is this a recent development?
These elder reeds do take a lot of air the way they come, and depending on the instrument maker (BTW, who made it?), can be more or less untuned. What you can do is, scrape the tongue at the base near the thread, this will flatten the tone and also make it easier to play.
If you want your kaba gaida to play comfortably, you should consider making your own reeds. I use plastic tubing from the model shop, with a cane tongue made from a tenor sax reed, and I fit a tuning bridle the same way the Bulgarians do for djura gaida reeds, this keeps me out of problems (mostly).
Pulling out (or pushing in) the reed changes the relative pitch of the chanter. Pulling out lowers the upper few (2-3 depends on the chanter) notes relative to the lower (because it increases the volume of air resonating slightly which has more effect on the high notes as the relative change in volume is greater). So you raise and lower the reed to get the notes in the chanter into correct relative relationship with each other. Same thing works on any chanter, be it single or double reed.
To tune the chanter, remember that a single reed is just a spring pendulum (like a diving board). You’ve got two parameters to work with, length and mass (assuming you can’t change the restoring force, which you can only do by carving on the tongue - usually a bad idea). As you play, the tongue of the reed absorbs water, so it gets heavier, which is why reeds tend to go flat as you play them (though I’ve met a few exceptions - usually reeds with warped tongues).
To raise the pitch, move the wrappings up the tongue or put on a bridle to shorten the tongue (dental rubber bands like they use on braces work well). To lower the pitch, put a blob of bees wax onto the end of the tongue. You could move the bridle down, but the advantage to bees wax is you can add it when the pipes are cold (and thus sharp) and take it off easily when they warm up.
Since I learned that wax trick I tune my Kaba (and djura) reed wrappings about twice a year.
Hey Gaydar, where are you located? Know anyone in the midwest who plays?
Jeff
MichaelLoos Can you post directions and pictures of you making your reeda?
Sorry, no pictures - I don’t have a camera (believe it or not - even my mobile phone can only be used for telephoning…).
The most important part is the reed body, and great care should be taken in making this. Many people use plastic nowadays, so do I. In Bulgaria, plexi glass is widely used, but this is hard to work with. I use ASA tubing from the model shop, in fact, mostly any type of plastic should work. Brass tubing is not recommended because it will cause moisture to condense in the reed.
You can follow the directions for making any composite drone reed - google is your friend. For the dimensions, the inner diameter should be slightly smaller than the ID of the chanter bore at the reed end (the diameter at the open end of the chanter is usually not identical with the diameter of the main bore). 5.5 - 6 mm ID tubing will in most cases work out for kaba gaida. Of course, you can also use solid plastic, in this case you should bore it to the same diameter as the original reed. You should allow for a little more length as a cane tongue will produce a higher tone than the elder of the original reed.
One important difference is the lay or bed for the reed tongue - mostly, the lay is being filed perfectly straight, and the reed tongue being slightly bent upwards. For a gaida chanter reed, the bed has to be made slightly slanted, and the reed tongue kept as straight as possible. When the tongue is in its position, there should be a gap of approx. 1.5 mm at the free end, between the tongue and the body. When looking at it from the front, the tongue has to be parallel with the body.
The reed tongue can be made from saxophone reeds - tenor sax reeds have the right length. When split lengthwise, one tenor sax reed will make for two kaba gaida reed tongues. Cut to the right length, the tongue should be long enough to cover the opening of the reed body, but not much longer (2 mm at the most). When cutting to length, cut the thinned part of the reed off. Next, trim to the desired width, which is the width of the lay, it should not overlap at the sides. Then carve the tongue to shape, start by cutting it to a uniform thickness of approx. 1.5 mm; all the bark from the reed should be removed in the course of this procedure. Next gradually thin the sides to achieve an arched cross-section. Tie the blade on and try, it should produce a sound by now. If not, you’ve done something wrong…
Try it in the chanter. If the reed is too heavy you’ll have to thin it over the full length. Now check for tuning. If it is sharp, you have to thin the base of the tongue (where the binding is). If it is flat, you can 1. shorten the tongue by adding more binding, or 2. thin the free end of the reed. Thinning the free end will also sharpen the top notes, so you will need to have some reserve for tuning. I usually tune my reeds slightly flat and use a tuning bridle, often O-rings are recommended for this, I find them not really suitable. You can make a bridle from waxed thread, or use a ring of silicone rubber, cut from the flexible pipe from a transfusion set (you’ll have to stretch it to get it over the reed, the bottom part of a biro will serve for this purpose).
If the reed tends to shut closed with pressure, gently spring the tongue to open it a little.
For tuning: if the highest notes are flat, thin the end of the tongue, if they are sharp, thin the base of the tongue.
For tuning a kaba gaida chanter, only the top hand notes are relevant, as the bottom hand notes are not normally used in the melody. If desired, the finger holes can be tuned with wax.
On most kaba gaida chanters, only one flea hole tone will work well (G nat, assuming E as the keynote). If this doesn’t work, trim the sides of the reed tongue to make it narrower, of course, you’ll have to untie and retie the tongue for this.
If the reed is very unstable in tone, check if the tuning bridle and/or the binding are tight. If they are, you’ve probably removed too much material from the middle of the tongue - discard and start again!
Hi,
Check this web site for the information you need: http://www.kabagaida.com