I was just looking at Islander’s new set in the “Pictures” thread and noticed how the E regulator key was handily placed for playing with either the BGB row or the CAC row and the next thing I knew I was indulging in the dangerous habit of thinking …
One reason for having a seperate E reg. could be so that the E note can be easily retuned without affecting the tuning of other notes. You might want to do this if you were changing from the key of D to the key of G as the E note is about 20 cents flatter in G. You might definitely want to do this if you could switch to G drones at the same time and were lowering the chanter’s E with your fingers. But what if you’re playing with D drones. Do they over-ride everything? Any thoughts, you E regulator owners?
I have no idea if tuning the E reg separately has anything to do with having a separate regulator for the note instead of having it for example on the baritone reg. After all I’ve read on the subject (not too much) I think it’s just easier to get a separate reg for the job, and with a long key you can to play the E note together with more than one row of keys on the other regs. It’s just more convenient that way, and being able to tune it separately is just a plus that comes with it. I think the bigger issue for the player is whether to have it next to the tenor or the bass reg. After long thinking I decided to have mine next to the tenor because I was afraid that if I had it next to the bass, I would accidentally always press it together with the bass reg keys when I only want to play the bass. I like to have the bottom of the chanter as close to the bass reg as possible, and press the bass reg keys with the base of my little finger. (The upper keys I might play with the thumb sometimes.) To me, operating the E reg when it’s next to the tenor seems easier to learn and it won’t mess up my technique as much. But now I have to be more careful with the bellows and my wrist.
I would also be interested in hearing some E reg thoughts from people who use it.
My E reg is tuned to the 1st octave E on the chanter. Like Islander’s, it is on a separate regulator, beside the tenor reg. This allows me to play E/G, E/A, E/B and E/C chords. But I usually only play E/G chords.
I don’t retune it for G tunes because, to be honest, I only use it in a handful of tunes.