I know this subject has come up before. But in so many different threads with authors names that I don’t remember. I also know that it’s controversial and a tutchy suppgect. So please be constructive while posting in this thread.
On my set when I play a soft D it is flat in comparison to the drones (a little). However when I play a Hard D it’s in tune. The back D is also slightly sharp. An Adelaid piper recommended that I put a rush up the chanter (like the regs), but I don’t know about how to do this (what equipment you need etc). When do you know how much rush to leave in and when not to put in any.
What’s funny is all other notes on the chanter are fine and in tune.
with the bottom D, that’s basically how you want it. The Hard D should be in tune, the soft D generally tends to be slighty flat. There probably are complicated ways to even it out, but why bother?
The sharp back D is remedied with some tape over the hole.
You could try doing reed adjustments to remedy both the soft bottom D and the back D, but you’ll probably go insane in the process.
A rush will probably just flatten the already flat soft bottom D and render your in-tune hard D out of tune. A little blob of blu-tac in the bell may help to even the two out, but as you say the soft d is only ‘a little’ flat, I wouldn’t bother.
A rush once meant literally a bit of rush - a long, thin stringy bit. You can use anything - a stick of dried spaghetti, a piece of wire, etc. Anywhere you put a “rush” in will flatten the note, so if you put a rush in that goes up to the F# hole, you will flatten F#, E, and bottom D - and so on.
Your friend’s suggestion to rush bottom D means a short bit of wire - a couple of inches long - up into the bell at the bottom of your chanter. Bend it around a bit so it stays put. The rush would flatten your hard bottom D as well as the soft bottom D. That means you would have to also play with moving the reed in and out to find a spot where your bottom Ds would be back in tune again, but at least they’d both be in tune with each other.
that’s actually how I like to keep my set. However, I like to also keep the drones just a little flat and A a little sharp. Funny, I was just talking to a layabout pipemaker the other day on this very issue.
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