I found a huge chanter , it has to be in key of Bb , and Im wondering how to go about reeding it ? I have reeds that I made for my D-chanters but I think this Bb is going to need a reed of some different dimensions, because the thing is so big compared next to a D-chanter. And since it’s Bb I’m sure it is a flat-chanter.
So my question is.. if you had a D-chanter and Bb chanter made by the same maker … what would be the differences between the reeds for these two chanters ? I am guessing that since the Bb chanter is much longer then the D-chanter that the staple would also have to be alittle longer ? But since flat chanters often use more narrow blades , then I have to consider this also ? Anyone out there have both a D-chanter and Bb chanter and can comment about the construction of the reeds ?
Seth Gallagher gives dimentions for B and C reeds on his website under the heading Reed Making Workshop. Surprisingly, the dimentions he gives for the staple and slip are smaller for B & C than for D (or I might be reading it wrong, which is entirely possible as I’ve not yet had my coffee).
From left to right, for narrow bore Froment B chanter:
(made by D. Hueline) Staple: brass tubing 1/8"ID x 5/32" OD. Staple length: 45mm. Head width: 10.5mm. Overall length: 76mm.
(made by A. Froment) Staple: brass tubing 1/8"ID x 5/32" OD. Staple length: 45mm. Head width: 11mm. Overall length: 77mm.
(made by A. Burton) Staple: brass tubing 1/8"ID x 5/32" OD. Staple length: 44mm". Head width: 11.5mm. Overall length: 74mm.
NOTE: This reed had a staple that was 51mm long when I first got it: . Overall, the reed was about 80-81mm long. It played in Bb on this B chanter.
(made by C. Roberts) This Charles Roberts reed, made for a Roberts D chanter,
works pretty well in tune on the Froment B…believe it or not.
Staple: brass tubing 1/8"ID x 5/32" OD. Staple length: 42mm. Head width:
11mm. Overall length: 72mm.
In other words, you might should try some already made reeds in it first
before making a new one. Also, the chanter might be either a narrow
bore or medium bore…which might make a difference. My Froment B
chanter is 17 5/8 inches long.
Thanks, Guys. Looks like a Bb reed shouldn’t be too monstrously different then a D-reed then. About the same blade width, maybe some small variation in blade/staple length, but nothing that looks too drastic. Im at work now but I guess what I’ll have to do at home is first try a good D-reed and see how it behaves. I am expecting the 2nd octave to be flat.. in that case I can plan on using Seth’s tips of increasing the staple length to bring the octaves together. I’ll post any success I have with this effort in the coming weeks- LOL
Flat chanter reeds are usually made from cane with a 20 mm outer diameter, as opposed to concert D reeds, which are usually made from cane with a 25 mm outer diameter.
Actually a lot of the time they don’t have anything to do with each other at all. But don’t listen to me.
Lorenzo’s D reed is rather exceptional in using 1/8" ID tube for its staple. This is perhaps a “narrow-bore” chanter. Most makers these days make staples for D chanters out of 5/32" ID, and these are wide-bore chanters - bottom of bore is .5"/12.5mm or more. Confusing this issue perhaps is that many reedmaking books refer to 1/8" ID tube for flat chanters and 3/16" OD tube for concert pitch. Beats me why reedmakers started talking in those terms.
Tony’s little diagram is from Brad Angus, by the way. Copyright infringement! Go to the parent directory of that image and there’s this quasi-Brad website - wuzzup with that, Tony? I covered that one already. Those look like old photos Brad did with his crummy 35mm camera.
The Bb reeds I make for my Angus chanter are about 3 3/8" total length. The head is longer than usual for concert stuff, and narrow - about .42 wide. Staple’s 2 1/8, although I’ve tried 2 1/4, 2 1/2" even. The blank for the head is 4 1/2", although I usually trim that a few times when it’s tied up.
Now, I had an earlier model Bb chanter from Brad that had a wider bore and bigger fingerholes. The bell of the bore was more like .45 than the newer ones, which are about .400. This earlier model chanter was based on an Egan, and would play well - but usually sharp of modern Bb, so Brad switched to this other model.
The reeds I made for the older Angus chanter work in my old concert pitch Quinn chanter - which has a monsterous huge bore and holes. Also some coat hangers in this case…anyway many makers make wider bore/bigger fingerholed flat chanters than Brad. Quinn and Gallagher, to name two.
Kevin,
It’s not a unique design… no infringement.
Brad must have sent those pictures to me three or four years ago. Remember, I sent you that link for an idea to Brad’s webpage?
I thought all those frames detracted from impact and one image with a menu was a cleaner look.
Thanks for all the measurements guys… I’m going to have to come back to this page with my notepad when I get started making a reed for this.
An oldtimer gave me this chanter for making a bunch of smallpipe reeds for him, though the chanter doesn’t look too , too old. It says something like M.Kwisthout on it. It measures almost 18 1/2 inches long. Tonight I took this huge chanter and tried my homemade reed I use in my d-chanter.The electronic tuner did register a Bb on the bottom note… the back D was totally broken up and I could get about 3 notes in the upper octave, all sharp . Seth’s reed chart says that a sharp upper octave needs the inner staple volume to be reduced… that goes along with what you guys are saying about the flat chanters needing a smaller diameter staple. …I tried playing it for alittle while,wow, what a different sound, I like it. I had to stretch my fingers more then on a Highland chanter ,almost painful, ouch. When I went back to playing the d-chanter, the d-chanter felt like a little baby, ha.Even though I couldn’t get into the 2nd octave I could noodle around down on the first octave . So, like a good piper, I looked around for something to stick it into… I plugged it into a Bb smallpipe set because I wanted to hear the chanter’s Bb against the smallpipe’s Bb drones . Ahh,nice… I can see the appeal of the flat sets… also, it seemed like it took less pressure to play then the concert-d, so it matched the pressure of the Bb smallpipe drones nicely… I could get used to that sound. Now I just have to make a Bb reed , because it will greatly enhanced the versatility of my Bb smallpipe set if I keep plugging it in there!
