I’ve never had a problem with the C-nat in the first octave before…
But yesterday I made a batch of reeds out of a new kind of cane that I’m trying, and all these new reeds play a c# when I finger c-nat.. The c# is well in tune and only flattens a little bit when I lift the f# finger… When I pop one of my old(old as in reeds made before yesterdays batch) reeds into the chanter it plays c-nat nicely…
Just wanted to get some thoughts on this… I did notice the new cane I’m trying out it a little on the hard side…
It still stays in C#, but like I was saying If I put a reed not made of the new cane in the chanter the c-nat works fine.. The new reeds of this new cane work fine exept for the c-nat playing c#.. So I’m guessing its the cane…
I have the exact same problem with my reed…it sometimes plays a C# instead of a Cnat. I notice that it tends to pop back in tune if I lighten off the pressure or if I lift more fingers off the chanter. I suspect it’s also a humidity issue, since it seems to be happening more often right now when it’s been raining.
The only thing is… All my other reeds work perfectly exept the one’s made from the new cane… I’m going to make some reeds with my last batch of cane and see if its the cane causing the problem. Thanks for all the input…
Something to double-check: that you’re not inadvertantly tuning sharp. In my experience this can cause the Cnat to “stay sharp”, and it’s caught me off guard before.
Also, since scraping the reed head thinner tends to reduce this problem, it may go away by itself as the new reeds settle in…
i have to wonder if there is not another issue invovled…i had a similar experience a while back, and i could be totally wrong about this, but i have to wonder if the distance between your C# & F# holes is too far - or maybe too short.
i say this looking at my dave williams made concert D and the distance (from centerlines) is about 5-1/8" (130.2 mm) and the Garvin book has this distance just over 5" (127.8 mm). a while back when i had more time i made a bunch of experimental chanters and moved the holes around - made them smaller/larger, etc. - and no matter what i did, it seemed that there was some required magic distance between these two holes. if the holes were too far apart or maybe too close, the C did not appear. sometimes it worked if the G hole was vented at the same time (as some chanters do) and some worked if the E hole was open. and sometimes it didn’t matter how many holes were opened - it would not bend the C# into a C, even while the C# was in tune. i have read that some makers like to raise the C# hole higher and wonder if you are not working from that model. what is the distance? i’d be curious to know what this distance is on most concert D chanters as well.
again, i could have imagined all this - but i wonder if this, coupled with lower humidity (as some have suggested) is causing the problem. perhaps someone with more experience knows otherwise.
I agree that the placement (and size) of the F# hole can affect this behavior, and suspect that a misplaced F# hole could make it chronic. However, as the acoustic response of the chanter will depend on the exact details of the chanter bore (including localized perturbations and the presence of other tone holes), I would be doubtful that there is any “magic ratio” that applies to all chanter designs. For this reason, measuring and comparing tonehole placement on different chanters is of limited use, unless you have bore details and a good computer model of the impedance to go with them.
what you said i agree to and i only mentioned those dimensions as an example, assuming similarity for rowsome D chanters. i realize there is likely a lot more to it (but not magic) than what i mentioned and only put it out there for a start…i’d like to know more on the subject.
I think I found the problem with this particular chanter… When I step bored the chanter one of the bits must have not centered perfectly and after reaming their is a step still in the bore inbetween the f# and g holes which although small has caused the bore to be opened more due to the drill wondering… This has never happened before but It has to be the problem because the other chanters work fine with the same reed and they are made to the exact dimentions. This one in question still has the c-nat problem.. Time to scrap it and make another.. It was a beautiful chanter too. But quality sound comes first.. So firewood it becomes…
If you had a reed that worked before, don’t firewood the chanter!!! There’s ways and ways. I’ve had runs of reeds where I lose Hard D, or C becomes C# and you just have to take a breather and try again. There are people playing chanters with worse problems than a C that won’t play in tune. tape/rushes/etc., might get it going.
Honestly, if the C is the only problem it would be silly to bin it.
