Using highland chanter reeds in bombarde ?
Posted: Fri Mar 15, 2013 6:52 am
Hello everyone
I was recently lent a bombarde which hasn't been played for a while - the reed is badly damaged and no longer works. I had some scottish chanter reeds, so I tried out some of those in it. I was able to get some notes in the low registers, but going up the scale after these it just doesn't want to work at all. Is this because I am using the 'wrong' reeds? They are a bit longer than the original bombarde reed, but other than that they seem to be the same type of construction. Any thoughts? Is it possible to get away with using these chanter reeds or should I just try and buy an actual bombarde reed? I might add, I can't say that I'm really a massive fan of this instrument, but I would quite like the personal satisfaction of being able to get a scale out of the thing before giving it back!
I was recently lent a bombarde which hasn't been played for a while - the reed is badly damaged and no longer works. I had some scottish chanter reeds, so I tried out some of those in it. I was able to get some notes in the low registers, but going up the scale after these it just doesn't want to work at all. Is this because I am using the 'wrong' reeds? They are a bit longer than the original bombarde reed, but other than that they seem to be the same type of construction. Any thoughts? Is it possible to get away with using these chanter reeds or should I just try and buy an actual bombarde reed? I might add, I can't say that I'm really a massive fan of this instrument, but I would quite like the personal satisfaction of being able to get a scale out of the thing before giving it back!