reed question

rebelpiper · Post by **rebelpiper** » Tue Mar 04, 2003 12:39 pm

i have a reed that has a dull sound to it. meaning its not got that nice snappy bright sound i like in a reed. ...the reed was working fine until i decided to make it better :roll: ...... is there anything i can do to get this reed playing a little more crisp?...(ex...i cant get a hard D out of it at all)

Tony · Post by **Tony** » Tue Mar 04, 2003 1:22 pm

Do you recall what you did to make it 'better'?

rebelpiper · Post by **rebelpiper** » Tue Mar 04, 2003 2:13 pm

i wanted to make the reed harder to play so i trimmed the lips just a tad.
i got the stiffness out of it i wanted and it plays in tune but just dull.

Tony · Post by **Tony** » Tue Mar 04, 2003 4:38 pm

OK, how much is a tad?

If you cut too much (more than about 0.2mm ?)
the lips may be too thick. Did the intonation or
overall tuning change much after you trimmed
the reed?

Tony · Post by **Tony** » Tue Mar 04, 2003 4:41 pm

I should be asking more questions...
Who's chanter and who's reed??

Do you have any working spares?

Tony · Post by **Tony** » Tue Mar 04, 2003 4:43 pm

I usually recommend having a look at the troubleshooting
chart on Seth Gallaghers page:
http://www.uilleann.com/reeds.html

rebelpiper · Post by **rebelpiper** » Tue Mar 04, 2003 4:48 pm

......it is a lynch chanter and reed. it plays very well in tune, just kind of dull now....i dont think i cut too much off it, but who knows...i will check out that link you posted..thanks

trent

rebelpiper · Post by **rebelpiper** » Wed Mar 05, 2003 6:22 pm

the web page had some good info....i thinned out the blades a bit with some sand paper. got a phone call from a memeber on this forum that knew me. thanks larry for the help. the reed sounds pretty good. im going keep playing on it for a while and see what happens

Tony · Post by **Tony** » Wed Mar 05, 2003 6:32 pm

Glad to hear it's working out.

When scraping or sanding reeds it's best to do LESS than you think it needs. Come back in a day or two to see how the reed has re-adjusted the stress changes.