reed tuning

anima · Post by **anima** » Thu Jul 11, 2002 9:22 pm

hello folks,

Many of my reeds (made by me) tend to play backD and C# a whole semitone flat. Any guess as to what I'm doing wrong and how to fix it?

Jeff

Lorenzo · Post by **Lorenzo** » Thu Jul 11, 2002 11:34 pm

Tell us a little more, whose chanter, D or flat pitch, total length of reed, total width of blade tips, opening size and opening width of blades, etc. If you have other reeds that work right, is there a difference in measurements? Is the eye of the staple the right size and distance from the blade tips? You might try adjusting just that part. Pushing the staple further into the blades, before tying, will sharpen the back D, while one not far enough in will flaten it. What does pushing the reed into the chanter do to the other notes besides sharpen the back D? As for the C# being flat too, what is the C natural like? Is it the same as the fingering for C#? I assume you are using the correct fingering as illustrated on the charts. I assume the thumb hole has the right size opening. I play with reeds that are only wrapped (tightly) with plumbers tape (white plastic stuff found at any plumbing supply and other stores). After a few months, if I'm completely happy with the reed, I might wrap hemp or other binding around the tape, and varnish it with a variety of mixes to harden it permanantly. Leaving it wrapped in just the white plastic teflon tape (industrial strength) allows you to take it apart several times and put it back together, making experimental adjustments. Always use new tape when rewrapping. For less than one US dollar you can get 500 ft of the stuff. Of course the experts might have other solutions.

Lorenzo

AlanBurton · Post by **AlanBurton** » Fri Jul 12, 2002 2:31 am

Jeff,
Without knowing the make of chanter, or seeing the reed, obviously it's not possible to diagnose definitely. But, here are a few reasons that may cause this. Making the slip too thin widthways and depthwise/making the scrape too wide/having too narrow an eye and taper in the bridle(causing the reed to have too small a cavity in the head)/too big an eye and taper (causing too big a cavity thus requiring too much closing to make playable/not inserting the staple into the head far enough. (That's a lot of toos'). If you care to follow this up by email, feel free to contact me and hopefully I can get in a bit deeper:)

Alan

<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: AlanBurton on 2002-07-12 04:33 ]</font>

anima · Post by **anima** » Fri Jul 12, 2002 7:18 am

backD plays as C# and C# plays as Cnat.

Reed head is 12.5 - 13 mm wide, staple length is 2 1/8 inch with a 2mm wide eye.

If I push the staple about an inch into the chanter it brings the two notes up to where they should be but pushes some other notes out of tune. This also puts the staple end in the bore itself.

I have one reed where I can get the two in tune by pushing the bridle up about a quarter of an inch and then closing it down - really closed down though (too closed by a hair in fact).

What affects the tuning of backD and C#, what part of the reed/ scrape is responsible for it?

BTW, I've never varnished the reeds, I always just use the white PTFE tape also.

AlanBurton · Post by **AlanBurton** » Fri Jul 12, 2002 9:01 am

Gonna take a chance here. I don't recommend PTFE as you can't get the tension for a good reed (I've only ever used it to create a seal under the binding), using hemp or waxed polysomethingorother is the best, the tension imparts spring into the head and stops the head vibrating or moving below the binding. Check for leaks too. 2 1/8 inch staple, is that over 50mm? If so try a 50mm staple (may bring the D and C in, but then you will need to find how to pitch the reed. Do you make a secondary gouge on the tails? Try also to bring the staple eye to as near to 1.6mm.Careful letting the staple into the bore, over time this can ream it and cause untold problems.
Alan

<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: AlanBurton on 2002-07-12 11:03 ]</font>

anima · Post by **anima** » Fri Jul 12, 2002 1:51 pm

Let me clarify,
I'm not using the PTFE as a primary wrap, I first bind the reed with waxed hemp and then wrap PTFE around the hemp to seal it (instead of of shellac - which then makes the binding permanent)

AlanBurton · Post by **AlanBurton** » Sun Jul 14, 2002 4:50 pm

OK, Sorry about the mistake re: ptfe binding...Any of the other info help point to correcting the problem?
Alan

anima · Post by **anima** » Sun Jul 14, 2002 5:29 pm

actually I think I've figured it out.

I am now making my reeds shorter and fatter, seems to have fixed things for me.

Jeff

Brian Lee · Post by **Brian Lee** » Sun Jul 14, 2002 8:28 pm

What a great thread!!

OK experts!

If I've got a David Daye penny-chanter in D, and I'm now on my third reed from David (the first two were VERY loud, and when the reed elevation was brought down to allow a decent playing/listening volume, my back D, E (second octave) and C#/Cnat. were all sinking and flat.

This new reed seems to have fixed most of these issues, but the one problem I KEEP experiencing is the whole of the chanter plays about 30-50 cents sharp!

I've tried working with the bridle, and pushing the staple in or pulling it out if the reed seat in the chanter itself, to no effect.

Should I think about moving the staple in relation to the reed lips too? Perhaps sliding it out just a touch to make the reed longer in effect? Would doing this screw the whole of the rest of the tone, and volume?

Thanks!!

B~