Just watched Liam O’Flynn played “Water under the keel”, very well as usual, and noticed at 6:08 - 6:10 minutes in that there is a significant gap between the Rowsome chanter’s ivory end mount and the bottom silver ferrule. Is this purposely done, that is an extra piece of wood put in under the ferrule, in order to extend the bore to make the chanter play easier in tune with itself at A=440 when playing with other musicians? Leo’s chanters were made to play sharp I recall.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3l8V-N91ve0
Yes, concert pitch was sharper when Leo made this set compared to today.
A larger than normal reed (or larger than Leo would have made) can help tune these old chanters down to 440 but it’s far from perfect. The chanter won’t be in tune with itself so you have the usual problems like flat back D, sharp bottom D, sreaming sharp upper 2nd octave notes.
Alain Froment came up with a very clever ‘iris’ like gizmo to help this on his Rowsome copies. You’ll have seen other less refined contraptions to counteract this problem. Rolled up paper/plastic, U-bend on a rush,
Tommy
Alain Froment came up with a very clever ‘iris’
Wasn’t that Brian Howard’s idea?
As an aside,
I realise that, in theory, a longer ferrule will flatten the bottom and, indeed, it sounds lovely and in tune in this clip.
BUT, don’t do it!!
It seems an easy, quick fix but it can cause other problems.
The shape of the bores effect on the standing wave is shifted down a notch and the humps and bumps of the bore design and now in the wrong place, kinda. So other notes will now suffer,
It has a similar effect to those adjustable pistons on regulator end caps…
Tommy
Wasn’t that Brian Howard’s idea?
You might be right there.
Brian makes an adjustable one too.
…simply a case that the original ferrule-ivory-smaller ferrule-ivory ring came off in the past, so now
its just ferrule-gap-ivory…
…simply a case that the original ferrule-ivory-smaller ferrule-ivory ring came off in the past, so now
its just ferrule-gap-ivory…
Maybe, but it looks deliberate to me. Doesn’t seem to be any ivory missing and the ferrule looks to be of a different metal. Stainless steel most likely.
I’ve made a chanter based off of measurements taken from this one, and I can report that it does play quite sharp of 440 in its “just off the reamer” form. Can’t comment on the actual question asked in the initial post, though.
Andy
“I’ve made a chanter based off of measurements taken from this one, and I can report that it does play quite sharp of 440 in its “just off the reamer” form. Can’t comment on the actual question asked in the initial post, though.” Andy.
I guess it was done on purpose as it would be too much to expect a whole orchestra to tune up to match the Rowsome during the recording of the “Brendan voyage” tunes that required a “D” chanter, and also on those occasions when the “Brendan voyage” was played “live” with an orchestra. I wonder if the original, fabled, Leo Rowsome reed was used in the chanter together with the ferrule modification.
As Tom notes, lengthening the ferrule tends to affect the tuning of other notes, particularly in the bottom hand (F# is typically affected strongly).
This can be useful in some situations, for instance if the lower bore is rushed for other reasons, it can help restore missing cavity volume in the closed lower bore. If you suffer from a “wide F# octave” in particular this s worth a try.
My guess is that O’Flynn is doing this for reasons of internal scale tuning, rather than just to flatten the bottom D for which there are many possible solutions.
Well, I tend to believe what Liam himself told me. I handled the thing on a meeting with him in 1991 and he
recounted that it was like this when he took it over from Clancy - also shared some other stories about other bits lost over the years.
Sophisticated tuning device? P’raps, but only as the result of accident…
M
If you suffer from a “wide F# octave” in particular this s worth a try.
Could you explain what you mean by this - problem & possible solution?
And heres the evidence https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w6JzNhMjJDM
RORY
Your honor I’d like ask the jury to ignore the evidence in the video. 
The video shows Clancy playing ‘a’ Rowsome set.
Leo made lots and there’s no evidence to say that the one in the video is the Reid set. We know Willie didn’t own a Rowsome set but he borrowed a couple over the years. (The one in the video looks a lot like Sean Seerys set to me)
If anything it tells us that more than one piper positioned that bottom ferrule lower on the chanter to flatten the problematic bottom D on sharp Rowsome sets.
I’d like to point out to the jury that Sean Seery’s set has a metal stock ,where the one in the Clancy vid has a wooden one.
RORY
In the pre-song banter in My Heart is Tonight in Ireland Liam mentions Willie played ‘this particular set of pipes here, actually’
The history of the Reid set is pretty well documented. That Paddy Donoghue played it, when Clancy had it etc. The Seán Seery set has two drone soundboxes, which sets it apart from most other Leo Rowsome sets (I can only think of Leon Rowsome’s as having the same feature) while the Reid set is probably the only one with a Harrington type knob at the end of the bass reg.
The Leo Rowsome D full set that Liam O’Flynn plays was once belonged to Willie Clancy and before that Sean Reid.
Liam uses Andreas Rogge bellows, bag/cover, new brass cup on bag but also has wooden chanter top also not using. He may had full set overhaled as well when the C# Coyne Ennis set was in for overhale with Andreas in around 1996.
Liam at gigs/concerts in Belfast NI has quote a few times to say
“The pipes I am playing is a Leo Rowsome set and Willie Clancy played them and past them to me before that played by Sean Reid.”
Cheers
Fergus
The set only ever ‘belonged’ to Seán Reid. Everybody else had it on loan from him.