only A sharp ... odd

Uilleann Pipes
1

I’ve been away from reed making for a few weeks. The batch of 5 I made this week all had the same strange defect: first octave A is very sharp, while the rest of the chanter is in good balance in both octaves (tested with drone and tuner).

I know this seems really odd, but there you have it.

I’ve played around with bridle position and reed depth, but this results in unsatisfactory effects on the rest of the chanter.

I have not yet monkeyed around with staple insertion depth or staple opening. I’d like to fix this without retying if possible.

I’d appreciate any advice from the reed makers out there.

Thanks-
Dave Jones

2

Quick fix… tape over a part of the hole. For making a reed to not have this problem, or adjusting an existing reed with this problem, here are some good thoughts from Davy Stephenson’s website:

http://www.bagpipeworks.co.uk/reeds_j.htm

3

Thanks! I recognize the diagrams you linked – I have an enlarged version posted in the work area.

When I tape the hole, it leaves the 2ve a little flatter than I’d like, but I can adjust.

On to the next batch…

4

Reeds need to be played in after having been newly made. I mean, REALLY played in… play the living crap out of them.

It can take a good while for a new reeds cane to acclimate not only to the surrounding environment, but to its new body shape. Playing the hell out of it helps settle them in.

5

I’d like to fix this without retying if possible.

Individual note problems usually need some redesigning somewhere, unfortunately.

Why not take a couple of the 5 you made and alter each one differently to see the out come.

A flatter longer ‘flare’ on your staple will bring the upper notes of the 2nd 8ve down, as will a narrower eye (which is really a by product of a longer, flatter flare).

Withdrawing the staple a little will flatten the whole of the 2nd 8ve.

Or, even try a small piece of wire (effectively a small rush) into the reeds staple (experiment with length and thickness and positioning).

keep making!

6

Would leaving the scrape a little thicker at the bridle end help? I’ve heard the top hand notes, except back D, sort of live in this section of the reed sometimes refered to as the box.

7

Opening the reed flattens the A (1st oct) the “spongy note” as Peter calls it. Closing the reed sharpens the A. Try opening your reeds up a little.

Of course this will have other effects too . . . . and might well not work anyway. Reedmaking eh!

8

Started two new reeds and increased the width of one reed head to 14 mm, total length 80 mm. The wider one tuned beautifully and I think it’s a keeper. The other one isn’t done yet.

My favorite reed, one I made last November (and at the time only rated a “B+” but now plays as an “A+”) also has a wide head. Maybe wider is the direction I should be headed?

I seem to have heard/seen that an expert up in Vermont, Mr. Koehler, is making longer, narrower reed heads. That’s the design direction in which I was going, but wider seems better in my chanter (BChildress chanter).

I don’t know if this is related to my sharp A problem or not (larger internal volume acted to flatten the note?), but it’s where I went after the sharp A issue. If I make a few more big-headed reeds that behave this way, I’ll stick with that design.

DJones