I recorded a short bit tonight with my Gallagher chanter and the new reed using the rolled staple instead of the tubing staple. The notes I used to have the greatest issues with were the B and C# (which were very flat) and the E’s (which are still very sharp). The rolled staple seems to have helped the B and C issue I think, though I am still forced to use a bit of putty in the E hole to bring it down to tune.
The playing is me at my hackish best…trust me, I know it too! But I’m curious if any of you can hear anything happening in the reed that might suggest it’s under or over scraped, or perhaps too open or closed for where it ‘wants’ to be? In talking with Seth on the phone, he mentioned the E didn’t sound quite right, but the rest seemed OK. Just curious to get a consensus from the more well informed here.
Sounds nice Brian. Perhaps it is me, but I really didn’t notice anything drastic in the reed’s tuning… at least, nothing that time and a lot of playing might not cure. Your reed certainly has a “n’yah” quality about it.
There are some things off in the second octave, but since you spend so little time there, it’s hard for me to catch what’s amiss. Perhaps a scale would be a better test or at least a less slidy tune that uses the second octave.
The E is still the biggest culprit I’m thinking…but it’s hard to pin. I’ll see if I can get a clip put up with a bit more in that second octave soon to flesh out that bit of the mystery. Thanks for having a listen guys.
Nice playing! If I could make my chanter sound that good, I’d be a happy camper! I couldn’t hear anything really off on the notes, albeit, you have to consider the source here.
Pat Sky wrote in his manual:
Then there is the problem of the first octave E being sharp, and then flat in the 2nd octave. On most chanters one has to place a small piece of tape across the E hole to flatten the first octave and then lift the chanter off of the knee when ever the 2nd octave E is played, this produces an E note with a “whooping” sound, which adds color to the music.
Could be showing my ignorance here but is there anything that could be changed with slight change in fingering the suspect note(s)?
Anyway, I enjoyed the clip (gotta learn that tune as well!)
It’s not that the first octave is slightly sharp - it’s that I seem to routinely end up with reeds that play the better part a semi-tone sharp - we’re talking about 45-65 cents. Even tape struggles to tame that much variance.
I’m hoping to put some more reeds together soon, and I’ll try some different things in the scrape then. Thanks though for the insight and the reminder of Pat’s paper. I’ve had it saved on my hard drive for a while.
(Edited to add - it’s not the entire reed that plays sharp - but rather the E note itself - and it seems to exhibit the same behavior from several reeds.)
For those reeds where you are noticing the E issues, play the hell out of them, then set them aside for a couple of weeks to a month. Then pick them up again and see if anything has changed.
Alan Burton has noted that sometimes, a reed needs to sit a while. This will allow for the cane to really get used to it’s new body image. Given the sensitive nature of our reeds, environmental changes can really affect a new reed. I have a hunch that these reeds will settle down in time.
And do read through Pat Sky’s manual again. I re-read it every couple of months to see if I have missed anything… which is not an uncommon event for me by any stretch of the imagination.
OK, so let’s see what this might show (apart from the obvious goofy piping skills!)
This is the air from the Foxchase…or at least as close a rendition as I can muster this afternoon. It’s got a pretty fair amount of both first and second octave notes, and as opposed to a scale, I think it may show what the notes from my reed do when I play them in the context of a tune.
The more I listen to the recording, it seems like the second octave as a whole is off from the first, so I may need to play around with the staple insertion depth a bit more too on this newer reed. Thanks for listening - again.
There’s still not a lot to go on here, except that F, which if I’m hearing right is going a bit sharp much, but not all, of the time. If I had to guess, I’d bet the reed is a little hard to blow and you might want to play it in a bit before monkeying with it any more. I suppose you could try closing the bridle down a smidge and see if it helps. You’re right that the context of a tune shows that the F is inconsistent (to my ears) but I do think a scale might be a better diagnostic.
There’s still not a lot to go on here, except that F, which if I’m hearing right is going a bit sharp much, but not all, of the time. If I had to guess, I’d bet the reed is a little hard to blow and you might want to play it in a bit before monkeying with it any more. I suppose you could try closing the bridle down a smidge and see if it helps. You’re right that the context of a tune shows that the F is inconsistent (to my ears) but I do think a scale might be a better diagnostic.
A sharp F# is often also caused by the right ring finger not being replaced on the 2nd lowest tonehole…
I have found that the “square head” reed design will give the flat E in the first octave (with the E and ghost D holes properly rushed or poster puttied) and sharp second E (my poster putty tames the octave for me).
The V shaped heads seem to give me more F# variance, especially when over-scraped.
Here are some notes I took in my reed making classes.
Thinner blades flattens the reed overall, but the second octave sharpens compared to the first.
The way the E responds “lives” in the bark along the edges of the reed’s scrape.
The octave E (pitch) “lives” under the bridle and at the root of the scrape.
[David Daye] A flat octave E may indicate insufficient airspace inside just above the staple (could result if any, or too much, cane was carved away inside the roots to make room for the staple, or if the staple has walls that are too thin) or excessive bridle compression on the blades to keep the lip opening from being too great. [End quote]
All the way up the edges controls the behaviour of the E but not the pitch.
[David Daye] A growling or gurgling octave E may indicate excess thickness along the outer sides of the scrape. [End quote]
Width of finished reed should be slightly less than the bell of the chanter.
Harder cane gives a brighter tone.
Thicker edges of slips gives a duller tone.
The more polished the inside of the slip is, the brighter the tone.
But I’m curious if any of you can hear anything happening in the reed that might suggest it’s under or over scraped, or perhaps too open or closed for where it ‘wants’ to be? In talking with Seth on the phone, he mentioned the E didn’t sound quite right, but the rest seemed OK. Just curious to get a consensus from the more well informed here.
