Why do regulator pins move?

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FlaminGalah
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Why do regulator pins move?

Post by FlaminGalah »

I am still with my half set, hoping to get my regs delivered in the next few month, so have been reading a fair bit about tuning.

I understand that the rushes are used to tune each note, by adding thickness to the rush under or just up-wind of the hole in question. What I don’t understand is why the pins need to be able to move in and out rather than being simply attached to the inside of the end caps. It seems to me that pushing the pins in or out wouldn’t have a predictable sharpening or flattening effect on the WHOLE regulator, but just throw the blobs out of alignment with the holes. Surely when tuning “on the fly” (rather than re-blobing the rushes) the point would be that, say, the chanter has gone a bit flat and you want to being the regs down to meet it. That would seem to be a reed seat affair. Meanwhile, if one note goes off but you have blobs under multiple notes, trying to fix it by moving the pin would throw them all off, as opposed to changing just that blob size.

So why do the pins move? Or do they have a more global effect on the whole reg that I am not understanding?
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Re: Why do regulator pins move?

Post by PJ »

It’s a fair question, and I don’t have an answer. In theory, a good reed shouldn’t need a rush, but in the real world, these reeds are like hens’ teeth. Regulators are often sold by the makers with rushes already installed, like the regs are designed to be rushed. If that’s the case, fine, but it doesn’t explain why the pins need to be pulled out.
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Re: Why do regulator pins move?

Post by geoff wooff »

When a set of pipes is ' cold', when you begin to play, the chanter will be a little low in pitch. As the set warms up the pitch will rise a little but the chanter reed will rise in pitch a little more than the regulator reeds because it is constantly in use. By drawing out the 'tuning pins' the regulators can be encouraged to rise to match the chanter pitch.

"A good reed should not need a rush"... PJ yes that may be true but four 'good' reeds working togther with no interim adjustment is a great deal to ask for.

Rushes in the regulators help not only with tuning but also with volume ballance. The Piper can reduce the loudness of the regulator notes by closing the reeds or inserting them further into their seats, this will raise the pitches whilst quieting them. Adding to the rushes will flatten the notes and mute the sounds... Using a combination of reed and 'rush' adjustment we can balance and tune the regulators and the sliding pins allow for local corrections during play.
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Re: Why do regulator pins move?

Post by FlaminGalah »

Thanks for this detailed answer Geoff.

I suppose what I am still not quite understanding is the distinction between when the pin is being used as a thin, consistent rush, and when it is being used as a place to mount the blobs for individual pitch adjustment.

So, for example, I understand that if one's pins have no blu-tak or other individual adjustments, then sliding them in and out would give you a quick way to adjust overall pitch. But presumably if you have blobbed the rush to tune individual notes then you cant really move it, because if you pull it out to adjust one note it would make the blobs on other notes no longer aligned with them? I'm particularly thinking that drawing out the pins would shift a blob to the down-wind side of some notes, rendering it useless?

Thanks again.
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Re: Why do regulator pins move?

Post by geoff wooff »

Yes indeed FG,

you have a good point there. Once everything is nicely in tune at 'room temperature' the amount of in/out movement needed to correct any small faults is minimal and should not result in a local correction blob ending up on the wrong side of a tone hole. Originally the pins were used to affix a Rush.... more correctly a a 'thick peeled rush' as found in much of Ireland. With no local tuning ' blobs' or additions, the moving in or out of the tuning pins would flatten / sharpen the regulator notes overall.

I recal seeing an early-ish Kenna set that had immovable pins ( they did not come through the end caps for adjustment but must have been there just for fixing on the rush.

The other use of these pins is for mounting a ' stopped length' baffle. Modern regulators are often made with a metal tube ferrule between the end of the wooden section and the cap. This tube can contain a moveable piston which is used to focus the closed length of the pipe so that all the notes play a fairly correct scale. Once the pipe's stopped length is adjusted it need not be moved again. Organ Pipes are tuned in this way too.
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Re: Why do regulator pins move?

Post by Mr.Gumby »

geoff wooff wrote: Mon Oct 25, 2021 12:52 am . a Rush.... more correctly a a 'thick peeled rush'
Hehe, I was reading this thread two days ago and thought of little Seamus' exact same phrase :wink:
My brain hurts

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geoff wooff
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Re: Why do regulator pins move?

Post by geoff wooff »

Mr.Gumby wrote: Mon Oct 25, 2021 1:58 am


Hehe, I was reading this thread two days ago and thought of little Seamus' exact same phrase :wink:
and pronounced " tic peeled rooosh " :thumbsup:
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Re: Why do regulator pins move?

Post by pancelticpiper »

geoff wooff wrote: Sun Oct 24, 2021 10:29 am When a set of pipes is 'cold', when you begin to play, the chanter will be a little low in pitch. As the set warms up the pitch will rise a little but the chanter reed will rise in pitch a little more than the regulator reeds because it is constantly in use. By drawing out the 'tuning pins' the regulators can be encouraged to rise to match the chanter pitch.
What's so strange is that I've heard pipers say that ever since I started piping, yet here in our California weather over 30 years of playing a full set I never once had that issue occur.

Instead, the regs and chanter have always stayed right together.
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Re: Why do regulator pins move?

Post by PJ »

geoff wooff wrote: Sun Oct 24, 2021 10:29 am ... but four 'good' reeds working togther with no interim adjustment is a great deal to ask for ...
I'm happy when I have one good reed. :love:
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Re: Why do regulator pins move?

Post by geoff wooff »

PJ wrote: Mon Oct 25, 2021 6:41 am

I'm happy when I have one good reed. :love:

Yes, me too!!!! If that GOOD reed is in the chanter then everything else can be encouraged to work with it.
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