Donegal Tom wrote: ↑Tue Oct 25, 2022 12:12 pm
I am wondering if someone has ever experienced a F# note which is far too sharp...even taping cannot bring it down.
'A' was far too flat, I decided to sink the reed into the chanter so that this one is ok and maybe some taping on other notes.
That worked perfect for the top hand.
I had to tape the G and E a little bit, too.
Two things jumped out to me as I read this:
1) There's no mention of which octave or what fingerings or what approaches to bag-pressure are involved.
2) There are several references to tape.
Please don't take this as being negative or condescending, but I would like to ask: are you, by chance, a Highland piper who has taken up the uilleann pipes?
I was originally a Highland piper, and after taking up the uilleann pipes I started quite a few other Highland pipers on the path to becoming uilleann pipers, and these are the sorts of conversations we often had.
This is because the goal in Highland piping is to play at one strict pressure, and tape all the holes to suit, done and dusted.
Whereas on the uilleann pipes it's often about subtleties of pressure, alternate fingerings, precise placement of the bridle, use of rushes, etc.
Getting back to F# in the bottom octave, on my chanter that note is sharp if I don't give it enough pressure. As pressure gets lower my F# goes sharper, opposite of what one might expect.
You didn't mention the 2nd octave but there my F# is bang-on.
My 'A' in the 2nd octave is a hair flat, yet bang-on in the low octave.
About bridle placement, I had a beginner come for a lesson and I tried his chanter and the tuning was quite bad. As I recall 'A' was quite flat.
I looked at his reed and it appeared to me that the bridle might have slipped down. I pushed the bridle higher, to where it looked like it originally might have been, and voila! the chanter played bang-on over the two octaves.