Hard d

piperben · Post by **piperben** » Mon Sep 09, 2002 2:35 pm

Any tips for getting a hard bottom d from a reed which seems to be lacking one. I have tried one trick of placing a U shape strip of plastic (from a yoghurt pot) in the bottom of the chanter. better but still not "hard". anyone else got any tips?
The reed plays well and in tune .... but no hard d.

Patrick D'Arcy · Post by **Patrick D'Arcy** » Mon Sep 09, 2002 2:47 pm

What I find works best for me is a rubber "O" ring that you can buy in hardware stores. Get one that is too big for the bell of your chanter and only cut off a tiny bit at a time to tune the note. The "O" should fit snuggly against the "O" of the chanter, this will give the best results.

If you don't have access to "O" rings use a bit of a pipe cleaner. I like to coat them with bees wax so they arn't so fluffy. This does the same job, but I think the rubber "O" ring is better for the long term.

Hope that helps,

Patrick.

Kevin Popejoy · Post by **Kevin Popejoy** » Mon Sep 09, 2002 3:01 pm

marcpipes · Post by **marcpipes** » Mon Sep 09, 2002 3:53 pm

I've also had good luck using a small nylon zip strip hose clamp as a rush.(hillbilly handcuffs) Just bend the big end over and it will reach almost up to the 'f' hole. Sorry if that sounds dirty. ;P
Marc

Dionys · Post by **Dionys** » Mon Sep 09, 2002 8:14 pm

I saw an interesting fix for a poor hard D in a Rowsome (due to the upper bore being a little large) where the reed-maker dangled a short loop of thread from the base of the reed staple down a tiny bit into the bore.

Dionys

lemonsquash · Post by **lemonsquash** » Tue Sep 10, 2002 9:55 am

Kevin, Dionys, et al-

Any of you gentlemen willing to go a little into the physics of the upper bore/hard d relationship? Feel free to catch me off-list if you'd rather.

Best,

L

Lorenzo · Post by **Lorenzo** » Tue Sep 10, 2002 11:50 am

L...a "hard D" is hard to understand completely. Some reedmakers point to the reed itself and suggest scraping the V into a U. Others claim that scraping the blades too thin results in a weak, gurggly low D, or the reed simply being too short.

I took 4 reeds that worked fine in one chanter, and tried them in my old chanter - which I just got back. The reeds from the other chanter worked fine except every one of them broke on the bell note. My old chanter has a silver sleeve at the bell, below the ivory, about an inch long. After trying all of the aforementioned cures, and no luck fixing the problem, I slid this silver sleeve out...extending it by about 1/4." That pretty much cured the low D for some reason. The inserts up the bore made it worse. I haven't tried the rush in the upper bore yet, but I know it's wide and I certainly appreciate the suggestion.

Lorenzo · Post by **Lorenzo** » Tue Sep 10, 2002 2:09 pm

The rush in the upper bore works! I took a single strand of thin telephone wire (copper wire still in it's plastic sleeve) and bend it back and forth until it took on the shape of a sidewinder. A 3" piece then became about 2 and 1/2" long. I then friction- fitted it down the throat of the chanter, to just below where the staple would hit it, yet the other end still being above the thumb hole.

This not only cured the breaking "low D" but made the overall sound of the chanter more mellow. Very nice! Thanks again!

piperben · Post by **piperben** » Tue Sep 10, 2002 3:22 pm

Thanks to all for your advice, I will give them a go. Really interesting to hear there are lots of cures to this problem.
I notice that on Paddy Keenans recordings I don't think I have ever heard him play a hard d' .

Kevin Popejoy · Post by **Kevin Popejoy** » Tue Sep 10, 2002 3:52 pm

lemonsquash · Post by **lemonsquash** » Tue Sep 10, 2002 10:45 pm

Thanks, Kevin. I doubt I'd be fit for the math even if you had it handy.