Hard bottom D

Thies · Post by **Thies** » Mon Oct 04, 2004 8:06 am

Dear fellwo pipers,
maybe a stupid question but I'm sure to find help here:
Is there any special trick (beside the short lift of the A-finger) in playing a stable hard bottom D? Or does this depend on chanter, reed, weather and the piper himself?

I have real difficulties to get a hard bottom D ... sometimes it works ... very often not.

Comments, advice, encouraging words, money donations, etc welcome.

brianc · Post by **brianc** » Mon Oct 04, 2004 8:59 am

1) There ARE no stupid questions.

2) Make sure all holes are covered completely - even a whisker-opening, or a finger slightly out of position can cause the lack of holding the hard D.
Practice, practice, practice.

eric_smith · Post by **eric_smith** » Mon Oct 04, 2004 9:13 am

You didn't say whether the D was warbling on you even when you are not trying to force the hard D.

The non-permanent things to try are bending a paper match (or piece of wire) and inserting into the bell of the chanter or to open the bridle a pinch.

Davey · Post by **Davey** » Mon Oct 04, 2004 9:30 am

Brian...

I taught high school for about 8 years....believe me, there ARE stupid questions!

beckitybek · Post by **beckitybek** » Mon Oct 04, 2004 9:40 am

I've found that a small piece (ie less than a cm wide by approx 2cm long) of fine grade wet and dry emery or sandpaper rolled up loosely and put in the bottom of the chanter greatly improves harsh D (and also harsh e if you're lucky). If you roll it up so the 'rough' side is outermost then it doesn'y fall out when you play off the knee.

Thies · Post by **Thies** » Mon Oct 04, 2004 10:15 am

Thanks to all ... I will try some of your mentioned "cures" when I can play again (right now there was a very clear sign of my better half to end the "noise"

).
But doesn't inserting some paperroll in the bell also raise the bottom D in general? Well I will see ...

eric_smith wrote:You didn't say whether the D was warbling on you even when you are not trying to force the hard D.

"Normal" bottom D is just fine and very stable ... no gurgling, warbling or whatso ever. I like the reed and it's just the hard bottom D that makes me try hard.

beckitybek · Post by **beckitybek** » Mon Oct 04, 2004 10:33 am

Thies wrote: But doesn't inserting some paperroll in the bell also raise the bottom D in general? Well I will see ...

Putting the paperroll in the bottom of the chanter flattens the D a bit - you have to compensate with the reed...and sometimes harsh d is a little sharper than soft D anyway, it all depends on your set-up. Its worth a try at least. If you find it flattens the D too much then make the piece of paper smaller so that it doesn't affect the tuning as much. Even a teenytiny piece of paper improves my harsh D!

benwalker · Post by **benwalker** » Mon Oct 04, 2004 12:36 pm

I use a small strip of plastic from a yoghurt pot and inserted into the bell in a U shape. The U of the bend goes upward into the bell. Works well for me

buskerSean · Post by **buskerSean** » Mon Oct 04, 2004 1:07 pm

See www.howardmusic.co.uk for the 'Iris' fitted to Howard chanters. This tuning device allows you to open and close the bottom hole and get hard and soft D in tune and easy to obtain. It also means the E isn't sent out too (as can happen shoving stuff up I am told).

It also allows me to set my chanter to be more disposed to play hard or soft D's, I had one retro fitted to my Howard chanter and am well pleased.

fancypiper · Post by **fancypiper** » Mon Oct 04, 2004 1:36 pm

The design of the chanter can have a big effect on hard bottom D as well.

I have a Mark Hillmann D chanter, and I had to make some modifications to it to get hard D.

1. The throat was larger than most chanters, so I "rushed" it by putting a 5 mm piece of brass tubing one size down from the throat size (which I have forgotten, it seems), holding it in place at the bottom of the reed seat with a layer of beeswax rubbed on the brass.

I also improved it quite bit by taking two light gauge G guitar strings about 2-1/2" long, bending them into a V shape and placing just above the thumb hole (another "rushing" of the chanter).

This will also affect the tuning/stability of back D, top D, and both Es pretty much too, so some playing around with these reversable things might be worth trying before doing anything permanent to the reeds if you aren't a reedmaker.

Reed /chanter adjustments I use for adjusting hard D:

1. Find the opening of the reed lips that allows hard D to be achieved with an A cut without the "autocran" and set to that.

2. Rush the bottom of the chanter as mentioned before.

3. (Caution, irreversable changes here) Widen the V scrape at the bottom of the reed more into a U shape. Adjustments should be slow, little bits at a time with good "resting periods" after combined with playing in times.

4. Thin/weaken the reed by thinning or "scooping"the U region of the reed more.

5. Play several days or weeks after taking any sawdust off the reeds to make sure you didn't overdo something and remember that reeds improve with playing.

Uilliam · Post by **Uilliam** » Mon Oct 04, 2004 1:42 pm

buskerSean wrote: for the 'Iris' fitted to Howard chanters. This tuning device allows you to open and close the bottom hole and get hard and soft D in tune and easy to obtain. .

Maybe but a bit o paper is cheaper :roll:
Uilliam

brianc · Post by **brianc** » Mon Oct 04, 2004 2:24 pm

Uilliam wrote:Maybe but a bit o paper is cheaper :roll:
Uilliam

...........

I use a twist-tie, it's easily adjusted and sized.

Rick · Post by **Rick** » Tue Oct 05, 2004 4:45 am

Hi Thies,

Do you put a little more pressure on the bag after you graced the normal bottom D with a note?
That's the whole trick you see.

As far as the chanter goes, i played it, it's fine!
DO NOT mess with it!

I don't get all you people that suggested that.
You can have someone ruin a perfectly good chanter like that!
It's like you're saying it's just any old branch that fell off a tree or something.

A LOT of thought has gone into these things i can asure you and having one with a fault in it is HIGHLY unlikely. (though of course we can all make mistakes)
These things don't get checked only once or not at all before they leave you know.

That chanter plays a hard bottom D, E-Flat and E with no problems.
Practise a bit first! =)

Thies · Post by **Thies** » Tue Oct 05, 2004 5:15 am

Rick wrote: [...] As far as the chanter goes, i played it, it's fine!
DO NOT mess with it! [...] That chanter plays a hard bottom D, E-Flat and E with no problems. Practise a bit first! =)

I know Rick, don't worry! The set is really fine and the chanter a piece of art itself! I was just curious if it's more about me or any tiny, winy detail somewhere related to chanter and reed.
I heard Marc playing the hard bottom D on the set ... so I know it should work. It obviously just a matter of practice ...

ausdag · Post by **ausdag** » Tue Oct 05, 2004 5:32 am

Davey wrote:Brian...

I taught high school for about 8 years....believe me, there ARE stupid questions!

Yes....such as the time I gave my students a two page exam paper and then half way through a student raises his hand and asks "Do we do the second page too"? :roll:

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