Chanter reed that gets closed

[Victor Dols]

Hi, this is my first posting to the forum so I'd like to say that I'm very happy to be here, and bla bla bla

I play the flute (a Olwell keyless in D) but I'm starting with uilleann pipes since a friend of mine have lent me a practice set. Is a set made by Arhpa (the spanish makers); don't ask me about the quality of the set, I'm flutist, not piper (maybe in a few moths I'll be able to speak about its tunning and so, I hope ) The Only thigs I can say is that, one: it has four rings of rubber (like the susato whistles) in the chanter tenon (I'm not sure of the name of that part in english, is the part of the chanter which is introduced in the chanter stock) instead of cork or thread; and I don't like it because when I got the pipes the rubber rings were dry and it was very hard to take out the chanter from the stock.

The other problem (and the important one) is that the reed gets closed after a few moments playing. I have tryed moving up and down the bridle but the reed goes on closing. So my question is: Is there something I can do to avoid this? How can I "open" the reed? I have to squeeze very hard the bag, is it posible that to much pressure close the reed? but if I don't squeeze hard, the pipes don't sound.

The reed was made by Arhpa guys so I think it is not a bad (or at least a very bad) reed and the weather where I live is very close to that where the set was made, so I don't think it's weather's fault.

Victor.

P.S. I want to say that my english is not as good as i'd like it to be, so if you don't understand something, I could repeat.

[Fergmaun]

If the reed lips close up the reed will not play.

The first thing I would do if I had the problem is to move the bridle up a wee bit which should open up the reed. If the lips close is because the bridle may be a bit lose which makes the bridle slip down the reed.

You will need to squeeze the bridle just a wee bit at the sides to open the reed lips with a fine nosed pliers.

I prefer the wire bridle as used by Andreas Rogge to the normal bridle as the wire never slipsas it always stays tight. I always use the wire bridle myself.

[Pat Cannady]

Call ARHPA before you do anything to the reed. Someone with more experience needs to see and hear what you are doing before reaching any conclusions.

That being said:

Be sure you are playing the bag and not just pumping the bellows - you should be working on strengthening your bag arm by practicing long steady notes. Do not try to play tunes until you can sustain notes for long periods of time (4-5 mins) without breaking or wavering, keeping the bag full and your bellows work as smooth as possible.

One very important thing to think about: the relative humidity of the room in which you play your instrument can make a big difference. Ideally you would like to see a hygrometer reading of 50%-60% for optimal performance. More humidity won't kill the reed but you might experience a need to close it down once you hit 70 % and above. And excessive humidity like that promotes mold growth indoors, you probably don't want that either At the lower end, anything below 40%, and you're just asking for trouble like the kind you are experiencing.

Good luck, maybe you'll teach us some of those Asturian or Galician tunes one of these days?

edited to include the following:

Seriously, talk to someone at ARHPA. There may be nothing wrong with your reed but it's impossible for people to diagnose the problem correctly without seeing and hearing the chanter in question.

[No E]

I recently had loan of an ARPHA practice set. The reed was initially very stiff (i.e. hard to blow), but after a bit of playing-in became quite easy to play. You may want to give the bridle a gentle squeeze to open up the reed a little. It will become easier to play after a few hours of playing.

Pat Cannady's advice is excellent... I'm sure our friends at ARPHA will be happy to help you.

No E

[Royce]

Make sure you don't have the type of bridle that is meant to slide, but is so loose it keeps sliding by itself as it vibrates. It could be falling down as you play and stopping the reed. Watch as you move it and see if it opens and closes the lips, because it may also be so loose it doesn't actually do anything at all.

The "O" rings can work pretty well, I don't like them, but you have to put some silicone grease on them. Prefereably silicone based. You can use other grease, but it will deteriorate and soften the rubber. You need to be very careful to get just the right amount of silicone on the tenon (the joint part with the rubber rings) so that it slides but is not so slick that it spins around or slips out.

You can find furniture polish or shoe treatment with silicone in it. Also many spray lubricants have silicone in them. Also "finger ease" or "gorilla snot" are two US brands of guitar neck/fretboard sprays that work well on these O ring seals.

Royce

[Victor Dols]

Thanks to all of you, your advices have been a great help. I have moved up a bit the bridle and close it a bit more and now the reed is less closed. Thanks, Víctor.