How long have you been playing your chanter reed for?

PJ · Post by PJ » Sun Jan 29, 2006 5:25 pm

My first reed (Thompson) lasted from 1996 to 2001 but died very quickly after I emigrated to Canada. The next reed (Joe Kennedy) lasted from 2001 to 2005 but died very quickly after I messed with it once too often. Since April 2005 I use a reed that Nick Whitmer made. I alternate this with a reed JES made. I also had a nice reed that upiper1971 made but once again, I fear that my eager mind and clumsey fingers sent that one to an early grave.

oleorezinator · Post by **oleorezinator** » Sun Jan 29, 2006 8:53 pm

tom kennedy made my reed in 1991. its been in the chanter since 1994. i'm very lucky.

giles b · Post by **giles b** » Mon Jan 30, 2006 12:57 am

The reed in my Fischer narrow bore concert pitch came with the chanter in 1995 and is still going great, as are all other reeds in the set though I have made replacements for all except chanter. Have not been able to make as good a reed as the original.

The reed in the Woof B chanter from 2001 is still going great as are all others.

The secret? If you've got a good reed dont mess with it.

benwalker · Post by **benwalker** » Mon Jan 30, 2006 4:58 am

The reed Im playing has started to get weak and feeble. and sounds as though it's all blown out. it was a wonderful reed.

Joseph E. Smith · Post by **Joseph E. Smith** » Mon Jan 30, 2006 5:01 am

benwalker wrote:The reed Im playing has started to get weak and feeble. and sounds as though it's all blown out. it was a wonderful reed.

I feel your pain man, I feel your pain. I think you need a good stiff drink....

David Lim · Post by **David Lim** » Mon Jan 30, 2006 5:09 am

Ben,

There was a thread a while back which contained a few tips on bringing a flagging reed back to life, it may help.

The trick seems to be about putting some curvature back into the cane, particularly near the edges.

http://chiffboard.mati.ca/viewtopic.php ... juvenation

All the best

David

Jim · Post by **Jim** » Mon Jan 30, 2006 7:05 am

Year and a half on my own reed in my Lynch chanter. It's been pretty consistant across seasons.
Jim

Hans-Joerg · Post by **Hans-Joerg** » Mon Jan 30, 2006 8:51 am

I´ve heard rumors that Liam O`Flynn for recordings still plays a reed that Leo Rowsome made. Can somebody prove this?
Cheers,
Hans

tompipes · Post by **tompipes** » Mon Jan 30, 2006 10:36 am

I have heard this too but I've also heard that Martin Kerrigan in Kilkenny makes reeds for this set too.
Maybe Martin just made regulator reeds for him.
Tommy

Kevin L. Rietmann · Post by **Kevin L. Rietmann** » Mon Jan 30, 2006 11:15 am

Pat Sky wrote about Liam O's reed, here or in the Piper's Review, it was made by Leo in 1968, Liam has a bit of thread under the bridle to keep it up - Pat says he occasionally cleans out the insides for Liam, get rid of all the scrunge. Big honkin' reed they say.

boyd · Post by **boyd** » Mon Jan 30, 2006 11:33 am

Afficionados beware...this post is pure conjecture and opinion as I've met neither the piper nor the pipes, but........

If you listen to recordings in the past few years [Planxty Live or some of the stuff on radio/internet radio] you'll notice that O'Flynn's concert pitch set doesn't have a good hard bottom D....older recordings by him have a better bottom D.
From my listening, I have taken it that he is still using the old reed in the D chanter, and that reed has changed gradually to get to the place where it is now.
I've heard on the grapevine that it is a relatively easy and responsive reed, which is why he still likes to use it.

[I have found that a reed that will stand the test of time usually needs to be "blown in" and will be a little bit hard for a few weeks or months before it settles into a decent place]

B

Joseph E. Smith · Post by **Joseph E. Smith** » Mon Jan 30, 2006 11:49 am

Perhaps the climate was messing with it.

Doogie · Post by **Doogie** » Mon Jan 30, 2006 12:29 pm

I had a reed that had a similar problem that I have been playing going on a year now... I took the reed apart and put the blades on a piece of pvc pipe 2" and wrapped them completely until you could'nt see the head's of the blades anymore.. Left them like that for quite a while and it put the curvature back into the blades, and now the reed is like new....

Worked for me...

PJ · Post by PJ » Mon Jan 30, 2006 12:34 pm

Doogie wrote:I had a reed that had a similar problem that I have been playing going on a year now... I took the reed apart and put the blades on a piece of pvc pipe 2" and wrapped them completely until you could'nt see the head's of the blades anymore.. Left them like that for quite a while and it put the curvature back into the blades, and now the reed is like new....

Worked for me...

I did something similar with a reed except that (1) the pvc pipe was 1 5/8" and (2) I soaked the slips in Neets foot oil before tying it on.

tompipes · Post by **tompipes** » Mon Jan 30, 2006 1:39 pm

Big honkin' reed they say.

Yip! the head is 15mm wide and 84mm overall lenght!!
A spade.

Tommy