help... my reeds are too loud!

[shackleton]

I have been attempting to make reeds for alittle bore then a year, and some have been somewhat successful. The only problem with most of my reeds are that they are all too loud. It is not that I need to scrape more, because if I did, the reed would become too thin and fall apart. Also, they are not too hard to blow either. I can get into the second octave with ease. It sounds like I'm playing Highlands, but the sound of Uilleann comes out.... All of the notes play very well, and even bright compared the amount of sound being pushed out. I really don't know what to do, and I would greatly appreciate the help. Thanks

[PJ]

It might be that the lips of the reed are too wide open?

What diameter sanding block are you using? You might want to try using a larger diameter block.

[fancypiper]

Can you say "flat sets"????

[ausdag]

what sort of chanter are you playing? Obviously wide-bore D but by whom? Are you sure they're loud? People often get the impression that their reeds are too loud when they're actually quite alright. Uilleannpipers in particular have an unfounded concern with their reeds being too loud when in fact most other reed and brass intruments are louder - sax and trumpet for example.

Where are you playing it. When I play in my computer room, it sounds loud. When I hold the chanter further away from me at arm's length and play a few notes, it doesn't sound as loud. When I play at the piper's meeting in a warehouse office, it's no louder than any of the other's chanters.

You may, like me, have a chanter that, although not loud, sounds 'full'.

If you've dealt with the psychological side of things and are still convinced it's too loud then you can do some things to the reed which may help but may also affect other aspect of playability.

[fancypiper]

I agree that the pipes sound more "nasal" and quieter when someone else is playing your pipes. You are sitting in the middle of the sound and that back D hole is pointed straight at your ear(s) and really sounds loud (to you).

I find my "magic spot" for the lip opening by closing down to the "autocran" bottom D, then opening slightly until the autocrann disappears and hard D appears.

It has always amazed me how different (and quieter) my Mark Hillmann D set sounds when someone else plays them, but I love to play my flat set as it sounds so much quieter and "sweeter" than the Concert set when I play it. There are more tonal effects with popping and cross fingering that I just don't get with the D set.

Since I play mostly to please me, I play my C set mostly.

However, the band I play in prefer the concert set since they don't have to tune down or transpose in their head if they play with me.

I don't have reeds made for the D set, but since I can see, I guess I better get to work on reeding it up.

I hate making new reeds!

[goldy]

Ditto - (what they said).

I play my pipes in a small room and find them very loud, but when I take them to a session, I'm the quietest intrument there. If you've got a chanter with a really bright tone, it will be hard to make a reed that you are happy with.

I took up reed making because I wanted to be able to make the quietest reed possible that plays at a lower air pressure. After years, of trying to make quiet reeds, I have accepted that there is a limit to how quiet I can get a reed. I have found that the best result come from working on thinning the sides of the upper scrape and the lips to get quietness, improved playability, and to remove bottom D gurgles without stuffing up the tuning (I used to focus on the base, which ruins the back D very quickly).

You might like to try my loudness testing method as a test of whether a quieter reed is possible - When I think my reed is playing really loud, I get my penny whistle (Generation D) out and blow it to produce a C# (just held between my lips with no hands so that I can play the chanter). If the chanter is a tiny bit quieter than this note on the penny whistle, I know that I can't quieten the reed any more than it already is. Alternatively, when I stoop over and lay my chanter on my lap so that just the back D hole is uncovered, it will play at an identical volume to the bottom D of my penny whistle.

Try this test and see how your reed compares.

Good luck

[chanterdan]

loud pipes save lives,i like a loud d chanter,many of the reeds i have made are to soft,like them loud and proud with good hard bottom d.my latest,made from oboe cane is a keeper,very bright,solid back d,i use a wire bridle around the bottom of the reed head,too lower volume,just close lips a bit, good piping!!