drone tuning.

mike spencer · Post by **mike spencer** » Sat Jan 27, 2007 9:57 am

When tuning drones do I tune to D on the chanter or A on the chanter?

jimharrison · Post by **jimharrison** » Sat Jan 27, 2007 10:48 am

I don't know about anyone else, but I tune relative to the A, F G and both D's. I'm not sure how scientific it is, but it seems to get them closest in the end

However, I'm only just starting with these monkeys, so ....

totokots · Post by **totokots** » Sat Jan 27, 2007 10:49 am

Try tuning the tenor drone to the A on the chanter and also check it against the G on the chanter.

Then shut off the chanter and tune the barritone drone to the tenor drone.

Then tune the bass drone to the tenor drone.

emer · Post by **emer** » Sat Jan 27, 2007 6:31 pm

go here http://homepage.eircom.net/~robertscharles/ and follow the links

The Sporting Pitchfork · Sat Jan 27, 2007 7:47 pm

Jim's advice is good. When tuning the tenor drone to the chanter, I make sure to check it against...well, all of the notes of the scale, but especially A (both octaves) G (both octaves) F#(both octaves), E (both octaves) D (both octaves)...You get the idea. A, F#, and D are probably the easiest notes to tell if the drone's in tune or not. If the drone is not in tune, it will clearly make a wobbling WAWAWAWAWAWAWAWAWA sound. As you get closer to being in tune, it will become more steady (e.g. WA...WA.........Whhhhum........) until it hums perfectly in tune with the chanter/other drones. If the drone hums in tune with the As and Ds but still wobbles on say, the F# for instance, that means the F# on your chanter is out of tune. In theory, if your chanter is in fact in tune with itself and you are able to play it with steady pressure over the full two octaves, you should not hear any wobbling of the drones against any note in the scale. In practice, there are probably few chanters that even on a good day and in the hands of an expert player are 100% in tune with themselves--the 2nd octave E or the 1st octave B might be a hair flat, for example. If your Ds, As, and F#s are well in tune though, that's a good start.

I keep thinking of more things that could be added here. One more is to do a final check of all the drones playing together against the chanter. Especially when you're first beginning to play with drones, one common error is that it can be easy to play the drones at a different pressure than you would the chanter & drones together.

Cayden · Post by **Cayden** » Sun Jan 28, 2007 2:31 am

It is maybe good to remember the A and G are the first notes to change, go flat when the reed opens and sharp when it closes, with changes in temperature and or humidity.

billh · Post by **billh** » Sun Jan 28, 2007 5:23 am

It's a series of compromises...

on a good day, there's a sweet spot in the middle where the drones phase-lock and the chanter fits right in and it sounds perfect. Even though it's not

mike spencer · Post by **mike spencer** » Sun Jan 28, 2007 12:53 pm

thankyou gentlemen for your help.i am a little bit wiser now.

fancypiper · Post by **fancypiper** » Mon Jan 29, 2007 9:44 am

I have a D tuning fork that I use to tune the drones.