On 9 Feb 2011, Francis Wood wrote: > What > Julia said was that when a reed was first put in the chanter it was > said to have played at F+20. I took that to be an interesting and > amusing anecdote without any specific conclusions to be drawn from it > [is that correct, Julia?]
When I was told it, it was with a little surprise, I think - they had perhaps expected it to be sharper. That it played in easily with other pipers was felt to be an immediate bonus. > However, he acknowledges that the > performance at F+20 of that historic set is not ideal at the present > pitch My understanding is that they both regard it as a work in progress. It sounds very agreeable, although Andrew remarked that they are not yet happy with it. He played a solo set and then folk got a chance to look at it. If he is compensating for non-ideal tuning then it is certainly not obvious from his playing that anything is amiss. I find my own (modern made) ivory set has a more brilliant tone than the equivalent in wood, even using the same reed. If I were to nit-pick on Monday's playing, I would say I would be interested to see if the fettling team can coax a bit more brilliance from it, but maybe this is not what Andrew is looking for. > I have recorded hole positions from several Reid chanters. > their original position is usually indicated > very clearly on the opposite wall of the bore where the Reid drill > made contact. This can also be seen on some modern sets (various makers), although I have been taught to put a rod down the bore before drilling to prevent it happening! (And had the bore inspected closely to check I'd done so!) Sets have been observed where the maker has absent-mindedly drilled right through the far side, I believe.
