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Preparing your Chanter Reed
I will be making this into a video in late March so it will be easier to understand.
Test your reed in your Chanter:
Put the reed into the reed seat then blow the reed in your mouth. If it is still vary hard to blow this way then add some moist to the reed and give it a pitch. Once you can blow the reed steady its time to check the stability of the scale. Switch back between High A and Low A three or four times. Your High A and Low A should sound relatively the same but an octave apart. Now try playing from High A to every note in the scale, taking as many breaths as much as you need.
If the reed is stable, every note will sound at the appropriate pitch and have a constant tone. If the reed is not stable, certain notes will not sound good.
- Low G, Low A and E will gurgle if the reed is too easy.
- High A will sound raspy if the reed is to hard.
Test your reed in your Chanter:
Put the reed into the reed seat then blow the reed in your mouth. If it is still vary hard to blow this way then add some moist to the reed and give it a pitch. Once you can blow the reed steady its time to check the stability of the scale. Switch back between High A and Low A three or four times. Your High A and Low A should sound relatively the same but an octave apart. Now try playing from High A to every note in the scale, taking as many breaths as much as you need.
If the reed is stable, every note will sound at the appropriate pitch and have a constant tone. If the reed is not stable, certain notes will not sound good.
- Low G, Low A and E will gurgle if the reed is too easy.
- High A will sound raspy if the reed is to hard.
Preparing Reed to be Played
New Cane or Cane that hasn't been played in a while will be stiff making it harder to blow and a little flatter than normal. Pipers combat this by adding some moisture to the reed before we play it. Follow the following steps to make sure your pipe chanter reed is in good working order.
Step 1 - Take chanter out of stock and touch the reed. If its damp then move onto step 2 if its bone dry move onto step 3.
Step 2 - Like your index finger and thumb so that they are good and wet and then give your reed a firm squeeze for about 10 seconds. The moisture on your fingers will be absorbed by the cane and the squeezing will help make the reed a little easier and sharper. Put chanter back in stock and you should be ready to play. *If the reed is still really hard and flat after a couple minutes of playing repeat step 2.
Step 3 - Since the reed is already moist you will not need to lick your fingers. However, you should still squeeze your chanter for about 10 seconds to warm it up.
* Many bagpipe instructors will tell students they must soak their reed with moisture and to pinch the sound box in order to get a working reed. THIS IS NOT TRUE. Squeeze the top half of the reed and use a little moisture at a time.
Eventually your reed through continues play will become easy enough to play and stable. Once this occurs stop adding moisture to your reed before you play but continue giving it a dry squeeze before you play.
Step 1 - Take chanter out of stock and touch the reed. If its damp then move onto step 2 if its bone dry move onto step 3.
Step 2 - Like your index finger and thumb so that they are good and wet and then give your reed a firm squeeze for about 10 seconds. The moisture on your fingers will be absorbed by the cane and the squeezing will help make the reed a little easier and sharper. Put chanter back in stock and you should be ready to play. *If the reed is still really hard and flat after a couple minutes of playing repeat step 2.
Step 3 - Since the reed is already moist you will not need to lick your fingers. However, you should still squeeze your chanter for about 10 seconds to warm it up.
* Many bagpipe instructors will tell students they must soak their reed with moisture and to pinch the sound box in order to get a working reed. THIS IS NOT TRUE. Squeeze the top half of the reed and use a little moisture at a time.
Eventually your reed through continues play will become easy enough to play and stable. Once this occurs stop adding moisture to your reed before you play but continue giving it a dry squeeze before you play.