Full Size Practice Chanter Information Sheet
Because this
chanter has both the large holes and standard pitch, it’s bore
design requires it to be
somewhat reed specific.
If
it had only one of these qualities, the chanter wouldn’t be so choosy.
We were left with the problem of what reeds to design the chanter tuning
around, and decided on a few reeds
that are both consistent and have good tone -
the “Mark Wygent”, Jake
Watson, Colin MacClellan, and
“McNiell” [or “Gilmore”] reed.
We think these reeds sound great in the chanter, and enable it to
sound better than anything on the market today.
It does have its own
distinctive tone, - not as bright as our standard practice chanter- and it
blends well with smallpipe drones. This
idiosyncracy which some may term a defect, is more than offset by its
advantages of full size holes
and great pipe chanter
spacing. You have to work a bit harder to get clean fingering on this
chanter compared to our standard practice chanters,
because it’s easier to sound good with
the small finger holes found on regular practice chanters .
However, if you spend a lot of time on a standard chanter, you will
likely find that when you go to the ‘pipes, you don’t have quite the
facility that you had on the
chanter. With our Full
Size Chanter you will find the transition to pipes almost nill. We think
you will find that regular
practice on our Full Size
Practice Chanter a real asset
in improving your fingering, and in getting more out of yout chanter
practice whether you are a novice or an advanced player.
Reed
Adjustment
The practice chanter reed adjusts differently than the pipe
chanter. Probably everyone
knows to move the reed in or out of the chanter to balance the scale, and
to use a rubber band to weaken the reed, or to sharpen hi “A”.
But with the use of two bands, you can affect the tuning and
overall balance of the chanter quite a bit - just the slightest movement
of them can make a marked change in pitch, volume,
and tone quality.
If the notes “F” and “E” are still flat
after adjusting the bands, squeeze
the reed blades on the edges just above the wrapping to open up as well as
sharpen the reed. Note that
if you push the reed into the chanter in an effort to sharpen the top
hand, and squeeze the blades together as you do it, you may just flatten
the top hand more. So, when you do put in the reed deeper into the reed
seat, get in the habit of putting the reed in by holding it on the
wrapping by edges, which will aid in sharpening these notes.
You can also use an awl to open up the staple a bit, but be
carefull!
If the same notes are sharp,
pinch the the blades of the reed together just at or above the top of the
staple. You can actually pinch the staple and deform it a tiny bit - I use
my teeth. This is perhaps
the most effective method of bringing a reed into balance, but be
careful! You can go through a
lot of reeds this way if you pinch too hard. If, after doing this
procedure, Hi “A” is too flat, move one of
the bands up towards the reed tips to sharpen it
With reeds
that won’t hold the shape you pinch them to, it may be neccessary
to make a metal band { a heavy duty paper
staple works well for this]. Locate
this band just above or on the wrapping and adjust the tension it pinches
the blades together by gently biting it. a rubber band can be used to hold
this metal band in place if need be. You will find this method quite
effective, but it does require delicacy and practice.
General
Chanter Care
The Delrin chanter needs little maintainence except occasionally
cleaning it out, and greasing the joint with
plumbers waterproof grease, cork grease, or vaseline.
If you anticipate a period where you are not playing too much, then
you should take the chanter apart, as over time the grease migrates from
the joint and the chanter becomes very hard to pull apart. The “O” rings are available at most hardware stores, and
are 1/2” OD - 3/8” ID 1/16” wall thickness.
There is a spare on the mouthpiece.
The wood chanter - and any wooden instrument - needs periodic
oiling of the bore and the exterior if it has an oil finish - especially
if you are playing alot. The
moisture leaches out the oil in the wood with repeated wetting and drying.
As the wood starts to go through expansion and contraction from
getting wet and drying again, it also becomes more susceptible to cracking
The oil fills the pores in the wood, and prevents the water from
getting in there in the first place.
So. when in doubt - OIL IT! In
my opinion, you can’t do it too much.
I also prefer Almond oil [olive oil as second choice] over woodwind
bore oil which is a petroleum product.
These two oils won’t congeal
or build up, and are used by orchestral
wind instrumentalists as well as bagpipers. You can get it in health food
stores and some supermarkets.
Full
Size Practice Chanter -
Reed Adaptor plug Kit
Some reeds available today
may sound sharp on the bottom notes of this chanter.
If you are using reeds besides the “ones listed above, you may
need to use the adaptors as described below.
The adaptor Sleeve kit is comprised of 2 plugs and 2 threaded
bolts. The longer plug fits in the bottom of the chanter bore, and
the shorter plug with the offset hole fits in the low “A” hole of the
chanter. While you can push the plugs into the chanter without any tools,
to adjust them or remove them you will need the two machine screws.
You can tune Low A by
inserting the machine screw with 6-32 threads into the hole in the plug.
You can take the plug out by this means, or rotate it.
Because the hole in the plug is bored off-center, you can sharpen
or flatten Low A by rotating this plug
You can sharpen or flatten Low G by screwing a 1/4”-20 thread machine bolt in the plug in the bore , and then pushing or pulling the plug up or down the bore till Low G sounds right to you.