Some truth in what you say Francis but I did point out initially that
my offer came as a direct result of buying 6 reeds in bulk from Bob
Reid in 1970. 4 of them "weren't really there" but trying to improve
them did teach me a lot! I wouldn't dream of passing on reeds that were
totally useless and held no possibility of instruction/improvement.
I have looked at the resources you list but have found that Mike
Nelson's methods give by far the best results. I make reeds in batches
of 15 and find at least 3 of these will give a very good tone (kept in
the main for Windy Gyle Band pipes) 7 will be suitable for sale
(certainly a match for those available generally) and 5 will be good
learning fodder.
The problem is that even with a tried and tested cane source (I have
had success with 4 types; Australian, Cogolin, Madame Geiss and Pisoli)
there are factors beyond our knowledge at play and reeds made to 0.05mm
consistency from adjacent slips from the same tube differ widely in
their response and tone. Furthermore, a good reed in one set of pipes
may be lifeless in another. I'm trying to offer a quick way in to those
who want to learn about reed adjustment before they move on to reed
making so the offer still holds.
Cheers
Anthony
9/7/10, Francis Wood <oatenp...@googlemail.com> wrote:
From: Francis Wood <oatenp...@googlemail.com>
Subject: [NSP] Re: Reeds
To: "Anthony Robb" <anth...@robbpipes.com>
Cc: "Dartmouth NPS" <nsp@cs.dartmouth.edu>, neihutch...@yahoo.com
Date: Friday, 9 July, 2010, 10:48
Hello Anthony,
I hesitate to disagree here since your suggestion is made in a spirit
of generosity.
However, I'm not sure it's best to suggest using inferior reeds as an
aid to learning. Reeds that function very well carry a great deal of
information. Poor reeds do not.
An expert reed-maker may perhaps be able to take reeds that "aren't
really there" and improve them. A beginner is likely to make them a lot
worse without really understanding why.
There are plenty of resources available for anyone who wants to learn
about all this. Good reeds are obtainable and even though they will
differ remarkably from maker to maker they are all in themselves
instructive. Well-written and clear information is to be found from
several sources. There's Colin's reed-making book and Richard and Anita
Evans's web pages:
[1]http://www.evansbagpipes.co.uk/pipes/reedmake/chant.htm
With a good reed in hand as an example, together with any of the
available instructions, and with the advantage of a robust
frustration-tolerance threshold, anyone can make a bunch of reeds.
At the beginning, most will be awful and one or two may be "not really
there". With a lot of luck, there may even be a good one.
This is similar to the 'infinite number of monkeys & infinite supply of
reed-cane' approach though with much better chance of success. I can't
see why it shouldn't work.
Best wishes,
Francis
On 9 Jul 2010, at 09:58, Anthony Robb wrote:
>
> Neil,
> I feel a bit guilty about this. My regular piping class
participants
> snapped up the first dozen or so. In fact one of them got one of
them
> working at Billy Pigg type tone and pitch but as we play at A = 446
Hz
> it wasn't a runner as far as lessons were concerned. I have one or
two
> that I'd be happy to send if you send me your address. Perhaps
other
> would be recipients could post their addresses on the list for
other
> reed makers to respond to in turn?
> As aye
> Anthony
>
> --- On Fri, 9/7/10, [2]neihutch...@yahoo.com
<[3]neihutch...@yahoo.com>
> wrote:
>
> From: [4]neihutch...@yahoo.com <[5]neihutch...@yahoo.com>
> Subject: [NSP] Reeds
> To: "Dartmouth NPS" <[6]...@cs.dartmouth.edu>
> Date: Friday, 9 July, 2010, 2:59
>
> I posted a question about reeds a while back and got some great
> answers. Anthony Robb
> suggested that "perhaps we should start a free bank of working
reeds
> that
> "aren't really there" for enthusiastic, would-be makers to
mess
> around
> with?".
> Does anyone out there have any such reeds available? I'd like to
try
> my
> hand at reed making in the not too distant future and would be
> grateful
> for any "wonky" reeds that anyone could send me to have a go
> scraping,
> trimming etc.
> I'm in Australia - Neil
> --- On Fri, 19/3/10, Anthony Robb <[1][7]anth...@robbpipes.com>
wrote:
> From: Anthony Robb <[2][8]anth...@robbpipes.com>
> Subject: [NSP] Reeds
> To: "Dartmouth NPS" <[3][9]...@cs.dartmouth.edu>
> Received: Friday, 19 March, 2010, 7:02 AM
> Francis wood wrote:
> Unwelcome squeaking can arise from many causes (including
mice in
> the
> bag, though I'm not qualified to advise on a solution to that
> one)
> and
> it takes a good amount of experience to determine what is
really
> wrong.
> What should an isolated beginner do in such circumstances?
> Hello Francis, I know the feeling. 6 months after getting my
set
> from
> Bill Hedworth I found myself alone in the Birmingham area
> (Sutton
> Coldfield) and stuck for any adivice on reeds. There were no
> professional makers whatsoever in those days but I'd made
contact
> with
> Bob Reid who posted me 6 chanter reeds (I think about a quid
> each)
> and I set to work wrecking them and getting to know what not
to
> do!
> At
> that time Finbar Furey lived in Coventry and we got together
a
> few
> times and he made me a copy of one of Bob's reeds but the
Irish
> seem
> to
> go for softer cane which didn't really have the tone I
wanted.
> No amount of watching or getting advice can match first-hand
> tweaking and after getting through about -L-120 worth of
reeds at
> today's money I had learned a lot and was reasonably
proficient
> and
> setting reeds (thank you Colin Ross!) to suit my pipes. When
I
> came
> to
> make my own first reed (used in her F set by Carole on Cut &
Dry
> Dolly)
> I didn't have a gouge so made the slip by patiently sanding
from
> the
> flat cane on sandpaper drawing-pinned to a bit of broom-shank
> (not
> recommended but showed tenacity)!
> These days I snap lifeless reeds to stop me wasting time on
them.
> Perhaps we should start a free bank of working reeds that
> "aren't really there" for enthusiastic, would-be makers to
mess
> around
> with?
> As aye
> Anthony
> --
> To get on or off this list see list information at
> [1][4][10]http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
> --
> References
> 1.
[5][11]http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/%7Ewbc/lute-admin/index.html
>
> --
>
> References
>
> 1.
[12]http://uk.mc5.mail.yahoo.com/mc/compose?to=anth...@robbpipes.com
> 2.
[13]http://uk.mc5.mail.yahoo.com/mc/compose?to=anth...@robbpipes.com
> 3.
[14]http://uk.mc5.mail.yahoo.com/mc/compose?to=...@cs.dartmouth.edu
> 4. [15]http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
> 5. [16]http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
>
--
References
1. http://www.evansbagpipes.co.uk/pipes/reedmake/chant.htm
2. http://uk.mc5.mail.yahoo.com/mc/compose?to=neihutch...@yahoo.com
3. http://uk.mc5.mail.yahoo.com/mc/compose?to=neihutch...@yahoo.com
4. http://uk.mc5.mail.yahoo.com/mc/compose?to=neihutch...@yahoo.com
5. http://uk.mc5.mail.yahoo.com/mc/compose?to=neihutch...@yahoo.com
6. http://uk.mc5.mail.yahoo.com/mc/compose?to=...@cs.dartmouth.edu
7. http://uk.mc5.mail.yahoo.com/mc/compose?to=anth...@robbpipes.com
8. http://uk.mc5.mail.yahoo.com/mc/compose?to=anth...@robbpipes.com
9. http://uk.mc5.mail.yahoo.com/mc/compose?to=...@cs.dartmouth.edu
10. http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
11. http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
12. http://uk.mc5.mail.yahoo.com/mc/compose?to=anth...@robbpipes.com
13. http://uk.mc5.mail.yahoo.com/mc/compose?to=anth...@robbpipes.com
14. http://uk.mc5.mail.yahoo.com/mc/compose?to=...@cs.dartmouth.edu
15. http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
16. http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
