Hi,
Years ago John Leistman wrote an article about balancing drone reeds,
if you can find this article it will explain in great detail the why and
wherefore of tuning drones --- and why each set is different.
in short it's to do with the pressure each player uses and how and if
they tune their drone reeds to the pressure they like to use to have
their chanter "ring true"
Dave S
On 1/11/2011 1:40 PM, Colin and Cheryl McNaught wrote:
Following on from these sage comments, does anyone have ideas about
what causes some drones to be significantly more pressure sensitive
than others. By this I mean their pitch varies more for a given change
in bag pressure. Once they are adjusted for pitch and pressure there
doesn't seem to be anything else to tweak without spoiling the
pitch/pressure set-ups. I have a set that is very stable and another
that has a couple of drones that aren't and would like to improve them.
I always try to play other pipe sets when at NSP get-togethers and it's
been my experience that every set I have played has some quirky notes.
I'm sure there's a reed dependency in this too. Making small (often
unconscious) adjustments in bag pressure seems to be a part of playing
this instrument well (just as embouchure adjustments on, e.g. oboe,
flute). Consequently, a set of drones that is more stable can result
in a 'sweeter' end result than one that isn't.
Colin (McNaught)
On Sat, Jan 8, 2011 at 7:05 PM,<[1]gibbonssoi...@aol.com> wrote:
As many notes on an NSP chanter can be bent about a quarter tone
without putting the drones far out - at least on a good reed day -
I
guess one difference between a good piper and a fairly good one is
the
former will squeeze notes into tune unconsciously and accurately,
the
latter consciously and only fairly accurately.
I often think of singing the note, so I have an idea of the
pitch
in my head, to aim for. Listening to the chord with the drones -
if
these are in tune - also helps with some notes. It is the notes
that
harmonise with the drones which are most exposed if out of tune,
so
recognising a just 3rd or whatever tells you you've got there. The
singing trick doesn't work so well if you are still thinking
equal-tempered, mind. So chords are better.
Long notes are good practice for this - I wonder if this is
one
reason Tom Clough liked playing hymn tunes? 'Oh God our Help in
Ages
Past' (aka St Anne, or 'The Goldfish') is a good one for this,
dead
slow.
I sometimes use this to see if the drones are 'really' in tune.
When I started playing NSP after playing the flute for years,
my
embouchure would bend to try to bring notes in - ineffective of
itself,
but I found I was doing something useful as well, as the notes
came
more into tune (I pinched a non-existent thumbhole to get the top
octave on the whistle, as well). That first set I had needed a bit
of variable squeezing to bring some notes close to where they
should
be.
Intonation is a mystery on most instruments, and the hardest
part
to get right. A related issue is tone colour - finger vibrato
alters
the harmonics of a note substantially, changing the colour a lot;
pressure vibrato much less so. Taking a lower finger off the
chanter
may vary the pitch up or down, so you can use finger vibrato to
improve
the intonation as well as the colour. Or worsen the intonation, if
you
use the wrong finger.
Knowing which lower finger moves which notes in which direction is
something one ought to learn. I tend to use the same finger
whatever,
if it works.
John
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