>I don't know exactly how flat A = 398 is but it can't be very >far off F+,
Sorry, badly worded. I mean it can't be very far off an A that would give you F+. c given that A = 392 would correspond to concert G. >I wonder if Anthony would agree therefore that since lots of >the notes are sharp, a good starting point would be to pull >the reed out a fraction? >C > >>-----Original Message----- >>From: [email protected] >>[mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Anthony Robb >>Sent: Saturday, February 05, 2011 12:56 PM >>To: Dartmouth NPS >>Subject: [NSP] Chanter Tuning >> >> >> >> From Chris Gregg: >> >> So that is why my pipes always sound out of tune, and I >>thought it >> was >> just poor musicianship on my part! >> The whole tuning thing is a bit of a quagmire, and as a solo >> instrument >> it is not a problem, but I would like to know how people >>get around >> it >> in recording sessions. >> >> >> Hello Chris >> >> This sounds to me as though your bottom G is a tad flat and >>that's why >> so many notes seem sharp. >> >> The other thing to say is that the chanter, in all >>likelihood, could be >> brought in tune with careful use of PVA glue (for sharp >notes) and a >> scalpel fitted with an 11P blade (for flat notes). >> >> Before doing anything drastic, however, I would get to know your >> chanter's idiosyncrasies by removing the cotton wool plug, >>if there is >> one, from the bottom of the bore. Then I'd repeat your measurements >> (draw up a table) with a cotton bud inserted at set >>positions into the >> bore. I'd start off with the rounded tip in at 10mm then go >>up by 5mm >> increments to within 15mm of your bottom D (for a 7 key chanter) >> checking the tuning of each note as you go. Write down your >>results so >> the pattern can be seen at a glance. This will tell you how >>much effect >> the standing waves below each chanter note are affecting >>the pitch of >> each note. You might find one position will bring your >>chanter closer >> in tune with itself. If the cotton bud makes matters worse >>I'd insert a >> 20mm narrow cone of cotton wool (point first) into the >>chanter and see >> if that helps. >> >> If you do need to resort to scalpel & glue I'd do this with >>the cotton >> wool cone to minimise standing waves interfering with your tuning. >> >> Let me know how you get on. >> >> With regards to recording sessions every group of pipers of >>pipers will >> have their own solution. As you say solo is fine as the piper can >> adjust where necessary. At the other end of the scale >>massed pipes are >> OK too because variations with 5 chanters or more tend to >>balance out. >> The trickiest we find is when 3 pipes are playing >together. We found >> that recording the three chanters together without drones (live or >> recorded) works best as each of us listens out for what is >happening >> with the other players and adjusts where necessary. Then drones are >> tuned to the chanters and added to the mix. This can mean >up to 11.5 >> mins of constant drone without fingering the chanter at >all which is >> surprisingly tiring on the fingers. It also means that >>chanters have to >> be played at a fairly consistent pitch and in with each >>other without >> any external reference point at all. But then as we can >see from the >> recent posts external references are often a hindrance >rather that a >> help in that situation. >> >> I hope some of this helps but please remember no theories >whatsoever >> have been used as a basis for this advice just 40 years >>mucking about >> with some of the loveliest chanters around (Burleigh, >>Gruar, Hedworth, >> Nelson and Ross) and nowt but my own lugs as final arbiter. >> >> Good Luck >> >> Anthony >> >> -- >> >> >>To get on or off this list see list information at >>http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html >> > > >
