On Mon, Feb 7, 2011 at 1:06 AM, <[email protected]> wrote: > It is my speculation that the F+ tuning originated from a prolific maker > taking an A = 440 tuning fork as the reference for the nominal B and then > tuning chanters by ear, with the (desirable) result that the nominal G ended > up around 14 cents sharp of concert G because it had been tuned acoustically > pure rather than to an equally tempered reference tone. Reverse this process, > and a "concert F" chanter will have a nominal B that is (desirably) around 14 > cents flat of the A string of a violin tuned to A = 440. >
Can one maker (which one?) have that much influence? I was told 20 cents sharp of F is the tradition. I tune my chanter manipulating the reed depending on the season and the reed, trying to get the best balance up and down the chanter, regardless of how many cents I'm off from F. Of course, this creates problems when playing with other pipers. But I reckon, at least I'm blowing steady and I'm in tune with myself. Didn't a pipemaker write on this NG a while ago that the more keys you want to play in, then the more compromises you have to make in tuning individual notes? To play in pure Em one might have to order a chanter to play specifically in Em. This topic is always fun. To get on or off this list see list information at http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
