[NSP] Re: Information please
Thanks for that Matt. I've often wondered! Why though is it taking so long for the NPS to correct its error? In the recent First 30 booklet I'm the only peron to give Jamie Allan as the name and as my wife pointed out it looks as if I'm the one getting it wrong! After all, if I began refering to the Hon Sec as Jools Sey she is alive and well enough to put me right! Yet this is exactly the same sort of transgression. If a name belongs to a dead person we should be very careful to get it right. It's not so much the provenance of the tune that concerns me (tunes can be imported and played in the correct dialect - just like words) as much as the fact that it shows a cavalier disregard for accuracy. I wonder if we can look forward to a correction soon? Cheers Anthony -- To get on or off this list see list information at http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
[NSP] Monkey hunting
Hi John and all, I like the monkey hunting analogy. If you're hunting monkeys (ies?) by yourself, then hunt them in whatever way catches most monkeys for you. Naturally if you are hunting monkeys with a group of other monkey hunters, you need some agreement as to how you are all going to hunt, otherwise the result will be unsatisfactory (you just scatter the monkeys and they all laugh at you from the treetops) In which case a written set of instructions on how to hunt monkeys would be useful. Having all got copies of the How to hunt Monkeys, the New Guinea way you will of course find that many of the hunters then say, but we dont hunt them thay way and you end up agreeing to amend the instructions, leaving the person who spent time copying ten sets of instructions out muttering darkly in the corner. Tim - Original Message - From: john_da...@hmco.com To: nsp@cs.dartmouth.edu Sent: Tuesday, March 10, 2009 7:26 PM Subject: [NSP] Re: First 30 tunes Perhaps, you could make the recordings yourself, Colin. That way the bench would be quite clearly marked. It would seem likely that there could be all sorts of interpretations of a tune, or bad playing technique, if the sound source were another instrument. Last night I played tunes with a friend, an ear player who grew up in Morpeth, was active in the folk scene in Northumberland for many years before moving here. He plays stringed instruments, so the popping pipe sound goes nicely with the slurry string sound. He doesn't play any of the tunes note for note the way they appear in the books, because he picked them up by ear, having heard many from the time he was a lad. If I said, look, you're not playing that tune correctly, it would be like the anthropologist telling the tribesman in New Guinea he's hunting monkey incorrectly. One tune in particular, The Hesleyside Reel, is very difficult for me to play at his tempo without cutting out some of the notes. Was it written for the pipes? It's a lovely tune, but my right hand's ligature doesn't like it very much unless I play it at a rambling pace. Now, I realize, if I had Chris Ormston's technique I could do it properly, but I never will (I'm not alone, am I?). If the choice is mucking up the tune or adapting it to fit my technical abilities, what's a guy to do? John rosspi...@aol.com 03/10/2009 10:40 AM To j.gibb...@imperial.ac.uk cc nsp@cs.dartmouth.edu Subject [NSP] Re: First 30 tunes Dear John, When I was saying that I thought the tunes in the 'First 30 Tunes' might be better played on some other instrument than the small pipes to give an idea of how the tune went it was to avoid the copying of pehaps bad playing technique from pipers who had contributed tracks for the CD. I had no experience of using ABC copies of the tunes to generate audio copies but it seems to be a relatively straightforward way of getting the printed tunes out there to be heard. At the moment the NPS is only interested in producing a CD to accompany the '30 tunes' book but as we have most of the other tunes that are in our publications in ABC form it could be applied to all those tunes that beginners have difficulty in lifting off the page. As you say the main problem is in finding someone to do the job. Colin R -Original Message- From: Gibbons, John j.gibb...@imperial.ac.uk To: 'colin' cwh...@santa-fe.freeserve.co.uk; nsp@cs.dartmouth.edu nsp@cs.dartmouth.edu Sent: Tue, 10 Mar 2009 16:41 Subject: [NSP] Re: First 30 tunes An abc pipers' tunebook should ideally - * Not be a copy of a printed source. It might affect its sales. Let alone copyright questions. * So should be mostly traditional unpublished material. * It could contain new tunes too, if submitted by the composer - copyright again. * It should be communally authored - wait for a single author and it will take a long time, and will mirror his taste; be it excellent or otherwise, someone will disagree! It is a view of the tradition that we are after, not just Joe Bloggs' bit of it. * Abc's could be submitted to the nsp mailing list, and someone web-literate could put it online. * So we need a willing able volunteer. * Here the plan falls to the ground. John -Original Message- From: nsp-request+j.gibbons=ic.ac...@cs.dartmouth.edu [[1]mailto:nsp-request+j.gibbons=ic.ac...@cs.dartmouth.edu] On Behalf Of colin Sent: 10 March 2009 16:23 To: nsp@cs.dartmouth.edu Subject: [NSP] Re: [NSP]Re: irst 30 tunes I'm glad you wrote this. I suggested something similar but my post never appeared
[NSP] Re: Chanter hole spacings
Just to mention that Mike nelson used my hole spacings on his chanters which he graciously acknowledged on a diagram of chanter hole spacings he produced in the early days. Colin R -Original Message- From: Anthony Robb anth...@robbpipes.com To: Dartmouth NPS nsp@cs.dartmouth.edu Sent: Wed, 11 Mar 2009 8:14 Subject: [NSP] Chanter hole spacings Hello Folks Peter Ashby mentioned this forum at last night's Caedmon Piping class and I thought I'd sign up. I believe there has been recent discussion re hole spacings on chanters with a request for pipers to submit the measurements of their own instruments in order find an average. This sounds to me like a rather pointless exercise as so much work has been put into this in the past. If the aim is to standardise hole spacings to play near concert F with a good bright reed then Mike Nelson has done this to near perfection. I have seen similar spacings used by Colin Ross. Both of these offer a range of good-toned pitch from concert F (A = 440Hz) to F + 25 (A=446Hz) depending on reed dimensions. Philip Gruar also uses spacings very close to these with similar beautiful results. These spacings are readily availble from Colin or Mike. Then, of course, we have the chanter spacings which Robert Reid used and are used as a model by David Burleigh. These spacings look similar to those mentioned above at the top of the chanter but are 5mm shorter by the time we reach bottom D. Standard reeds moved in towards the chanter to bring it in tune moves the pitch to a range from F + 25 (A = 446Hz) to F+ 50 (A = 453Hz). As David has made over 3,000 sets to this pattern I find that aiming for F = + 25 (A = 446Hz) is a good compromise for teaching groups and was the pitch I asked pipers to aim for on The Cool Breath Tour of New Zealand in January. I have heard that this strategy worked well even in my absence (for family reasons, Heather I returned home prematurely) and resulted in a good sounding CD of massed pipes playing (21 sets). You can judge for yourselves when it is released shortly. I own beautiful chanters made by all of the above makers and know them intimately. They all sound tuneful and sweet. At the moment I use F chanters at 440, 446, 452 and 456 for individual teaching. (Squeezing harder / easing off to get a 6Hz shift will always compromise tone). Finally, it should be remembered that hole spacings themselves are not the end of the story. Hole size also makes a fair contribution to pitch as does the bore. I hope I've managed to add something useful to the discussion. Anthony Robb -- To get on or off this list see list information at http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html AOL Email goes Mobile! You can now read your AOL Emails whilst on the move. Sign up for a free AOL Email account with unlimited storage today.
[NSP] Re: Chanter hole spacings
'susceptible smallest environmental Change, whether atmospheric' Going from one room to another at Halsway was enough to unfettle mine very seriously. Going out in the drizzle with them cured it for a while. Happily, so did bringing them home. The warm welcoming atmosphere there has its drawbacks! John -Original Message- From: nsp-request+j.gibbons=ic.ac...@cs.dartmouth.edu [mailto:nsp-request+j.gibbons=ic.ac...@cs.dartmouth.edu] On Behalf Of Francis Wood Sent: 11 March 2009 13:14 To: rosspi...@aol.com Cc: Dartmouth nsp list N.P.S. site Subject: [NSP] Re: Chanter hole spacings On 11 Mar 2009, at 12:25, rosspi...@aol.com wrote: Just to mention that Mike Nelson used my hole spacings on his chanters which he graciously acknowledged on a diagram of chanter hole spacings he produced in the early days. Well, Colin, it was gracious of you to share the design in the first place. You have always been most generous in sharing information and this is much appreciated. Perhaps not everyone is aware that Mike Nelson made Kathryn Tickell's pipes. Recordings of that instrument provide very good evidence of the success of that set of hole positions. The Mike's drawings first appeared in 1984 in a book long out of print, the contents of which are visible in incomplete form online. Most of the important stuff is there, including details of the chanter, at: http://www.machineconcepts.co.uk/smallpipes/pipe1.htm Of course putting the holes of the right size in the right place is only the beginning of the tuning process. All woodwind instruments have some degree of tuning latitude which an experienced player will correct by adjusting the embouchure. That option is not available where there is a captive reed, as with any bagpipe. Experienced players may find that tuning is an ongoing process, involving small occasional adjustments. This is not to imply any deficiency or carelessness on the part of the maker, but merely to state that these delicate reeds are very susceptible to the smallest environmental change whether atmospheric or dimensional. Reminds me of the story of an instrument that was once advertised: Viola for sale - recently tuned. If only life were that simple! Francis To get on or off this list see list information at http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
[NSP] Re: First 30 tunes
Dear Colin, John et al. I think we should be distinguishing between Regional and personal styles here. Reels in the most of the British Isles (and elsewhere) have a pulse which can be interpreted as: Gob-stopper, gob-stopper, gob-stopper, gob-stopper. In Northumberland many of these tunes would be played as Rants which have a pulse: Tomato soup, tomato soup, tomato soup, tomato soup There is much room for personal interpretation on top of this basic style difference. Letting people hear these differences is important. As for so-called bad habits these must surely be/have been pleasing to the players themselves at some point and are therefore valid in their own right even if others may find them displeasing. Copying these personal idiosyncracies is one thing, and each player can decide this for themselves, ignoring the regional accent completely is another thing altogether! I would say go for it Colin, a person with your background can not help but make a valuable contribution to the body of piping knowledge. As aye Anthony --- On Wed, 11/3/09, rosspi...@aol.com rosspi...@aol.com wrote: From: rosspi...@aol.com rosspi...@aol.com Subject: [NSP] Re: First 30 tunes To: john_da...@hmco.com Cc: nsp@cs.dartmouth.edu Date: Wednesday, 11 March, 2009, 1:12 PM Dear John, No, it would not do at all for me to play the tunes as I would be imprinting my own style, whatever that is, on the tunes with all the bad habits of gracing I have picked up over the years. This would also apply to other pipers who have learnt from 'the old guys' and have developed a personal style of their own perhaps. Opinion would be divided as to who is the best and my solution of using a mechanical device to demonstrate a tune aurally for those who are unable to do this from the printed source would at least- and it would be the very least- give those folk an idea on how to tackle playing a tune and then go to a player or a recording of a player to get the spirit of the tune infused into it. Colin R -Original Message- From: [1]john_da...@hmco.com To: [2]...@cs.dartmouth.edu Sent: Tue, 10 Mar 2009 19:26 Subject: [NSP] Re: First 30 tunes Perhaps, you could make the recordings yourself, Colin. That way the bench would be quite clearly marked. It would seem likely that there could be all sorts of interpretations of a tune, or bad playing technique, if the sound source were another instrument. Last night I played tunes with a friend, an ear player who grew up in Morpeth, was active in the folk scene in Northumberland for many years before moving here. He plays stringed instruments, so the popping pipe sound goes nicely with the slurry string sound. He doesn't play any of the tunes note for note the way they appear in the books, because he picked them up by ear, having heard many from the time he was a lad. If I said, look, you're not playing that tune correctly, it would be like the anthropologist telling the tribesman in New Guinea he's hunting monkey incorrectly. One tune in particular, The Hesleyside Reel, is very difficult for me to play at his tempo without cutting out some of the notes. Was it written for the pipes? It's a lovely tune, but my right hand's ligature doesn't like it very much unless I play it at a rambling pace. Now, I realize, if I had Chris Ormston's technique I could do it properly, but I never will (I'm not alone, am I?). If the choice is mucking up the tune or adapting it to fit my technical abilities, what's a guy to do? John [3]rosspi...@aol.com 03/10/2009 10:40 AM To [4]j.gibb...@imperial.ac.uk cc [5]...@cs.dartmouth.edu Subject [NSP] Re: First 30 tunes Dear John, When I was saying that I thought the tunes in the 'First 30 Tunes' might be better played on some other instrument than the small pipes to give an idea of how the tune went it was to avoid the copying of pehaps bad playing technique from pipers who had contributed tracks for the CD. I had no experience of using ABC copies of the tunes to generate audio copies but it seems to be a relatively straightforward way of getting the printed tunes out there to be heard. At the moment the NPS is only interested in producing a CD to accompany the '30 tunes' book but as we have most of the other tunes that are in our publications in ABC form it could be applied to all those tunes that beginners have difficulty in lifting off the page. As you say the main problem is in finding someone to do the job. Colin R -Original Message- From: Gibbons, John [6]j.gibb...@imperial.ac.uk To: 'colin' [7]cwh...@santa-fe.freeserve.co.uk;
[NSP] Re: First 30 tunes
On 11 Mar 2009, Gibbons, John wrote: The other approach, less apparently prescriptive, is getting different pipers to record a few tunes each - and stylistic variations in rhythm, gracing etc will be there - new pipers can choose who they want to try to sound like. Which is precisely what I suggested (in place of one person recording the lot - there were two volunteers), and what is in the course of being implemented by the originator of the project. Using as many contributors to the book as are happy to provide recordings. Julia To get on or off this list see list information at http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
[NSP] Re: First 30 tunes
Hi Richard, Don't leave us hanging what did he choose to do? Tim - Original Message - From: Richard York rich...@lizards.force9.co.uk To: NSP group nsp@cs.dartmouth.edu Sent: Wednesday, March 11, 2009 6:10 PM Subject: [NSP] Re: First 30 tunes Some years ago I met a man who was responsible for some work on the musicians carvings in Beverley Minster, most famous of course being the pipers. His quandary was whether to simply clean them up as they were, or to restore them to what the Victorians had imposed on them, mistakes and all, or to try to restore them to what he thought the medieval carvers had intended, though that last was now very impossible to do with any certainty, given changes in their condition over time, so he'd be imposing on them. And whatever he did would be right for some people, wrong for others, and whatever he did they'd never be as they once used to be. Or he could simply leave them to fall to bits by themselves. Richard. Anthony Robb wrote: ... There is much room for personal interpretation on top of this basic style difference. Letting people hear these differences is important. As for so-called bad habits these must surely be/have been pleasing to the players themselves at some point and are therefore valid in their own right even if others may find them displeasing. Copying these personal idiosyncracies is one thing, and each player can decide this for themselves, ignoring the regional accent completely is another thing altogether! I would say go for it Colin, a person with your background can not help but make a valuable contribution to the body of piping knowledge. As aye Anthony To get on or off this list see list information at http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html No virus found in this incoming message. Checked by AVG - www.avg.com Version: 8.0.237 / Virus Database: 270.11.10/1995 - Release Date: 03/11/09 08:28:00
[NSP] Re: Monkey hunting
My Morpethian friend plays The Hesleyside Reel as a reel, up tempo, with a bump-ditty, 2/2 rhythm. It's quite easy to play flat fingered on the Border pipes at that tempo. Call me a slacker, but I doubt I will ever have the technique to play the tune on the NSP at his tempo, which is faster than the tempo Anthony Robb takes with the tune on SPIRIT OF THE BORDER. I'd be happy if I could even approach that tempo without having the tendons surgically detached in my right hand as it is always the 'a' in the runs that takes me down. As in most things NSP, I labor to emulate the playing of Joe Hutton, and attempt to play Hesleyside with the same feel and tempo as his recording of Speed the Plough (NORTHUMBRIAN RANT, Temple?). Does he play it as a rant or a reel? You can hear him beating out four beats to a bar, 4/4 as opposed to 2/2. Willy Taylor's recording of his own two reels (Pearl Wedding, Nancy Taylor) on the same CD have the same 4/4 rhythm I've come to think of as a rant. It seems uniquely Northumbrian, whether it be a rant or a reel. There's more than one way to skin a monkey, I suppose, but through this discussion I've come to realize that my Morpethian friend's reel style is, as I suspected, influenced by Scottish and Irish reel rhythms. Many thanks to all, John -- To get on or off this list see list information at http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
[NSP] Re: First 30 tunes
In a way, that's the least important part of the story :) It struck me at the time what a parallel it was with our treatment of music which comes to us from before our time, or at least before deadly accurate sound recording, whether it's medieval or anything else. But to answer your question, Tim, if I remember aright, he treated them each variously according to how much was evident from the original form, how much damage the dear Victorians had done, and in what condition and how stable each was. Perhaps that's relevant too. Best wishes, Richard. tim rolls BT wrote: Hi Richard, Don't leave us hanging what did he choose to do? Tim - Original Message - From: Richard York rich...@lizards.force9.co.uk To: NSP group nsp@cs.dartmouth.edu Sent: Wednesday, March 11, 2009 6:10 PM Subject: [NSP] Re: First 30 tunes Some years ago I met a man who was responsible for some work on the musicians carvings in Beverley Minster, most famous of course being the pipers. His quandary was whether to simply clean them up as they were, or to restore them to what the Victorians had imposed on them, mistakes and all, or to try to restore them to what he thought the medieval carvers had intended, though that last was now very impossible to do with any certainty, given changes in their condition over time, so he'd be imposing on them. And whatever he did would be right for some people, wrong for others, and whatever he did they'd never be as they once used to be. Or he could simply leave them to fall to bits by themselves. Richard. Anthony Robb wrote: ... There is much room for personal interpretation on top of this basic style difference. Letting people hear these differences is important. As for so-called bad habits these must surely be/have been pleasing to the players themselves at some point and are therefore valid in their own right even if others may find them displeasing. Copying these personal idiosyncracies is one thing, and each player can decide this for themselves, ignoring the regional accent completely is another thing altogether! I would say go for it Colin, a person with your background can not help but make a valuable contribution to the body of piping knowledge. As aye Anthony To get on or off this list see list information at http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html No virus found in this incoming message. Checked by AVG - www.avg.com Version: 8.0.237 / Virus Database: 270.11.10/1995 - Release Date: 03/11/09 08:28:00
[NSP] Re: Midi, rhythm, popping, agogics, psycho
On 11 Mar 2009 at 18:39, Robert Greef wrote: So some aural illusions at work, it would seem. Anyone for psychoacoustics? Robert I think so. When we hear a sound and it stops, our brains retain a memory of the sound so that when we hear a subsequent sound we can compare the two and hear a harmonious interval. Thus we can hear a scale, an arpeggio, an octave. This is part of what allows us to appreciate music. I believe that presented with good detached playing the listener can be unaware of the small gaps between notes. Conversely when a note starts suddenly it has great impact. The transition from silence to tone can appear almost percussive. As the note continues at a constant volume the listener becomes accustomed to the pitch and volume and the note appears to be less dramatic. It appears to drop in intensity. By varying the length and spacing of notes subtle emphases can be introduced into the playing. If we consider the four-note patterns common in tunes the Peacock Collection and the Clough Manuscripts, there is a 'magic' speed at which the notes, although detached, appear to 'bounce off' each other. For best effect, the speed of the whole tune must be set so that these rapid successions of notes work as a unit. You mention Chris Ormston as a master of this technique. He is of course merely following a well trodden path. While we know he has based his playing on the Clough tradition, examination of historical recordings of Joe Hutton, George Armstrong and Billy Pigg show very similar note shapes. I am coming to think that Billy's playing has been misrepresented by concentrating too much on the flourishes rather than emulating the underlying, solid technique. Chris has also recommended these earlier recordings. I am aware of of several players in the North-East who are emulating this style. Some have been playing longer than I have and some far less. The traditional style is continuing, but many of the supporters are not in the public eye. Barry To get on or off this list see list information at http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
[NSP] Re: First 30 tunes
Hello Colin What I am trying to get across is precisely the fact that the tunes themselves were played as rants at musical gatherings with no suggestion of dance involved. Yes, there are similarities to the polka rhythm but Rant tunes tend to be crotchet rich and have, to my ears, quite a different feel (as anyone familiar with Will Taylor's rendition of the Pearl Wedding or Nancy Taylor will realise - polkas they ain't!). Dancers can indeed just get on and rant along to most reels. In fact 3 Rothburys ago I Ranted the whole of a very long Dashing White Sergeant set to full-on reels played by 422. Not as satisfying as rants but acceptable and more fun than a gym workout. It was the labelling of tunes such as Whinham's Reel and Lamshaw's Fancy as marches which I found particularly misleading. Perhaps calling them Polkas would have closer to the mark. It's funny you know, but back in the late 70s I remember a music evening at the Dickson's near Wooler when John Dagg chipped in over a similar reel/rant discussion instigated by something the Toonies (in this case represented by Foster Charlton) had said. Foster had apparently suggested that there were so many notes in such and such a tune that it had to be a Reel not a Rant . John's comment, I don't give a doodies [sic] how many notes it has you can still give it a good rant rhythm, remains etched in my memory. This discussion is far from new and only goes to emphasise the differences in understanding and approach across a mere 40 miles of countryside! Regards Anthony --- On Wed, 11/3/09, rosspi...@aol.com rosspi...@aol.com wrote: From: rosspi...@aol.com rosspi...@aol.com Subject: [NSP] Re: First 30 tunes To: anth...@robbpipes.com Cc: nsp@cs.dartmouth.edu Date: Wednesday, 11 March, 2009, 4:20 PM Dear Anthony, Since you are now on the List I feel I can respond to your fascination with gobstoppers and tomato soup. I was going to comment on what you were saying about playing Rants and how deeply disappointed you were that none of the tunes in the 30 tunes collection were called RANTS. I think the reason is simple enough in that the rant is a dance step and not a specific tune rhythm. A tune with that rhythm consistently throughout the music would be a polka. The tune Hesleyside Reel only has it specifically written into the music at the end of the four bar phrases in the A part and at the end of the tune. The dancers however are stepping throughout the tune so in calling it a reel we were not wrong only in not mentioning in the forward that Julia wrote that tunes like this can and maybe should be stepped with a rant step. I have been playing this tune for many years now with the High Level Ranters and concentrate on keeping a good bouncy rhythm along with other tunes that can be called reels or hornpipes like the Morpeth Rant and leave the dancers to get on with their footwork. Cheers, Colin R -Original Message- From: Anthony Robb [1]anth...@robbpipes.com To: [2]john_da...@hmco.com; [3]rosspi...@aol.com CC: [4]...@cs.dartmouth.edu Sent: Wed, 11 Mar 2009 15:52 Subject: Re: [NSP] Re: First 30 tunes Dear Colin, John et al. I think we should be distinguishing between Regional and personal styles here. Reels in the most of the British Isles (and elsewhere) have a pulse which can be interpreted as: Gob-stopper, gob-stopper, gob-stopper, gob-stopper. In Northumberland many of these tunes would be played as Rants which have a pulse: Tomato soup, tomato soup, tomato soup, tomato soup There is much room for personal interpretation on top of this basic style difference. Letting people hear these differences is important. As for so-called bad habits these must surely be/have been pleasing to the players themselves at some point and are therefore valid in their own right even if others may find them displeasing. Copying these personal idiosyncracies is one thing, and each player can decide this for themselves, ignoring the regional accent completely is another thing altogether! I would say go for it Colin, a person with your background can not help but make a valuable contribution to the body of piping knowledge. As aye Anthony --- On Wed, 11/3/09, [5]rosspi...@aol.com [6]rosspi...@aol.com wrote: From: [7]rosspi...@aol.com [8]rosspi...@aol.com Subject: [NSP] Re: First 30 tunes To: [9]john_da...@hmco.com Cc: [10]...@cs.dartmouth.edu Date: Wednesday, 11 March, 2009, 1:12 PM Dear John, No, it would not do at all for me to play the tunes as20I would be imprinting my own style, whatever that is, on the tunes with all the bad habits of gracing I have picked up over the years.. This would also apply to other pipers who have learnt from 'the old guys' and have developed a personal style
[NSP] Response to Chris
On 11 Mar 2009 at 19:39, Chris Ormston wrote: Other volume differences between notes on recordings may merely be due to the fact that the sound comes out of various points on the chanter, holes are different sizes (but I don't want to go there!!!) and it is difficult to position microphones so that all notes are of equal volume. Since writing the article I have found a possible answer to the problem of anomalous note volumes. I recorded my own playing and considered the results in the light of what I had written. Notes I thought weak had a slow rise. Searching for a good reed I tried looking at the wave envelope as I played each reed and I saw loud notes at various points on the chanter. Eventually I got to a point where I had a pretty good reed but it was exceptionally strident on one note on the top hand. I tried a bit scrape and the problem shifted to another note. Another scrape and it went away. Conclusion: Looking at the waveform of a chanter on the computer can show volume differences between notes which have no effect on the enjoyment of music. If a reed produces intrusive notes, it could be cured by scraping. To get on or off this list see list information at http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
